A new venue that will help visitors explore their family history has opened its doors in north London. The Research Hub, run by the Society of Genealogists (SoG), opens to its members today and to general members of the public on 3 January 2024.
The new space replaces the Society's previous home in Clerkenwell and has been fitted out with accessibility and archive preservation in mind, making the SoG's extensive archive and resources available to more researchers and family historians.
Talking at a press event, the outgoing CEO of the SoG, Patrick Barker welcomed visitors to the new home of the Society saying that it will be "a home that can be used by all of the genealogical community". He described the thought behind the design as "A vision of something fresh and modern, reflecting where we are going as an organisation as well as where we have been."
Natalie Pithers, the joint interim CEO said, "This is a place to come not just for peace and quiet and individual study, but for sharing your findings and sharing your genealogical journey. This is a place where eureka moments can be celebrated amongst people who understand and share your passion."
Behind the scenes at the Society of Genealogists' new venue
The exterior of the building is fairly unimposing, and from the outside there is little indication of the gems held within.
The ground floor has a medium-sized event room, perfect for family history classes with a large screen as well as the Society's administration offices and reception. There is also a wheelchair-accessible lift or stairs to take you down to the floor below where the real treasures are held.
The SoG owns a considerable collection of books and not all of them have yet made it onto the shelves at Wharf Road. Else Churchill, the genealogist at the Society said "We have started with the books that our members said they used the most, which are the county collections and textbooks. Now that we have our shelves installed and we know what space we have, we will be bringing more books over from storage."
Visitors to the new venue should consult the catalogue before attending and make sure that any books, microfiches, film or documents that they wish to have access to have been ordered in advance. Many popular books, such as the parish register collections, are being digitised and will be viewable as PDFs from the site.
As well as the library, the basement also has desks where visitors can use their own laptops and a number of computer terminals that offer access to all the main genealogy websites as well as member access to FamilySearch.
For those who need help, there will be volunteers on hand to give advice and there is a comfortable seating area where visitors can relax or have a cup of tea (there's an adjacent kitchen with fridge and tea and coffee making facilities). The venue also boasts a sunken courtyard that will be used as an additional event space.
How to visit the Society of Genealogists' new family history centre
To visit the SoG's new research hub you will need to make a booking via https://www.sog.org.uk/research-hub/visit-us. All visitor slots have already been booked up until the New Year but they are taking bookings for January, with priority going to members of the Society.
Non-members who wish to use the library and facilities will be charged a £20 fee for the day pass.
However, Rebecca Gregory, current joint-CEO, said "If there are people who just want to have a look first, before committing to a day pass, then we are very happy to show visitors round our library and introduce them to what we have to offer. We just ask them to send us an email first."
Standard membership to the SoG costs £85 a year and comes with unlimited access to the library (although advance booking is currently required) as well as access to the SoG's complete digitised collection online. A new Gold membership is being launched in January 2024 which will include all the SoG's one-hour talks and half-day courses available to watch on-demand for £15 a month or £150 for a year.
Society of Genealogists' Research Hub
Address: 40 Wharf Road, London, N1 7GS
Telephone: 020 7251 8799
Email: hello@sog.org.uk
Website: sog.org.uk
How to access the Society of Genealogists' archive online
The SoG is gradually digitising its collections and will be making more of its data online via a new portal 'SoG Explore' that will eventually replace the current 'SoG Data Online'. The online collections are only available to members although anyone can search the collections for free here, with non-members only seeing details of the first three results.
Although some SoG collections, including apprenticeship records, are available on Findmypast, the SoG said they have no current plans to share more of their records with the subscription website.
