Contact: Ena Black


About this Regional group:
It is a long and frustrating drive across London or around the North Circular Road to get to Finchley from South West London, and very few people would willingly attempt it after a hard day at work and the vexations of travel to and from the office. When the JGS started its Thursday evening meetings at Kinloss, a few members from "the other side of the river" realised that we were not going to get to these more informal social get-togethers with others who wanted to talk Genealogy. So in the summer of 1999 a trawl was done through the membership list, an invitation went out, and about fourteen strangers met in a very small flat in Richmond. Talk was fast and furious, we delved into a box of books on loan from the JGS library, one or two people with more knowledge of computers than the rest gave some helpful advice and offered some local hands-on-training; some people turned out to be experienced genealogists and others absolute beginners; queries, advice and suggestions were traded -- and thus was set the pattern for the meetings which have been held regularly ever since, at roughly 3-monthly intervals.

We are no longer strangers but good friends, and we keep a careful eye on the new JGS membership lists, so that we can welcome newcomers members in our widespread area - we try to write to most people with a West or SW London postcode, or Twickenham or Kingston or occasionally Guildford . We outgrew Richmond at that first meeting, and have since met in members' homes in Putney, East Sheen. Ham and most frequently in Teddington. We sometimes welcome an outside speaker on a particular topic, or one of our members talks about their own researches or experiences; we report on any new finds or discoveries or puzzles, compare notes on computer problems or census successes; we bring our new books to share around, and browse through these and our host's books over cakes and beverages.

Structure:
We send out a circular by e-mail or post, a month or so before each meeting, with details of hosts, date, time and place. Travel directions are included. It makes catering and seating easier if people can let us know if they are coming a few days beforehand but we realise this is not always possible and last-minute decisions to come along are not a problem. The meetings are informal and there are no minutes or other records taken.