Society of Genealogists

The Society of Genealogists (SoG) is a UK-based educational charity, founded in 1911^[2] to "promote, encourage and foster the study, science and knowledge of genealogy".^[3] The Society's Library is the largest specialist genealogical library outside North America.^[2] Membership is open to any adult who agrees to abide by the Society's rules and who pays the annual subscription. At the end of 2023, it had 6,654 members.^[1]

Society of Genealogists

Society of Genealogists logo
Abbreviation	SoG
Formation	1911
Headquarters	40 Wharf Road, Islington, London
Membership	6,654[1]
Website	www.sog.org.uk

Before moving to north London, the SoG owned & operated from this building at 37 Harrington Gardens, near Gloucester Road tube station SW7.

History

The Society was based in Malet Place, Bloomsbury, London until it purchased 37 Harrington Gardens, South Kensington, in 1954. The constant growth of the library and increasingly cramped building forced the Society to also sell this headquarters and move both in July 1984 to 14 Charterhouse Buildings (constructed in 1968 for storing rolls of silk), in Clerkenwell, London.^[4]

After Charterhouse Buildings was sold in 2020,^[5] in December 2023, after a period in temporary accommodation, the Society opened new premises, its "Research Hub", in Islington, just off the City Road.^[6]

Facilities

The Society possesses the largest family history research library in the United Kingdom, accessible to all members without charge and available to be used by the general public on payment of a fee. Society holdings include thousands of parish register and nonconformist register copies on microfilm or microfiche or in manuscript, typescript or published form, along with tombstone inscriptions, will, marriage licence and census transcripts and indexes, trade and residential directories and poll books (lists of voters), family histories, biographical dictionaries, works on apprentices and occupations, the armed forces, school and university registers and histories, genealogical journals and many other related works. The library catalogue is available on the Society's web site.

In 2000, the Society made a number of its genealogical datasets available online on the commercial service British Origins, with some free access for Society members. This material is now hosted commercially by Findmypast with a separate free service to members run by the Society itself on its own web site using the Frontis Archive Publishing System.

Activities

The previous home of the Society of Genealogists in Charterhouse Buildings off Goswell Road, London

The emphasis is on British, British Empire and Commonwealth sources, but the Society has some sources for most parts of the world.

The Society's Internet suite offers free access to major genealogical websites including Ancestry and Findmypast.

The society runs a programme of lectures, visits, and courses every year, and publishes textbooks, indexes, and a quarterly journal, Genealogists' Magazine. The latter is currently edited by Michael Gandy.

Prince Michael of Kent Award

The society's patron is Prince Michael of Kent, after whom the Society has named a prestigious award (created in 2000), granted periodically to a person or organisation which has made an outstanding contribution to genealogy.

Recipients

Year	Recipient
2000	Family Records Centre[7]
2004	ABM Publishing Ltd[8]
2006	Genealogical Society of Utah[9]
2007	FreeBMD[10]
2011	Alex Graham, CEO Wall to Wall [11]
2018	Cyndi Ingle, of Cyndi's List[12]

Years not listed means no one was awarded.^[10]