Members' Handbook
This section contains information for new members of the society as well as more detailed information for all members.
1. Introduction
Suffolk Family History Society (SFHS) was founded in 1975 to bring together those interested in family history, genealogy and heraldry and to advance the education of the public in the study of these areas. The Society is primarily concerned with the historic county of Suffolk. It helps co-ordinate research and to make records more freely accessible. The Society holds regular meetings in Bury St Edmunds, Haverhill, Ipswich, Lowestoft, Mildenhall, Stradbroke, Stowmarket, Sudbury and West of London. It publishes a quarterly journal, a website and indexes and transcriptions of records to assist family historians and genealogists with Suffolk interests. The Society is a registered charitable company and is run by its elected Trustees with the aid of other volunteers. This handbook is a guide to our services and facilities. We hope that you will find it useful for future reference.
2. Membership
Membership entitles members to attend the monthly meetings, to receive a copy of the Journal, to submit details of their research interests for publication, and to generally join in the activities of the Society. The membership year runs from the 1st April to 31st March. Those joining during the year will receive back copies of the Journal for that year. New members joining from 1st February will be assumed to be joining for the succeeding year (unless otherwise specified) and will therefore not receive a journal until the following Spring, but will be welcome to attend any group meetings. There is a joining fee to cover the cost of the membership pack, issued to new members.
Current membership subscription rates are listed on the inside of the Journal and on the Website.. Individual membership is for those who wish to attend meetings and receive full benefits of membership. Family membership is available for additional related members living at the same address as individual members, with all benefits of membership but one Journal. Overseas membership is available for those living outside UK.
Subscription renewals are due on 1st April each year. A subscription renewal form is included with the December Journal, together with details of current subscription rates and how renewal payments can be made. UK members can renew their subscriptions by setting up a standing order for annual payments from their bank. A banker’s order form is issued to new members and is also available from the membership secretary. This can be completed and sent direct to your bank. Overseas members in some countries can pay via agents. Renewal is also possible via the on line shop.
Gift Aid is a method of allowing charities to reclaim tax on membership subscriptions and donations. Since the claim is for tax already paid by you and made directly from the Inland Revenue, it does not cost you anything except the time taken to fill in and return the form. You do have to be a UK taxpayer who pays tax equivalent to the amount that we will reclaim (currently just over 20p for every £1 you give to us). A Gift Aid form is issued to new members and is also included with the annual renewal notice. It should be filled in only once. The arrangement can be cancelled at any time by notifying the Membership Secretary.
3. Contacting the Society
Members can contact the Society via the Secretary at:
Patricia Marshall
2 Flash Corner, Theberton, Leiston
Suffolk, IP16 4RW
or Email
Other contacts can be found in the journal or elsewhere on this website.
4. The Journal
Each March, June, September and December members receive the Suffolk Family History Society's journal Suffolk Roots. This is packed with news, articles, letters, important little snippets of information and much more! The editor welcomes articles to be considered for publication. Please quote your membership number. If part of your article includes quotations/lists from a book then the permission of the author must be sought unless it is beyond the copyright date.
Copyright date is 70 years from the death of the author of any original work. Contributors should declare if the article has been submitted elsewhere. Although every effort will be made to reproduce articles as presenter the Editor reserves the right to edit as necessary. Views expressed in the Journal are not necessarily those of the society and we cannot take responsibility for the accuracy of facts in the articles submitted.
It would be much appreciated if articles could be submitted (where possible on a floppy disc, CD or sent as an e-mail attachment. The preferred format is Headers Arial 16 and bold text in New Roman 9 with single line spacing. Members without a computer may send articles/findings in longhand but it would be appreciated if these could be written in upper case lettering, as handwriting can be rather difficult to decipher.
5. The Website
The Society website is at www.suffolkfhs.co.uk. It is designed not only to meet the needs of members but also to attract new members. It gives details of group programmes and other events as well as news items of relevance to family historians. The names of the Trustees and Officers as well as other appointment holders are listed and may be contacted electronically.
All the society publications are obtainable from the Society Online Shop that is available as a link from the website.
There is also a page listing other websites of interest to Suffolk Researchers.
6. The Library
The Society library is held on open display in the Suffolk Record Office in Gatacre Road in Ipswich
The library contains many books both on Suffolk and family history in general.
Members’ personal family histories and birth briefs also form part of the collection.
These books are only available for use in the library
7. Sales
All Books, Fiche and CD’s published by the Society are available from our Publications officer either by post, or from the on line shop.
8. Projects
One of the objects of the society is to publish indexes or transcripts of documents that will help members and others in their Suffolk family history research. They are indispensable for anyone with Suffolk ancestors, but it is always best to follow up an entry by looking at the relevant original document (or an image of it. Our publications may be on paper, microfiche, CD or in an electronic format. Some items have yet to be published and information can be obtained from the appropriate look up service.
Members are at present transcribing baptisms, marriages, burials and monumental inscriptions.
Precise information as to what is currently available can be obtained from the coordinators or service providers.
9. Members Interests
On joining the Society you are invited to submit a list of your family interests. This information will be displayed on the Society website allowing people to contact you via an e-mail (The e-mail address is not shown) In addition the details are published periodically as an insert in Suffolk Roots. Only members can enter their interests, but anyone can search the database. This means that members will now get a far greater coverage and are more likely to get a response.
For the service to work efficiently, members need to update their email addresses when necessary. Please inform the Membership Secretary of any change.
10. Ancestral Chart/Birth Brief
Members are invited to complete a chart and forward it to the Librarian, who will then file it for reference in the Society Library. This can of course be updated as and when necessary.
APPENDICES
(The files below are in Word format (.doc). Saving a file to your computer
and then opening it, may be faster than opening the file online.)
- 1. Ancestral Chart/Birth Brief
- 2. Data Protection Policy
- 3. Memorandum and Articles of Association
- 4. Grievance Procedure
- 5. Members Protocol
- 6. Group Protocol
- 7. Rules of Conduct General Meetings
- 8. Terms of Reference
