| Status: | Active, open to new members |
| Convenor: | |
| When: | Monthly on Friday mornings 2nd Friday of the month 10:30 to 12:30 |
| Venue: | Member's Home |
We meet face-to-face on the 2nd Friday of the month, with the exception of January and August (when we do not meet) at a member's house.
In general, we aim to
- Use our Family Trees to learn how to find genealogy information so that we can build our Family Trees and explore our family histories and break down our research "brick walls".
- Discuss genealogy research methods that are new to us.
- Exchange the latest Genealogy News.
- Meet and network with colleagues.
The group consists of experienced genealogists who have, in most cases, been researching their family histories for many years. All members contribute to developing the meeting programme and our meeting discussions. Meetings are informal but each meeting is led by a group member who will speak for a maximum of 20 minutes sharing their own research and information on the topic. Everyone attending the meeting then contributes (no more than 10 minutes each) something from their research on the topic.
2026 Meeting programme
Upcoming meetings:
10th July - Occupations
August - no meeting
11th September - Naming traditions and patterns
9th October - Illegitimacy and pregnancy before marriage
13th November - The military
11th December - Historical events that affected the lives of our ancestors
Future topics:
Evacuation (during WW2)
Past meetings:
12th June - DNA tips
8th May - Monumental Inscriptions
10th April - Heirloom Day
13th February and 13th March - Migration to, from and within the UK
The following summarises, the topics we have discussed in recent years:
2025 meeting topics included the challenges of researching ancestors who lived in London, using maps to aid our research, preserving genealogical records, identifying ancestors from old photographs, using DNA results to help break down our brick walls and how we record our family history research. Members also shared their research findings identifying ancestors who were famous scientists, linked to Royalty (including 7 direct ancestors who were in the Tower of London), Welsh coal miners, a working class family from Pembrokeshire, WW2 Air raid wardens, a family who moved from Shetland to Devon via Glasgow, Liverpool and London. In December we had a "Christmas Lucky Dip" meeting when members shared something they had learnt from their family history research which could help other members with their research.
2024 meeting topics included Wills and Probates, Passenger lists, the challenges of researching our ancestors in London, occupations, sharing our experiences of finding "missing" ancestors in records, how to record our family trees and compile the information we find and sessions helping each other break down brick walls in our research.
We also have links with Devon Family History Society and have held meetings at their Tree House Research Centre to explore the resources they have available.
Information for potential new members: The Group is approaching capacity and, because of space in the members’ home where we meet, we have a maximum of 10 members who can attend each meeting. New members, who are experienced genealogists, are welcome to join the group. So that we can learn with and from each other, new members will be asked to share some of their research findings with the group.
Exeter u3a also has a Genealogy Group (Stage 1) for beginners or those with less genealogy experience. If you are unsure which group would be best for you, please contact the Convenor who will be happy to chat to you.
