NOTES FOR NEW MEMBERS

Welcome to the East of London Family History Society. We hope that you will benefit from belonging to it. These notes are designed to give you some basic information about the Society, its services, and the way it operates.

EAST OF LONDON AREA
The areas which we consider to be "East of London" are, in alphabetical order, as follows:
Aldgate, Artillery Liberty, Barking, Bethnal Green, Bishopsgate, Bow, Bromley by Bow, Bromley St.Leonard, Canning Town, Clapton, Cranham, Custom House, Dagenham, Dalston, East Ham, Forest Gate, St George in the East, Hackney, Haggerston, Havering atte Bower, Homerton, Hornchurch, Hoxton, Great Ilford, Little Ilford, Isle of Dogs, Kingsland, Limehouse, Mile End, Norton Folgate, Plaistow, Poplar, Rainham (Essex), Ratcliff, Romford, Shadwell, Shoreditch, Silvertown, Spitalfields, Stepney, Stoke Newington, Stratford le Bow, Tower Liberty, Upminster, Wanstead, Wapping, Wennington, West Ham, Whitechapel, Woodford, North Woolwich.

HOW THE SOCIETY IS RUN
The East of London FHS, formed by a small group of enthusiasts in 1978, is now one of the largest family history societies in the country. The Chairman, General Secretary, Treasurer and other Executive Committee members are elected by the Annual General Meeting held in January each year. The committee are unpaid volunteers who carry out necessary work on behalf of the membership. The names and addresses of those responsible for various Society activities are given in the Society's quarterly journal Cockney Ancestor. There is a constant need for helpers with various projects, some of which can be done from a distance. If you would like to help, or have a skill which may be useful to the Society, please let the General Secretary know.

The Society's subscription year runs from 1 September to 31 August and renewal notices are sent out in August with the Summer issue of Cockney Ancestor. Please be prompt in renewing. Members who have not paid by mid-October will be removed from the mailing list, and therefore late renewals will cause extra work for the Membership Secretary.

MAGAZINE
Cockney Ancestor is published four times a year, currently around the end of January, April, July and October. It provides a varied selection of articles from members about their researches, family history sources etc, and gives news of what is happening both from within the society and in the wider field of family history. It also gives information on new publications, and includes members' surname interests and research queries.

SURNAMES INDEX
A questionnaire is enclosed on which to list up to ten surnames which you are researching. These will be entered in our Surnames Index through which we can link members seeking similar names and localities. You may send in revisions and additions to your interests at any time but please keep to the brief Surname/Place/County/Period; we cannot select names of interest from detailed narratives or family trees. As your name and address will be placed on computer database, a note about the Data Protection Act is set out below.

Please note that this Surnames Index is quite separate from the Members' Surnames listed On Line. If you wish to have your Surnames included in the On Line section go to this page HERE

MEETINGS
The Society holds monthly meetings throughout the year at Wanstead, Upminster, Barking and Bishopsgate. In addition an Annual General Meeting is held in January each year, usually at a location within the Society's area. Details of the programme for the Branches are given in Cockney Ancestor and on the Diary Pages HERE. Branch meetings provide a varied programme of lectures, question and answer sessions and collective project work. These meetings enable members to get to know one another, use the library, bookstall and microfiche collection and hear news of what's going on.

BOOKSTALL
The Society offers an extensive selection of books, pamphlets and maps on family and local history alike, of interest to both novices and "old hands" alike. A list of current publications is sent to all members annually with the Autumn issue of Cockney Ancestor and quarterly updates are sent with the magazine. See the section on Publications. All items are available by post from our mail order service:

Mr Richard Chapman, 37 Ravel Gardens, Aveley, Essex, RM15 4NS, UK.

COURIER SERVICE
For those members unable to visit London on a regular basis, the society offers a courier service. Birth, Marriage and Death certificates from the Family Records Centre (including a 3 year search) can be ordered, collected and posted for a small fee in addition to the standard charge. Wills and Letters of Administration from New Avenue House (1858 onward). See Cockney Ancestor for further details.

STRAYS INDEX
A stray is a record of a person outside his or her known area a Londoner marrying in Sussex, or visa versa, with the place of origin stated. A collection of these records can be of immense value in helping to track down elusive ancestors. Members are encouraged to note strays whenever possible and send them to be added to the index, so that it can continue to grow and serve members. The Strays Indexer is pleased to receive enquiries for names (please enclose return postage). See Cockney Ancestor for further details.

PROJECTS
Since the formation of the Society groups of members have produced a number of valuable finding aids to family history research in the east of London area. The major ones to date are indexes to 1851 census returns, monumental inscriptions and the transcription of the 1881 census as part of a national project. The society aims to publish as much of this work as possible, in booklet and/or microfiche form in order to make family history material accessible to as many people as possible, beyond that which is provided by record offices and libraries. If you would like to offer your help with current or future projects, please contact our Project Organiser.

CORRESPONDENCE AND OTHER MATTERS
Please reply to letters received from other members or family historians. Many of us, seeing a certain name among the interests and queries, have written to offer information; when there is no acknowledgement, the person who wrote is discouraged from doing so again. Above all a family history society is for mutual help. If you have suggestions regarding any aspect of the society, do not hesitate to let us have them.

It cannot be stressed strongly enough that we are a voluntary organisation. All the work of the Society, from weekends recording inscriptions in churchyards, to clerical and typewriting jobs, is done by ordinary members in their spare time. The Officers and Committee members are pleased to give all the help they can to members, and do their very best to be efficient. But at the same time, we ask you to be remember we are volunteers, so be reasonable in your calls and requirements.

In all correspondence with the Society, and when submitting items for Cockney Ancestor, please quote your membership number which you will find on your address label for the Magazine. It is customary when writing to the Society and to individual members to enclose return postage if a reply is expected. Try to ensure, by checking with details given in Cockney Ancestor and in these notes, that your enquires are sent to the right person in the Society.

MEMBERSHIP RECORDS AND THE DATA PROTECTION ACT
Under the Data Protection Act all organisations holding personal information on computer are required to register with the Data Protection Registrar unless they qualify for exemption. The Society is currently exempted from the need to register under the Act. However, it is still required to comply with the Act by informing all members that computerised records are kept, and the nature of the information about them contained within these records.

All current members will have their membership numbers, names and addresses entered onto the Society's Computer Databases. In addition, Members registering their interests by completing and returning the questionnaire will have these details entered onto the Surnames Index. Having received details of a member's interests, a search will be carried out and a letter will be sent to that member listing details of other members researching the same name.

All computer-based details of members who do not renew their subscription are erased from the database, in accordance with the Data Protection Act.

PROFESSIONAL RESEARCHERS
We would stress that as all society officers and helpers are volunteers we are unable to carry out research for members.

RECORD OFFICES AND LIBRARIES
The principal archives and local history libraries for the society's area and their telephone numbers are as follows:

London Metropolitan Archives
40 Northampton Road
London EC1 2EJ
Tel: 020 7332 3520

Guildhall Library
Aldermanbury
London EC2 2EJ
Tel: 020 7332 1863

Essex Record Office
Wharf Road
Chelmsford
CM2 6YT
Tel: 01245 244644

Hackney Archives Department
De Beauvoir Road
London N1 4DQ
Tel: 020 7241 2886

Tower Hamlets Local History Library & Archives
Bancroft Library
Bancroft Road
London E1 4DQ
Tel: 020 8980 4366 ext. 129

Newham Archives & Local Studies Library
Stratford Library
3 The Grove
London E15 1EL
Tel: 020 8430 6881

Redbridge Central Library, Local History Section
Clements Road
Ilford IG1 1EA
Tel: 020 8708 2417

Valence Reference Library (Barking & Dagenham)
Becontree Avenue
Dagenham
Essex RM1 3AR
Tel: 020 8592 6537

Romford Central Reference Library (Havering)
St Edwards Way
Romford
Essex RM1 3AR 01708 772394