West Middlesex Family History Society

Federation of Family History Societies

The Family History Federation (FHF) is the national organisation for family history to which West Middlesex Family History Society, along with many other similar groups, belongs. It was founded in 1974, updated as a charity in 2004, and has over 200 member societies representing an estimated 300,000 family historians. Its objectives are firstly to promote the study of family history and heraldry, co-ordinating and assisting member Societies in this aim, and secondly to promote the preservation, security and accessibility of archive material. Its member societies include over a hundred like ours in England and Wales, many from overseas, and numerous one-name societies and other theme-based societies.

West Middlesex Family History Society makes an annual subscription to the Federation for which it obtains a number of benefits – principal among these being:

• National representation on several advisory and consultative bodies;
• The dissemination of current news and issues;
• Advice to member societies via seminars, leaflets and individual consultation;
• Access to a list of speakers for society meetings and events;
• Competitive insurance rates for liability and asset insurance;
• FFHS publications at a discount;
• Access to royalties for data we make available to the major family history search engines on the internet. FFHS have negotiated contracts with Find My Past, and Genes Reunited by which our transcribed data may be searched for and retrieved at these websites. We receive royalties dependent on the number of times our records are retrieved by subscribers to these websites.

Individual members are encouraged to visit the Federation website from where you may also register to receive their regular newsletter.