Family History Federation

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.




Society news

Notice Board

The Notice Board was last updated on 9th January 2026.

Next Members Meeting

Our next members meeting is on Thursday 20th August 2026. The focus of the meeting will be a talk by Nigel Crompton titled The Women Police Service during WW1 and the involvement of the Ministry of Munitions. Nigel will be speaking from St. John's Centre. Members may be remote or at St. John's.

Next Chat-in Meeting

Our next members chat-in meeting is on Tuesday 28th July 2026. Join us from the WMFHS Chat-In Meeting page.

Next Fair

Our next family history fair is the Berkshire Heritage Online Fair on Saturday 18th July.


Previous news


Recent updates

17-Jul-2026

New image of the month.

17-Jul-2026

Clare O'Grady's handout for her Researching Your Rural Ancestors talk is available to all on our Talk Handouts page.

3-Jul-2026

Committee Minutes for June 2026 added to Members Area.

20-Jun-2026

New image of the month.

19-Jun-2026

Adele Emm's handout for her Silken Threads talk is available to all on our Talk Handouts page.


Previous updates


© Copyright West Middlesex Family History Society 2007-2026  
A Member of the Federation of Family History Societies. Registered Charity No. 291906