Lincolnshire Historical Societies

Larger Genealogical and Historical Societies

You may wish to start with these county-wide or regional societies:

• The first place I would suggest is The Lincolnshire Family History Society, or by mail at:
  Unit 6, 33 Monks Way
  Lincoln, Lincs. LN2 5LN
  United Kingdom
• Then visit The Isle of Axholme Family History Society for those parishes in the North West corner of Lincolnshire west of the River Trent.
• If your ancestors were from the Fenland region (mostly southern Lincolnshire) a visit to the Fenland Family History Society might be in order.
• Research publications and indexes created by the Lincolnshire FHS and others are available via credit card from the Federation of Family History Societies.

Local FHS and Village History Societies

A local parish or urban district historical society sometimes has more data of interest to your specific needs as a researcher. Many of these do not have a website and are purely volunteer staffed. A contribution for any research effort is a wise investment:

• In Grimsby, one should check these:
  1. The Fishing Museum, with many photographs and artifacts from that industry.
  2. The Welholme Galleries, which is being converted to a local history museum.
     Telephone the Council at 01472 313131 to confirm dates and times open.
• The village of Long Bennington has a local History Society:
  The Secretary
  Long Bennington Local History Society
  68 Main Road
  Long Bennington
  Newark, Notts. NG23 5DJ
  United Kingdom
• In the south of Lincolnshire, look into the resources at the Wisbech and Fenland Museum:
  The Wisbech and Fenland Museum
  Museum Square
  Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, PE13 1ES
  United Kingdom
  Tele: 01945 583817
  e-mail: WisbechMuseum
• The Lincolnshire Family History Society has branches that meet (at 7:30pm unless otherwise noted) in:
  Boston, at The Hall, Centenary Methodist Church.
  Bourne, at the United Reformed Church, Willoughby Road.
  Grantham, at Harrowby Lane Methodist Church Hall.
  Great Grimsby, Town Hall on the second Tuesday of each month at 7pm.
  Horncastle, at the Community Centre, Manor House Street.
  Lincoln, at Bracebridge Heath village hall at 1:30pm.
  Louth, at the Salvation Army Citadel, Church Street.
  Scunthorpe, currently inactive.

The Federation of Family History Societies (FFHS)

Founded in 1974, this is the place to go to order publications, fiche, maps, etc. created by the various socities.

• The Federation of Family History Societies. Or write them at:
  The Federation of Family History Societies
  PO BOX 2425
  COVENTRY, CV5 6YX
  United Kingdom
• At the beginning of 2003, GenFair, an independent site for ordering family history publications, merged with the FFHS, creating an even better resource for researchers. Purchases can be made by Credit Card.

The Society of Genealogists

The SOG has a great many records available in their reading room:

• The Society of Genealogists. Or write them at:
  The Society of Genealogists
  14 Charterhouse Buildings
  Goswell Road
  London, EC1M 7BA
  United Kingdom

Social and Public Clubs

This section discusses non-genealogical socities in Lincolnshire. Some of these may have membership records.

The Oddfellows, like the 'Forestors' or 'The Ancient Shepherds' or 'The Ancient Order of Druids' were 'friendly societies'. Acts of Parliament in 1793 and 1825 allowed these clubs to be set up. Their function was to offer financial relief to their members in times of hardship such as sickness and retirement. Their memberships were more upper working class or middle class in the social heirarchy as, the member ship fees to join and the monthly subscription were often beyond the reach of the labouring working classes who might well have been living 'hand to mouth' on a month to month basis. In 1850 there were 5,487 Oddfellows in Lincolnshire, organised into 99 'lodges' but this had increased by 1900 to a membership in Lincoln alone, of 6,209. These societies often met in a public house but some who had leanings towards temperance or were better off, had their own premises. So occasionally, you will still find public buildings known as The Oddfellows Hall. The public houses often had a decorated 'fan light' that is a pane of glass over the entrance door with the Arms of the Society inscribed and coloured, these too could be seen in the older pubs of the 1980s. The reference book to try to get hold of is The Friendly Societies in England: 1815-1875, by P H J H Gosden 1961.