Society of Genealogists

The Society of Genealogists (SoG) has built an extensive archive over more than a century through donations and bequests, preserving the lifetime research of genealogists and family historians.

Archive Description

Its collections range from major special collections to individual documents, and include unique records, family trees, photographs, correspondence, research notes, manuscripts, diaries, scrapbooks, and historical artefacts.

The archive comprises over 700 special and small research collections, many relating to personal research and one-name studies. The Surname Document Collection, spanning 760 boxes, contains certificates, wills, transcripts and other original documents, while the Topographical Document Collection includes 50 boxes of place-based records covering court, financial and land-use material.

The digitised Archives Card Catalogue, containing almost 40,000 surname references, helps researchers locate pedigrees and special collections. The SoG also holds more than 10,000 historical family trees, many of which are digitised and indexed in TreeSearch™.

The Society also holds significant resources for Jewish family history. Specialist holdings include the Colyer-Fergusson, Hyamson, Ronald D’Arcy Hart and Isobel Mordy collections, which preserve extensive pedigrees, synagogue record extracts, newspaper cuttings, research notes and family files documenting Anglo-Jewish families from the eighteenth to twentieth centuries.

Many collections are available on microfilm or microfiche, with some material indexed through the Sourcebook for Jewish Genealogies and Family Histories or incorporated into the Knowles Collection on FamilySearch. Together with a substantial library of published Jewish genealogical reference works, these collections make the SoG one of the UK’s leading repositories for Jewish family history research.

As a FamilySearch Affiliate Library, members can access many restricted FamilySearch films and digital records, including Jewish collections.

Online Accessibility

The SoG archive collections are in the process of digital cataloguing, in the meantime scanned copies of their finding aids can be found in the Archives Finding Aids folder via the link on the Archive Resources page.

Digital Accessibility

SoG Explore is available to members via the Digital Resources page.

This is a database of images and indexes of resources held in the SoG library and archives. It contains over 20 million name index and image records with new additions listed in the quarterly Genealogists’ Magazine and regular newsletter.

Some Jewish marriages and pedigrees from the collections have been digitised and are available on the SoG Explore database.

Access Information

The library and archive is open to all – members visit free of charge, and non-members pay a day pass fee. Information on charges is available on Access our Collections.

Proof of address is required for all users but advance notification is not necessary.

Enquiries can be submitted online by emailing the Genealogy Enquiry Team genenquiries@sog.org.uk.

Library opening times: Wednesday to Friday – 10.30am to 4.00pm.

First Thursday of each month 10.30am – 7.00pm, following Saturday – 10.30am to 4.00pm.

collections@sog.org.uk

Street Address

Society of Genealogists, 40 Wharf Road, London, N1 7GS

Archive Resources