Learn@QFHS

A History of Parliament Online

Presenter: Patrice Connelly

This website is a key genealogy resource for anyone with a member of any UK parliament in their family history.  Patrice Connelly will begin by outlining the history of parliament and suffrage.  She will then introduce this very user-friendly website and show you in detail how it works and how to search.  The earliest date you can search on is 1386, so there is plenty of scope for research and thousands of names and pictures.  And if your ancestor was a humble labourer, you may be able to research their employer if he was a parliamentarian.  Don’t miss this comprehensive and interesting talk on a genealogy goldmine.

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When Your Money is Not Your Own: Women, Business & the Law

Presenter: Dr Catherine Bishop

For much of the 19th century Australasian wives were essentially non-people, unable to own property, make contracts or sue in court independently of their husbands. In this talk, award-winning historian Dr Catherine Bishop will explain exactly how the law worked and explore the myriad ways - both respectable and otherwise - that women navigated their way around legal restrictions to make a living. From lady schoolmarms to earthy publicans, from hard-working milliners to charming con-women, our feminine forebears could be surprisingly entrepreneurial

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Finding your family: the fundamentals of research Winter 2026

Presenter: QFHS Tutors

Are you new to family history and wondering how to get started?

Or perhaps you’ve researched before and would like a refresher?

Maybe you’ve tried searching online but found the information overwhelming or scattered?

If any of this sounds like you, our 6-week course, Finding Your Family, is the perfect next step.

Led by experienced tutors, this course will give you practical guidance on:

• Where to look for reliable records (such as birth, marriage, death, census, and immigration documents).
• How to plan your research and stay organised.
• Tips for using libraries, archives, and online resources.
• Understanding newer tools like DNA testing and artificial intelligence (AI)
• How to bring all your findings together into a clear family tree.

By the end of the course, you will:

• Have the skills and confidence to trace your ancestors step by step.
• Know how to find and use different record collections.
• Be aware of the support and services offered by our society.
• Have a strong foundation to continue building your family history.

We’ve designed the course to run over six weeks so you can practise your new skills, reflect on your progress, and ask questions as you go.

To ensure everyone receives individual attention, the number of participants is limited to 10.
(Minimum enrolment - 4 participants)

Presenters: QFHS Tutors (Sue Reid, Geoff Morgan, Charlotte Sale, Alex Daw, and Chris Schuetz.

What our past participants say...

Thank you for a wonderful course and I look forward to joining in on many more in the future.

Please read our cancellation and non-attendance policy

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Don’t let it go to waste: get your research out there

Presenter: Dr Gaye Wilson

You've spent years tracing your ancestors through BDM certificates, photographs, immigration records, family stories, military records, land deeds, DNA matches. You've compiled a tree going back to William the conqueror. You have met distant cousins, all 1037 of them.

Now what? What happens with all this research when you die? 

This presentation discusses the consequences of thinking you'll do something with it when you're absolutely sure it's perfect, or when you've broken that brick wall. Well, guess what? You'll never be finished or satisfied, the research will never be perfect. So do something with it now–this weekend–so that all the valuable knowledge you have collected is shared before it's lost again.

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Looking sideways: Expanding your research strategically

Presenter: Danielle Lautrec

It’s understandable that many genealogists focus on their direct ancestors, as those are their closest family members.  However, the best research outcomes are achieved by researching beyond your direct line.  In this lecture, Danielle Lautrec will provide incentives and techniques for expanding your research in a strategic manner.

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Genetics – A Fundamental Role for the Family Historian

Presenter: Maj Gen Prof John Pearn AO RFD MD

For many, writing a family history is both a passion and a duty. Creating a family history is a priceless gift to give children, and other relatives. It is a gift for our children of future generations, yet unborn. Every parent passes 50% of his or her genes to every child. Statistically, this percentage is halved for each succeeding generation. This means that grandchildren and aunts and uncles have, on average, 25% of their genes in common. Each of us has two biological parents, four grandparents… and so on. We have 32 great-great-great grandparents and if any one of these did not exist, we would not be who we are. Many of us believe we have a duty to document at least some of their biographies, as our forebears. Each of us holds, in our memories, unique knowledge about family history — which if not documented or recorded, will be lost forever.

Medical genetics and genetic counselling have to do with such themes as the risk of passing on harmful genes, cousin marriages, and age effects of risk. Such involve moral and ethical issues as each of us holds personal medical information which is of significance to those with whom we share our genetic heritage

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