ZOOM Genealogy Club

 

Date:  Saturday, February 28, 2026

Time:  1:30 - 2:30 PM

We will welcome Laura Hobbs, to share her case study with us about her ancestor Patrick Derby, Jr. born in the late 18th century in Middletown, CT.

Laura's day job is that of hospital pharmacist, but she has been an avid genealogist for many years. She is currently the President of the Society of Middletown First Settlers Descendants and Secretary of the Board of Godfrey Memorial Library, and has been with both groups for many years. She will walk us through how she used the resources of the Godfrey as well as other sources to piece together Patrick's story.

Please register by 4:00 PM Friday, February 27. The invite will be sent out on that Friday.

Godfrey Premium members can register for free at the following email: zoomregistration@godfrey.org 

If you are not a Godfrey Premium member and want to attend the presentation, you can pay $10 via PayPal (https://www.paypal.com/us/home) with the payment sent to Godfrey Memorial Library.  Then register using the above email.

ZOOM Genealogy Club

 

John Grenham

Date:    Saturday, January 24, 2026

Time:    1:30 PM

Topic:   Mapping Ireland's Records

John Grenham, straight from Dublin, will tell us about using his website johngrenham.com for Mapping Ireland's Records.  If you've never heard John speak or visited his website, you're in for a treat.

John has extensive background in Irish genealogy, having worked for and with the Irish Times and the Dublin City Library among other prestigious organizations. With the help of his son Eoin, he now runs his own website which acts as an excellent jumping off point for Irish genealogical research. He also wrote THE book on Irish genealogy, Tracing Your Irish Ancestors. He has that lovely Irish lilt and a wonderfully wry sense of humor.  You’ll enjoy his presentation. We're thrilled that he'll be joining us.

Here is his description of his presentation:

The talk explores ways in which visualising the locations of households of particular surnames in Catholic records, valuations, census records and records of births, marriages and deaths can help with genealogy and local history, providing vivid examples of just how local some names are and how impossibly widespread others can be. All the records covered are free online and form part the basis of almost all nineteenth-century Irish research.

In addition, some of the focus will be on maps of the geographic areas used to collect the records. The talk will give some of the technical background involved in creating the maps, but will mostly focus on their use and on how they shed light on Irish surnames and Irish families.

A 33% discount on a year's subscription to www.johngrenham.com will be available for three days after the talk.  

Please register by 4:00 PM Friday, January 23. The invite will be sent out on that Friday.

Godfrey Premium members can register for free at the following email: zoomregistration@godfrey.org  If you are not a Godfrey Premium member and want to attend the presentation, you can pay $10 via PayPal (https://www.paypal.com/us/home) with the payment sent to Godfrey Memorial Library. Then register using the above email.