The Family History Society of Newfoundland and Labrador (FHSNL) was established in 1984, incorporated in 1987, and became a registered charity in 2013. The main objectives of the society are:
- To help researchers locate and access genealogical information.
- To foster education and interest in genealogical research through symposia, discussion groups, and lectures.
- To give members opportunities to connect with one another and share their research interests.
- To encourage the production and dissemination of genealogical and historical materials relating especially to Newfoundland and Labrador.
Tracing your family history in Newfoundland and Labrador can be an exciting and rewarding process. A good first step is to gather as much information as possible from your relatives and from family documents. After that, public records can be used to trace the generations further back, often over hundreds of years.
FHSNL can help you as you research your own family history. We publish a quarterly journal called The Ancestor that includes a variety of articles, including a section in which members are encouraged to publish their own research queries. We also regularly organise public lectures that feature guest speakers.
Our website has a growing collection of information that can assist with your family history research, including interactive forums as well as various materials that can be downloaded from our website (such as back issues of our journal (The Ancestor) and audio recordings of our lectures). While many of these online materials are available only to FHSNL members, non-members can view a free sample issue of The Ancestor, as well as access an introductory lecture from our archived lectures.
Please note, however, that only a portion of our materials have been digitised and placed on our website. To view our physical records, you can visit the office and research centre that we maintain, which houses an extensive collection of cemetery transcriptions, genealogies and family histories that have been submitted to us, as well as numerous books, journals from other societies, etc. For our location and hours, please refer to our "Contact Information" webpage.
Given that we operate as a volunteer-driven not-for-profit society, we are grateful for the support that we receive from our members, both in terms of payment of membership fees as well as the time and effort that are donated by the many volunteers that help our society to function. We invite you to become a member as well as to serve in a volunteer capacity if you are able to do so.
We are also thankful for the donations that we receive in support of our operations. We are a registered charity and so donations are eligible for income tax purposes. Please click here for more information on how to donate to us.