Secret Lives

Secret Lives Secrets and Lies is a weekend residential genealogy conference for family historians taking place in 2025 organised by the Halsted Trust.

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15/08/2025

Secrets and Lies conference is now sold out. Email [email protected] for wait list

SPEAKER SPOTLIGHT - Dr. JANET FEWJanet has been actively seeking her ancestors for nearly half a century. She is an expe...
15/08/2025

SPEAKER SPOTLIGHT - Dr. JANET FEW
Janet has been actively seeking her ancestors for nearly half a century. She is an experienced family, social and community historian who is sought after as a lecturer throughout the UK, overseas and at sea. She has written several books of interest to family historians and contributes to academic and more popular local and family history journals. Her more recent output includes the Pen and Sword publications, Marginalised Ancestors and A History of Women’s Work. A qualified family historian, Janet also holds a certificate in adult education, a post-graduate certificate in experimental archaeology and a doctorate in applied local history. As one of the team behind the ‘A Few Forgotten Women’ initiative https://www.fewforgottenwomen.com, Janet seeks to tell the stories of women who history might otherwise overlook. She tutors several online courses for Pharos Teaching and Tutoring, including Putting your Female Ancestors in Context.
Janet will be giving two presentations at the conference
“Doxies, Dolly-mops and Dressmakers: the history of prostitution 1780-1930” and “Fallen Women or Vulnerable Girls?”
JUST TWO PLACES LEFT

Speaker Spotlight - Sarah WiseSarah teaches 19th-century social history and literature to undergraduates and adult learn...
25/07/2025

Speaker Spotlight - Sarah Wise
Sarah teaches 19th-century social history and literature to undergraduates and adult learners and is visiting professor at the University of California’s London Study Center. Her TV work includes providing background material for BBC1’s ‘Secret History of Our Streets’, and BBC2’s ‘The Victorian Slum’, and she has twice been the history expert on ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’.

Most recently, she spoke about Charles Booth’s Poverty Map on Lucy Worsley Investigates: Jack the Ripper.

Sarah will be giving two presentations at Secrets & Lies.
"The Undesirables: why Britain locked away its troublesome youngsters for life"
and
"Streets coloured black and blue: Charles Booth’s notebooks and the revelation of London poverty”

Hurry only eight places left!! http://secretsandlies.org.uk

Four Reasons to attend a family history conference1. Learn from the Experts (Without Needing to Marry One)Family history...
16/07/2025

Four Reasons to attend a family history conference
1. Learn from the Experts (Without Needing to Marry One)
Family history conferences bring together some of the best minds in genealogy — professional researchers, archivists, authors, and academics. You'll hear talks and workshops packed with practical advice, cutting-edge research, and those tantalizing little tips you don’t find in books.
2. Discover New Resources (That Aren’t Just the big web data providers)
Conferences often showcase resources you’ve never heard of — local archives, specialist societies, digital tools, and databases that might hold the key to your brick wall. Sometimes you don’t know what you’ve been missing until someone points you at it with a laser pointer during a PowerPoint.
3. Network with Like-Minded People (Or at Least People Who Don’t Think You’re Weird)
Whether you’re a beginner or you’ve been doing this since censuses were written on parchment, there’s something invigorating about being surrounded by people who understand why you get excited about a will from 1784. You’ll make connections, share ideas, and maybe even find someone researching the same obscure 19th-century basket weaver.
4. Inspiration and Motivation (Especially When You’ve Hit That Genealogical Brick Wall)
Hearing about other people’s research journeys — their breakthroughs, setbacks, and triumphs — can help you rekindle your own enthusiasm. Conferences remind you why you fell down the genealogy rabbit hole in the first place. And there’s usually cake, which helps.

SPEAKER SPOTLIGHT - DONNA RUTHERFORDDonna, a London-based Genetic Genealogist, combines her New Zealand heritage with de...
11/07/2025

SPEAKER SPOTLIGHT - DONNA RUTHERFORD
Donna, a London-based Genetic Genealogist, combines her New Zealand heritage with deep ancestral ties to England, Scotland, and Ireland. Her passion for genealogy began in her teens, leading to her first DNA test in 2015.

Since 2017, Donna has shared her expertise internationally, demystifying DNA research for audiences around the world. As a dedicated Facebook group administrator, she helps others unravel DNA mysteries, offering guidance on complex cases like unknown parentage, surprise results, and foundlings.

For this conference, Donna ventures into a different kind of mystery, using her code-cracking skills to uncover the captivating story of a young couple from Norfolk.
Donna’s presentation is
“Secrets in Code: Unlocking a Hidden Love Story”

SPEAKER SPOTLIGHT - DR CALISTA WILLIAMSCalista is the Course Director for the MSc in Genealogical Studies at the Univers...
30/06/2025

SPEAKER SPOTLIGHT - DR CALISTA WILLIAMS
Calista is the Course Director for the MSc in Genealogical Studies at the University of Strathclyde. She holds a PhD in History from the Open University and for over a decade has taught historical and genealogical research skills.

She has contributed to programmes on BBC Television, BBC Radio Wales and S4C. Calista has spoken at several conferences including at the National Library of Wales, Senate House in London and Harvard University.

She is a member of the Association of Genealogy Educators and Schools (AGES) and is chair of their Curriculum Committee. In 2023, Calista was elected as an Associate Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.

Calista will speak about "Shall I be Mother? The lives of ‘house parents’ in Poor Law Cottage Homes"

We are delighted to announce that the University of Strathclyde will be sponsoring the Secrets & Lies conference.The Un...
19/06/2025

We are delighted to announce that the University of Strathclyde will be sponsoring the Secrets & Lies conference.
The University offers flexible learning pathways and events for every stage of your genealogy journey. Whether you’d like to take a short online class, pursue a postgraduate degree, enhance your skills through professional development or work towards a PhD, there’s something for every interest and skill level. For further information see https://www.strath.ac.uk/studywithus/centreforlifelonglearning/genealogy/

For more information on the conference see https://www.secretsandlies.org.uk

Speaker Spotlight - Alan MoorhouseAlan started researching his family history 1976 whilst still at school after seeing t...
17/06/2025

Speaker Spotlight - Alan Moorhouse
Alan started researching his family history 1976 whilst still at school after seeing the old Moorhouse family bible for the first time. In time he really focused on his maternal great grandmother’s surname of Farmery and this developed into a worldwide one-name study.

A Guild of One-Name Studies member since 1994, he is vice-chair of the Seminar Team and co-organised their 2019 40th anniversary annual conference and the 2 conferences post-COVID.

He has been a speaker at numerous Guild seminars and most recently at Family History Down Under in Sydney. He is also membership secretary of the Cave FHS.

Alan’s talk is “Keeping It In The Family – A Police Sergeant Should Have Known Better?”
See more at http://www.secretsandlies.org.uk

Speaker Spotlight - Margaret RobertsMargaret is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, an academic author, speaker, e...
07/06/2025

Speaker Spotlight - Margaret Roberts
Margaret is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, an academic author, speaker, experienced researcher, and genealogist who specialises in Sports History.

She works as an independent researcher, although in recent years she has also been engaged on research projects within Higher Education. Her publications include a book on Victorian swimming communities, academic journal papers on women’s football, teacher training, and Victorian swimming baths and their employees.

She has presented on all these topics at several public history and academic forums both at home and abroad. Margaret is the editor of Britain’s only online Sport and Leisure History magazine Playing Pasts [www.playingpasts.co.uk] as well as Chair of the Family History Society of Cheshire, Society Liaison Officer and Trustee for the Family History Federation, Trustee of Devon Family History Society, Independent Researcher Representative and Trustee of the British Society of Sports History, and a core member of the Few Forgotten Women team.

The title of Margaret's talk is “Oh Dear, What can the matter be? Auntie Joe’s lost in the Family Tree”
Find out more at www.secretsandlies.org.uk

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