An invaluable resource for anyone researching their family roots in the Buchan area of Aberdeenshire.

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Finding our roots, where we came from, is something that many people around the globe find fascinating. Our Family History Society was set up in 2008 to help people find their roots in this north east corner of Scotland. In our Family History Centre in Peterhead we do all we can to help you in your search for your ancestors.
In 2020, during the COVID epidemic, we had to close our doors, which had serious cost implications for us. However we have reopened and are once again here to help you. This past year has seen our costs rise dramatically, mainly with the cost of fuel rising rapidly, which has brought us to the point where our cash flow is becoming a great concern. We are now at the stage where we only have enough funds to continue running the society for a few more months. We have done what we can to cut costs but in order to survive we are launching this appeal. The funds we are hoping to raise will keep the Centre open for the rest of this year, giving us a breathing space and the time we need to build up our funds to move forward. At the present time we need to raise £5000 a year to run our centre.
What do we offer the Genealogist
In the Centre we have a search room with computers available to help you with your search, a reference library, microfiche, and a searchable database of all the information we hold. Our volunteer staff are on hand to help and advise you. We will also undertake research for people who cannot visit our centre.
As well as helping you to find online resources, we are able to offer help in finding the records that are not available on the web, such as the work we are currently doing digitising old school admissions records.
We have a huge collection of local photographs, school photos, workplace photos, and family photos as well as old photos of the local area, all digitised, and where possible we have identified the people in them. An ongoing project!
If you have roots in this area, we could well have a picture of your great grannie, great uncle or aunt. We could have a picture and transcription of a gravestone, or a school record or class photo.
We host events, arrange informative walks around local graveyards, hold photograph exhibitions, and organise work days to read and record old gravestones.
It can be relatively easy to find census, birth, marriage and death records, but what do they tell us of the people themselves? We like to say we try to put the flesh on the bare bones of these records.
Who doesn't want to find out more?
What was it like growing up in Peterhead during the war years? Who lived in the first prefabs? What are the stories behind the names on our war memorial? We have published books covering all these and more, many researched and written by our members. Above are just some of the titles in our library, some of which are available to buy.
We have also published several CD's containing not just transcriptions, but photographs of the gravestones, together with a plan of the layout.
Can you help us survive?
To continue to do this, to collect records that may otherwise be lost, and to help people find out all they can about their families history, we need to raise funds to keep our Centre open.
You can help by giving a donation. You could also become a member of the Society. https://www.buchanroots.scot/
These past few years have been difficult for all of us, but especially for small charities like ours.
Please consider helping us to keep on helping you.