19th October, Genealogy as Social History

Dear Members,

The Committee of the Cambridge Society is delighted to announce a Camsoc talk on the subject of:

"Genealogy as Social History" given by one of our illustrious members, Guy Knapton,

on Tuesday 19th October at 19:15hrs.

at the 'library' of the

Cercle des Voyageurs

Rue des Grands Carmes, 18, 1000 Bruxelles.

phone: 02 514 3949

Drinks can be bought on the way through and afterwards, according to appetite, we can move to the restaurant part for dinner.

In his talk, longstanding member of the Society Guy Knapton, will show how genealogy can deepen our knowledge of wider issues. He remembers how, as a small boy, he listened to his parents and their relatives engaging in animated discussions round the dining-room table about "the family": how the name got changed; who married Dame Nellie Melba; or how one mysterious member "left and became a bigamist". Secretly, he would often lift a faded copy of Debrett from a bookcase and wonder why some pages were missing. Since he retired five years ago, Guy has drawn up a curious cameo of the varying fortunes of his family and discovered far-reaching connections that he never heard mentioned at the dining-room table. To a great extent, he feels, all social history can be traced through the history of families. That the varying fortunes of a family may be closely tied to Empire, wars, migration, social mobility and economic cycles in ways in which cause and effect are tantalisingly hard to separate.

Please RSVP: camsoc.be@gmail.com for a headcount so that seating can be prepared in advance.

As usual, guests are welcome.

Best wishes,

Caroline Laske