THE INTERNATIONAL GENEALOGY & HERALDRY FELLOWSHIP OF ROTARIANS

(Terminated by RI in 2008)

by Basil Lewis

The registered Mission Statement for this Fellowship is to unite all those Rotarians who are interested in family history and hereditary heraldry. Through our fellowship we will: · strive to exchange various ideas of genealogical research. · develop awareness of the need for open vital records to aid in family research. · help others in their research through limited local research. · establish a magazine carrying queries, news notes, book reviews, locations of genealogical records and other material to help in doing genealogical and heraldic research. · promote better understanding and good will through the interchange of genealogical backgrounds and heraldic Coats-of-Arms. Membership: All Rotarians, world-wide, who have an interest in genealogy and/or heraldry, or any other person or persons with similar interest, are invited to join our Fellowship.

Tracing family history, compiling a family tree, and even developing an heraldic shield are essentially personal and individual hobbies. So, this fellowship is not one that at present holds meetings. It does, however, aim to provide forums for discussion, interchange of information and assistance to potential genealogists through its publications and distribution of material. There are two main publications, RotaGene is produced in hard copy in the United States and sent world wide by the IGHFR Secretary and Editor, Jim High. There is a subscription and charge for this. The other is produced in RIBI by the British IGHFR

Secretary and Editor, Ken Farley. The RIBI Newsletter is largely distributed free by e-mail and deals with genealogical research involving Britain. For this reason, its mailing list is not exclusively from RIBI but contains Rotarians from other countries. Both publications are quarterly and some articles, requests for help and general information are repeated in both journals. New members, starters in either family history or heraldry are most welcome, and help can often be given to people with genealogical problems.

As the President of the International Genealogy and Heraldry Fellowship of Rotarians, I have a vested interest in making sure that all members and particularly all NEW members are made aware of all of the Rotary Fellowships. They are mentioned but not listed in "The ABC of Rotary" by Cliff Dochterman.

Editor's comment:

Basil Lewis is a member of the Rotary Club of Humberside, half way up England on the right hand side near Hull. He has been a Rotarian for 19 years and now works as a Quiz Compiler for BBC local radio. He joined the IGHFR after researching part of his wife's family back to 1040 for his daughter's school project, and then running a series in his club bulletin on 'Fellowships'. Intrigued, he joined, started an RIBI Branch and worked his way downwards from there. Basil is President of the IGHFR (Lewis is also a member of the research committee for Rotary Global History)