Upcoming Meetings and Speakers 2025

Remember-All Hanover meetings begin at 1:00

 Saturday, May 10, 2025, 1:00 P.M., John Curtis Free Library, 537 Hanover Street, Hanover, MA 02339, 781-826-2972 

Topic: Leaving Liverpool

Presenter: Seema Kenny 

Liverpool played an important role as the port of departure for millions of people seeking new lives in countries such as the United States, Canada, and Australia. While emigrants or indentured servants left through Liverpool starting in the late 1600’s, it isn’t until the 19th century that thousand of emigrants from the British Isles and mainland Europe sailed from this port. It has been estimated that between 1830 and 1930, over nine million people emigrated through the port of Liverpool, bound for a new life. 

Seema will help us to understand, what was it like to assemble in Liverpool before traveling to America or Australia. The millions who did were subject to specific rules and given many tips for the voyage. Let’s explore documents about these voyages together!

 Seema is a professional genealogist, having completed the Genealogical Research Certificate Program at Boston University’s Center for Professional Education in 2010. Since then, she continued her education via ProGen & NIGR in 2012. She is a member of several Genealogy Societies, attends local conferences, and continues to learn from many webinars. Seema is a wife, mother, and entrepreneur. Her paternal roots run deep into Colonial New England, especially in Connecticut, Maine, and Massachusetts. Her European roots include English, German and Swedish, and more recently, through DNA, can now include the Netherlands.

 Saturday, June 21, 2025, 1:00 P.M., Home of the Friends of Irish Research, 899 North Main Street, Brockton, MA 02301     ***** CHANGE OF DATE AND LOCATION *****

 As our home library is not open in the month of June, our meeting will be at the Friends of Irish Research, which is located at the North Baptist Church.

Topic: From Local Meeting Houses to the Revolutionary Battlefields

Presenter: Richard Pratt and Richard Reid

Our speakers will provide a brief historical background on the colonial militia system, discuss the muster data from South Shore communities and show the analysis of the Lexington Alarm mobilization and the early skirmish encounters.

 Richard Reid is the director of both the Friends of Irish Research and the David Allen Lambert Library which are based in Brockton, MA. The Friends provide training seminars, host a website full of research resources and provide consultations in the Brockton facility or via email. He is an active member of over a dozen societies including the Genealogical Association of Nova Scotia and the Cape Breton Genealogical and Historical Association. In addition to the genealogical work, Richard also pastor of North Baptist Church in Brockton.

 Richard Pratt is Vice-president of the South Shore Genealogical Society and a curator with the Stoughton Historical Society.