One-Place Studies Workshop » Part 1: Getting Up & Running with Janet Barrie

In September 2024, Projectkin was honored by the opportunity to be a co-sponsor of the collaborative program “All About That Place” featuring the Society for One-Place Studies, the Society of Genealogists, the British Association for Local History, and Genealogy Stories and sponsored by dozens of other companies and organizations.

Our focus for the program was to help spread the idea of One-Place Studies to regions outside of Britain and specifically across the Americas and the Pacific, so we called ours the Pacific Edition. An interest in the series and the approach led me to invite Janet Barrie, the current chair of the Society for One-Place Studies, to lead today’s workshop. Denise, one of our participants today, put it succinctly:

“A place is where the brick walls are.”

Many of us in family history have developed a curiosity about one-place studies as an offshoot of work in family research. In introducing the topic, Janet shared some background on how she “fell” into one-place studies by digging into a home that housed five generations of her family. That led to her research of the Springhill area of Rossendale. (See her study at Springhillhistory.org.uk).

Whether you participated in the live workshop or viewed the recording, we’d love to have you join the conversation. Feel free to comment below or share with your friends and encourage them to do the same.

References & Resources

Books:

• Janet Few:

  • “Ten Steps to a One-Place Study” (Available in paperback or Kindle.)

  • “Putting your Ancestors in their Place: A Guide to One Place Studies” (Available in paperback)

Websites mentioned

• Geograph.org.uk

• Register of One-Place Studies (OnePlaceStudies.org)

• (Though not mentioned) Explore both #OnePlaceStudies and #OnePlaceWednesday as useful ways to tap into global research projects as they’re underway. Hosted on Bluesky, Mastodon, Threads, and X — all day each Wednesday. Learn more.

Society of One-Place Studies

• Global view of registered one-place studies

• With resources available about specific regions to family researchers, the society is kind enough to list contacts by areas of interest.

• Books, programs, and other resources for their annual £10 membership.

Part two of our program, “Taking it Further,” also free and featuring

Janet Barrie

, is scheduled for April 3rd in our Atlantic time window.

Join us for Part two of this series on April 3rd. Please register for your free Zoom link.