Project launched to digitise pedigree rolls
The Society of Genealogists (SOG) has announced a new project to make more than 8,000 pedigree rolls accessible online.
The rolls are priceless handwritten charts tracing a particular tree. The oldest in SOG’s collections date from 1620, and the individuals found in the rolls include Oliver Cromwell and poet Robert Burns.
SOG will work with academics at Imperial College London and software company Socially Bright to digitise the documents. A selection will be available to everyone on SOG’s website sog.org.uk, while the rest will be available online to the society’s members. SOG received a £50,000 grant to fund the project from national charity Art Fund ( artfund.org).
Dr Wanda Wyporska, SOG’s chief executive, said, “It’s a real challenge to conserve the rolls and make sure that we can make them available for as many people in the community as possible. This is one of the crown jewels that we’re really looking forward to people being able to access.”