Canterbury Shetland and Orkney Society

Welcome to the Canterbury Shetland and Orkney Society

We are here to connect people who have an interest in or link to Shetland or the Orkney Islands. Explore your ancestry and discover your roots.

Based in Christchurch we meet four to six times a year. We have a small library that members can borrow from for their own interest or research.

Our Aims and Objectives

• To bring together people who are interested in Shetland and Orkney

- Those born in Shetland or Orkney

- Descendants and their partners

- Others who have an interest but no known connection with Shetland or Orkney.

• To promote interest in family history and ancestry and to encourage members to lodge genealogical material with the Society so that an archive can be built up. This will be used by members and will be of value to researchers.

• To learn more about the past and present through regular newsletters and meetings and to recreate aspects of Viking culture.

• To provide hospitality to migrants and visitors from Shetland and Orkney.

• To keep in regular contact with similar societies in New Zealand.