The Family History Society
of the Alabaster Family
Introduction
by Laraine Hake, Hon. Secretary
This is the site for you if you have an interest in the family name of Alabaster. We have
information on more than 3,000 Alabasters, from the present day back to the 15th century, which
we are willing to share. We have more than 150 members (households) from England, Scotland,
Wales, Germany, France, Netherlands, New Zealand, Australia, USA, Canada, Thailand,
Argentina, and Hong Kong.
The Alabaster Society was formed in 1993, following Gatherings held in 1990 and 1992 in
Hadleigh, Suffolk, of more than 100 of the descendants of Thomas Alabaster (c1522-1592), who
was a leading member of the community in Hadleigh. Indeed, our family is unusual in that all
Alabasters in the UK are descended from Thomas, his son John, grandson Thomas, and great-grandson also called
John.
Note for Editors: if you wish to quote from these pages you are welcome to do so, but please include our web address
www.alabaster.org.uk for the further information of your readers.
The Guildhall, Hadleigh
A brass (pictured right), dedicated to Thomas Alabaster, can
be seen in St. Mary`s Church, Hadleigh. The brass of his son
John is pictured below. A closer view of the inscriptions can be
seen on the Hadleigh page.
Every three years a Gathering of members is held, usually
during April, either in the Guildhall or the Old School House in
Hadleigh. The Old School was built in 1853 on the site of the
former Alabaster School, which was, according to the local
historian, the late W.A.B. Jones, the first effective elementary
or non-grammar school. It was established under the will of
John Alabaster, 1637. There are eight major branches of the
Alabaster family, and so far all have been represented at each
Gathering. Details of the last Gathering are on this site.
Each time we have been able to welcome members from far
flung parts of the world, such as Australia, New Zealand,
Canada, and the USA, who have been able to join in for the
first time.
The Society`s journal, The Alabaster Chronicle, is sent to
members twice a year. Nearly all the earlier back numbers
can be accessed through the Chronicles link.
The Society is a member of the Federation of Family History Societies (FFHS), whose website is at
http://www.ffhs.org.uk/ Should your enquiries ever take you away from the Alabaster family, we can heartily
recommend this site as a useful port of call.
Anyone can join The Alabaster Society. The subscription
year starts on 1st September, and for the year 2007-8 is
£8.00 per household (UK and overseas).
For details of whom to ask if you have a question, how to
contact us, how to join the Society, or how to make a
donation, please click the Contact us link in the main
navigation panel (top left and at the bottom of each
page).
We hope you enjoy visiting this site, which is in a
permanent state of being "under construction", as new
information is constantly added, and other pages are
brought up-to-date. As larger computer screens are
more commonplace now than when the website was
started, we have adjusted all the pages to make them
easier to read on larger, as well as smaller, screens.
Unfortunately, this means that pages take a little longer
to load. Most information about Alabasters past and
present is to be found through the Chronicles link.
So where to start? We suggest reading The Alabasters
in Hadleigh (Chronicle No 10) from a talk given to the
Society by the late distinguished historian, W. A. B.
Jones, in which he explains the activities of the
Alabasters in this town from the 16th century, and how
they secured the Guildhall (pictured above) for the town.
While you are navigating the site, try using the
facility to look for one of your own ancestors. What you find might surprise you! The search box also
appears at the top and bottom left on every page, below the main navigation menu.
This is the site for you if you have an interest in the family name of Alabaster. We have
information on more than 3,000 Alabasters, from the present day back to the 15th century, which
we are willing to share. We have more than 150 members (households) from England, Scotland,
Wales, Germany, France, Netherlands, New Zealand, Australia, USA, Canada, Thailand,
Argentina, and Hong Kong.
A brass (pictured right), dedicated to Thomas Alabaster, can
be seen in St. Mary`s Church, Hadleigh. The brass of his son
John is pictured below. A closer view of the inscriptions can be
seen on the 
Anyone can join The Alabaster Society. The subscription
year starts on 1st September, and for the year 2007-8 is
£8.00 per household (UK and overseas).