Calvin Community Church in Robertson St was the birthplace of the Gore Group of Genealogists, who help people piece together their family trees.
Founded in 1976 by Pam Millnes, the group had 42 members by 1996, but today has about 15 members.
Past and present members congregated at the Māruawai Centre on Saturday to celebrate the milestone.
The group has sifted through countless records over the years, from birth certificates to censuses and added them to databases that are key to unearthing ancestry.
Group convener and life-member Elaine Scott, who had been with the group for 43 years, said people could share ancestry with up to 30,000 others.
Any two people’s DNA was 99.9% identical — the remaining 0.1% was what genealogists used to fill in family trees.
Mrs Scott said sleuthing was in her nature.
At the same time, investigating lineage had been a touchy subject when genealogists discovered things were not as they seemed.
‘‘[In the past] it was shameful to have a child out of marriage, you know ... families hid it often.’’
Mrs Scott gave an example.
‘‘He married his childhood sweetheart that he’d been with forever, but obviously just had a night away and that’s all it took.
‘‘Obviously he had a lot of explaining to do.’’
Mrs Scott said she thought people these days were more accepting of those situations.
At the afternoon tea, Mrs Scott honoured long-standing member and newsletter editor for the group Avis McDonald, who saved rare birth, death and marriage records that otherwise would have disappeared in the 1990s.
Flowers and a certificate were presented to Mrs McDonald, who was grateful for the recognition.
‘‘I’ll really treasure it because it wasn’t something that I ever thought I’d be doing at all.’’
Treading an unlikely path had strengthened genealogy in the region, Mrs Scott said.
‘‘In Southland, we’re all kind of connected in one way or another.’’
The group is about to move its gatherings to the Māruawai Centre and make them open for people to do some research on Sunday afternoons.
A Gore District Council archivist was available on Monday and Tuesday to take inquiries, Mrs Scott said.
