Peter Clark

The appeal for a large-scale
scanner has started off well!

If you would like to contribute –
go to the Midland Ancestors Shop
to find more details

 

This is the large-scale scanner which
we are hoping to acquire with your help!

 

The Birmingham Heritage Forum have produced a new flippable leaflet highlighting a selection of their members who are keen to share their enthusiasm for Birmingham’s heritage and to encourage interest in it, especially among children and young people.

Many members of the group are planning to take part in the Heritage Open Days from 11th-20th September 2026.

Whether you are new to family history research, just started or wanting to break down a brick wall, Midland Ancestors are the people to talk to. Take advantage and have a one-to-one with an experienced researcher for 90 minutes, any day from Monday 14th to Friday 18th September, a bargain at £10, accessing all our data records and websites covering census returns, births, marriages and burials, maps, trade directories and loads more with unique records not available on the web. Visit the Midland Ancestors Shop to book your place.

 

Click the link to see the new Heritage Forum Leaflet

The Society is seeking support from members to acquire a larger-format scanner that will allow us to properly preserve and digitise our collection of oversized and delicate materials acquired by the library but so far not accessible to members.

At present, we only have access to a standard A4 scanner- whilst suitable for everyday documents, it is simply not adequate for the larger books, maps, photographs, and archival images in our care. Attempting to force these items onto a small scanner risk damaging spines, causing irreversible damage to fragile originals. A larger-format scanner would allow us to capture these materials safely, accurately, and in full – preserving both their content and their condition for future generations.

With your support, we can invest in the right equipment to protect these valuable resources while making them more accessible through high-quality digital copies. The scanner would be available for use by members in the library.

Any contribution towards this goal would make a meaningful difference and help ensure that these important materials are preserved with the care they deserve.

Visit the Midland Ancestors shop to make a contribution.

Thank you for your support!

Stories to Remember is a free event run by the charity ‘Caring for God’s Acre’ and the University of Hertfordshire to create stories inspired by those buried in Key Hill Cemeteries public graves. Whilst visitors to this Jewellery Quarter site often focus on the famous faces buried there, the vast majority of those who lie here are the working-class poor of Birmingham, buried in mass graves with over 100 others. It’s now time for their voice to be heard.

Creative writers of all experience levels will work with the Birmingham-based ‘Bone Ensemble’ to create short pieces of creative writing inspired by individuals buried at Key Hill over 100 years ago. Full support will be given and the result will be an anthology of writing published this Autumn. For further details, and to book, please visit bit.ly/cfga-stories-to-remember

We also need help from Birmingham family historians! Do you have a family member you would like featured in a story? Can you spare some time to research some of those buried at Key Hill and give a brief biography of them (even if this is just a list of census entries). Any support would be gratefully received, please contact Rachel at rachel@cfga.org.uk for more information. Thank you!