Volunteer Week - Friday 6th June 2025 Join Our Team as Programme Secretary! Are you passionate about family history and eager to make a difference? Our Family History Society is looking for a volunteer Programme Secretary to help us organise engaging guest speakers for the Birmingham group. What You’ll Do: - Plan and coordinate our […]

National Volunteer Week at Midland Ancestors! Join us on Saturday 7th June 2025, from 12:30pm to 1:30pm, at Sir Arthur Sullivan Hall, Birmingham & Midland Institute, 9 Margaret Street, Birmingham, for an informal chat with the Trustees. Learn how you can get involved and help preserve family history! 📜✨ Come along, ask questions, and explore […]

Early 20th. Century Family and Social History Research Presenter - Stephen Dyer The 1920s & 1930s was an era of defining events that would change the course of many families for decades to come, leading up to the 1921 Census which was released in January 2022. Stephens talk looks at the effect on the family […]

Country house libraries and a case study of the library at Linley Wood. Presenter - JJ Heath-Caldwell In the 1700s and 1800s many of the old English gentry families amassed considerable collections of books in their country house libraries. These collections were a vast range of books passed down from ancestors, relatives, and friends of […]

The talk by Adrian de Redman 'A Brief Introduction to Heraldry'- will take place from 2pm to 4pm but there there will be NO access to the Kingsley Norris room beforehand. If anyone arrives early they should make their way directly to the Dickens Room for the talk. The new IT equipment is being installed […]

Peplow  Memorial Lecture – Heraldry Presenter - Adrian De Redman A light-hearted invitation to become addicted to the handmaid of history. Subject to confirmation nearer the time, this is expected to be the first of a number of talks for those who would like a working understanding of the subject. Designed with the emphasis on […]

Whose Ancestor is it Anyway? - Ethics in Family History" Presenters - Margaret Roberts and Ann Simcock "I am only researching my family tree, where does ethics come into it?” As Family Historians we can be frequently faced with the questions - What information do I share? How do I share information? Should I share […]

Was Your Ancestor a Criminal ? – An examination of 18th & 19th Century Crime Presenter - Colin Chapman.   This meeting will be in the John Peek Room. Several of today’s petty misdemeanours were regarded in the past as crimes. Were your ancestors involved as witnesses, accusers, jurors, or even accused? Crimes were many […]

The Adventures of Harry Payne – the Edwardian “Literary Tramp” Presenter - Quintin Watt This presentation will piece together the remarkable story of a partially-sighted vagrant, as he tramped around the British Isles. At each town he visited, Harry earned a few pence by writing a review of that place for the local newspaper. These perceptive snapshots provide […]