Coffee Morning in the BMI We will be holding a Coffee Morning in the BMI Cafeteria at the BMI. Do please come along and join us. Stay after lunch and take advantage of the society resources in our Family History centre  

Lives and Times on the Birmingham Canal System Mrs. Violet Atkins and daughter Violet, on Butty boat RAVEN, 1952. Image from the BCN Society Archive, Bob May Collection. Presenter - Phil Clayton Phils presentation will cover the past and present on the West Midlands waterways, in particular focussing on the Birmingham Canal Navigations. Our speaker […]

Note Change of Date (was 3rd Feb) due to Rail Strike. For the Sake of the Empire Presenter - Peter Middleton A Commonwealth War Graves Commission headstone in Witton Cemetery marks the last resting place of a Canadian soldier. He had, in fact, been born only two miles away in Witton Lane, Handsworth. This is […]

Heroes and Ghosts Speaker: Michael H Hallett Wing Co Harold Blackburn MC AFC Public Domain via Wiki Media Commons Heroes & Ghosts is the story of Michael’s grandfather Harold Blackburn, a pioneer aviator before World War I and war hero. After the war, scandal struck the family and plunged it into shame for three generations. […]

How We Lived Then Presenter - Mary Bodfish This talk is based on probate inventories with Mary making particular use of the inventory of a West Bromwich man who died in 1700 to give a guided tour of his house and farm; it also includes the history of probate documents with an element of family […]

Family History Day incorporating Annual General Meeting An All day event with Speakers Dr Penny Walters and Doreen Hopwood. Programme Timings - 09.30 – Doors Open & Registration 10:00 - Welcome 10:15 – Presentation by Dr. Penny Walters, topic – Demystifying DNA 11:15 - Coffee Break 11:45 - AGM - Details Click here - AGM 12:30 […]

Stories from the Stones Speakers: Friends of Key Hill Cemetery & Warstone Lane Cemetery Richard from the Friends of Key Hill Cemetery & Warstone Lane Cemetery will follow on from his 2023 presentation. Our knowledgeable speaker will regale you with tales of the departed, bringing the cemetery's rich history to life. Discover the secrets of […]

The Wednesbury Workhouse and the Parish Poor 1750 - 1900 Presenter Keith Robinson Keiths talk will tell the the stories of people whose voices are often unheard. It will reveal the lives of those who were in the Wednesbury Workhouse and in that of neighbouring West Bromwich. It will look at the children who were […]

The Noble Descendants of Bess of Hardwick Speaker: Howard Connell Given that Hardwick and Chatsworth are both in the Midlands (albeit East rather than West) my topic is "The Noble Descendants of Bess of Hardwick". The lecture will seek to trace the ways in which this remarkable woman, who became the second wealthiest in England, […]

Apprenticeship Indentures and Assignments and three Overseers Account Speaker: Rhonda Niven In this presentation we will hear about the conservation of Apprenticeship Indentures and Assignments and Overseers Account Books of Bromsgrove St Johns. This project was carried out in 2022 by Rhonda Niven, Book and Paper Conservator at the Hive in Worcester as a result […]

The Mourning Brooch Speaker: Jean Renwick Jean Renwick’s talk reveals years of research behind her family saga, The Mourning Brooch, based upon the lives of real Yorkshire people who lived in the second half of the 19th and first half of the 20th century. After inheriting a mourning brooch, Jean was intrigued to know who […]