Midland Ancestors

Stourbridge Group - Visit to National Memorial Arboretum
2026-06-16 19:30 - 21:30 (Europe/London) | Stourbridge, St. Peter's Church Hall, Pedmore, West Midlands, DY9 0SW, United Kingdom
Visit to National Memorial Arboretum

Heraldry Group Meeting
2026-06-23 19:00 - 21:00, 2026-07-28 19:00 - 21:00, 2026-09-22 19:00 - 21:00, 2026-10-27 19:00 - 21:00, 2026-11-24 19:00 - 21:00 | Birmingham & Midland Institute, 9 Margaret Street, Birmingham, West Midlands, B3 3BS, United Kingdom
Why not come along and learn how to interpret the various coats of arms in stained glass windows, church monuments, etc, and discover who married who, together with their family history.

Wolverhampton: The Extraordinary Story of Sabrina Sidney
2026-06-24 19:30 - 21:15
Sabrina was at the bottom of the eighteenth-century pile; female, abandoned and illegitimate. But then she was found chosen from one of the Thomas Coram Foundling Hospitals to become an Apprentice Wife: the subject of a unique experiment in education and matrimony undertaken by a gentleman named Thomas Day.
Friend to some of the men who powered both the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution, such as James Watt and Erasmus Darwin, Day believed the answer to society’s ills lay in education. A practical, rational and purposeful education that would breed up a new generation of Enlightenment wives. Sabrina would epitomise this education and in so doing, would become Mrs Thomas Day.
Presenter: Kate Croft
Members and Visitors alike are welcome to join Wolverhampton group for this fascinating tale of the real life Pygmalion.

Doors open at 7.15 p.m. for a 7.30 p.m. meeting start.

Family History Centre Open Today
2026-07-04 10:15 - 13:45 | Birmingham & Midland Institute, 9 Margaret Street, Birmingham, West Midlands, B3 3BS, United Kingdom
The Family History Centre is available for members this Saturday (from 10.15 – 13.45) when a guest speaker (Paul Wilkins) is due to attend the Birmingham Group meeting.
To take advantage of this facility TODAY, members must have previously booked their place with Caroline by email.

Birmingham: Tracing Your Irish Family History
2026-07-04 14:00 - 15:30 | Birmingham & Midland Institute, 9 Margaret Street, Birmingham, West Midlands, B3 3BS, United Kingdom
Tracing Your Irish Family History
Speaker: Paul Wilkins

Details to follow:

North Staffs: Research
2026-07-06 19:30 - 21:30, 2026-09-07 19:30 - 21:30, 2026-10-05 19:30 - 21:30, 2026-11-02 08:00 - 17:00 | North Staffs, St. John's Centre, Newcastle Road, Stoke on Trent, Staffs, ST4 6QD, United Kingdom

Kenilworth: Natural Daughters and Deserted Children ...
2026-07-08 19:30 - 21:30 | Kenilworth Centre, Abbey End, Kenilworth, CV8 1QJ, Abbey End, Kenilworth, CV8 1QJ, United Kingdom
… with Summer Refreshments
Natural Daughters and Deserted Children: Jane Austen, Maria Edgeworth and Eighteenth-Century Illegitimacy
Speaker: Dr Kate Croft
Jane Austen and Maria Edgeworth were among the most popular authors of the early 1800s. Today, Austen is widely remembered for her witty, romantic novels, while Edgeworth has faded from mainstream readership. Yet both writers tackled controversial themes, including the issue of illegitimacy. This talk examines how Austen and Edgeworth portrayed illegitimacy in their fiction and how their work challenged dominant views about “fallen women” and their children. Edgeworth was the daughter of Lunar Society member, Richard Lovell Edgeworth.
Dr Kate Croft is a researcher and lecturer at the Centre for West Midlands History, University of Birmingham, and has talked to us before about the Wives and Daughters of the Lunar Society, and about the adventurous Sabrina Sidney.

London: "Genetic Hide and Seek: Exploring Missing Ancestor Mysteries with Autosomal DNA"
2026-07-11 11:00 - 12:30 | London Family History Centre, 64-68 Princes Gate, Exhibition Road, London, SW7 2PA, United Kingdom
“Genetic Hide and Seek: Exploring Missing Ancestor Mysteries with Autosomal DNA”
A talk by Dr. Sophie Kay.
Missing ancestor mysteries’ in our family tree – those perplexing blanks where an individual has defied identification in historical records – can seem like an
insurmountable challenge. Yet if that missing ancestor lies within the most recent 6-7 generations of your pedigree, your autosomal DNA may hold the answer. This session will equip you with a clear strategy for tracing missing ancestors using autosomal DNA, no matter which provider you’ve tested with. Using a real-life case study, we’ll walk through a four-step process for identifying an unknown forebear from genetic matches, and showcase some handy tools you can use along the way. Whether you’re hunting down a single mystery ancestor, or are an adoptee looking to reconstruct a significant portion of your biological family tree, this strategy will keep you on course. It’s time to make sense of those DNA matches and realise their problem-solving potential!
The talk will be followed by an informal buffet and the group AGM.
Meetings will be held at the LDS Hyde Park Family Search Centre, 64-68 Princes Gate, Exhibition Road, South Kensington, SW7 2PA. Doors open 10.00; talks start 11.00.
We will have the research facility largely to ourselves for the day of our meetings so will not be restricted on time. We will be able to take coffee and tea into our meetings as well as sandwiches.
If you download and install a Chrome extension on your laptop (which uses the building Wi-Fi), you can search records, use commercial websites for free and download images directly to your laptop after our meeting. In effect, with the Chrome extension, your laptop has the same premium access as the PCs in the FamilySearch Centre. This access only works, of course, if you are within the building on Exhibition Road since it is dependent on the building Wi-Fi address. Ask a member of staff about this if you are interested.
Underground stations: South Kensington (District, Circle and Piccadilly Lines).
Buses: 14, 49, 70, 74, 345, 360, 414, 430, C1

Wolverhampton: Members Evening
2026-07-29 19:30 - 21:15
Join us for a Members Evening – at the moment we have not decided if it will be group members sharing details of their research or maybe a presentation about an unusual record set: the content of the evening will be determined by the group nearer to the event.
If you have any ideas for the content please email the Wolverhampton group with suggestions.
Keep a watch on this page for further details to be announced.

Doors open at 7.15p.m. for a 7.30 p.m. meeting start

Stourbridge Group - Research Day
2026-08-15 11:00 - 15:00 | Stourbridge, St. Peter's Church Hall, Pedmore, West Midlands, DY9 0SW, United Kingdom

Kenilworth: How DNA Broke Down a Brick Wall
2026-09-09 19:30 - 21:30 | Kenilworth Centre, Abbey End, Kenilworth, CV8 1QJ, Abbey End, Kenilworth, CV8 1QJ, United Kingdom
How DNA Broke Down a Brick Wall
Speaker: Jan Daniells
Jan has been hunting her family for a while now; and she has successfully used DNA to break though a brick wall on one line. She is a retired school teacher, based in Shropshire, with family in Kenilworth, so maybe there are more connections to discover!

Stourbridge Group - Curiosities of Dudley
2026-09-15 19:30 - 21:30 | Stourbridge, St. Peter's Church Hall, Pedmore, West Midlands, DY9 0SW, United Kingdom
Curiosities of Dudley
Speaker: Craig Denston

A talk about the curiosities & oddities wrapped up in Dudley’s history, using dozens of images from a huge collection of engraved prints, postcards, photographs, maps and memorabilia from the town. Including the Castle and Castle Hill, the old town hall & market place, the fountain & many old shops and buildings now long gone.

Craig Denston

Graduated Bretton Hall College 1984 – BA. in Creative Arts
Specialised in illustration
1984 – 1992 worked as Workshop Manager for Cannon Hill Puppet Theatre – for its time, the largest puppet theatre in Great Britain (Producing four productions per year).
1992 became freelance – now working as

Mask maker / designer
Puppet maker / designer
Sculptural costume and body suits
Out of the ordinary props made to order
Talks given on a variety of subjects
Tour guide operator

Wolverhampton: Tales from the Coroner's Casebook - Life and Death in Georgian South Staffordshire and the Black Country. Part 1: 1801 - 1826
2026-09-30 19:30 - 21:15 | Wolverhampton, The Terry Harding Room, Perton Civic Centre, Church Road, Perton,, Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, WV6 7PD, United Kingdom
This presentation examines the cases of unexplained deaths, presided over by Henry Smith Esq. – Coroner of the County of Stafford – between 1801 and 1842. These include accidents, manslaughter, murders, suicides and ‘visitations of God’. Join Coroner Smith’s Jury and re-consider some of the cases he dealt with during the first part of his long career.
Presenter: Quinton Watt
Members and visitors are very welcome to join us for what promises to be an interesting and eye-opening meeting.
Doors open at 7.15 p.m. for a 7.30 p.m. meeting start.

London: "A Brick Wall in My Tree: I solved one/I have one"
2026-10-10 11:00 - 13:00 | London Family History Centre, 64-68 Princes Gate, Exhibition Road, London, SW7 2PA, United Kingdom
Members Day: “A Brick Wall in My Tree: I solved one/I have one”
An opportunity for members to give a short presentation about how they solved a brick wall in their tree. What techniques did you use? Did it involve any little known archives or serious detective work? Alternatively tell the group about a brick wall you have that you would like some help to solve.
Meetings will be held at the LDS Hyde Park Family Search Centre, 64-68 Princes Gate, Exhibition Road, South Kensington, SW7 2PA. Doors open 10.00; talks start 11.00.
We will have the research facility largely to ourselves for the day of our meetings so will not be restricted on time. We will be able to take coffee and tea into our meetings as well as sandwiches.
If you download and install a Chrome extension on your laptop (which uses the building Wi-Fi), you can search records, use commercial websites for free and download images directly to your laptop after our meeting. In effect, with the Chrome extension, your laptop has the same premium access as the PCs in the FamilySearch Centre. This access only works, of course, if you are within the building on Exhibition Road since it is dependent on the building Wi-Fi address. Ask a member of staff about this if you are interested.
Underground stations: South Kensington (District, Circle and Piccadilly Lines).
Buses: 14, 49, 70, 74, 345, 360, 414, 430, C1

Stourbridge Group - Unlocking the secrets of DNA Testing
2026-10-20 19:30 - 21:30 | Stourbridge, St. Peter's Church Hall, Pedmore, West Midlands, DY9 0SW, United Kingdom
Unlocking the secrets of DNA Testing
Speaker: Karen Evans

Adverts for DNA testing kits are constantly on the TV-but what do you actually get? This talk covers areas such as understanding how the test works in very general terms, getting the most from the test (what the results mean) and how to use your results to overcome brick walls such as illegitimacy and validating paper resources. It also highlights the range and pitfalls of using DNA testing, particularly finding out where your family came from- Can you really be a Viking?

Karen Evans
After completing a History degree Karen taught in Primary schools before retiring in 2015. Karen wrote two ‘Grim Almanac’ books for the History Press and is currently writing for Family Tree Magazine on all things genealogical.

Wolverhampton: The Eccentric Dr Butter
2026-10-28 19:30 - 21:15 | Wolverhampton, The Terry Harding Room, Perton Civic Centre, Church Road, Perton,, Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, WV6 7PD, United Kingdom
Join us to hear Cannock Museum’s volunteer and historical researcher for an informative talk and presentation along with items from the museum collections. Dr. Butter, a well known local figure, kept a menagerie of animals and could be seen out and about around Cannock and Hednesford in his zebra drawn trap. Find out what fate befell his fiancee, a circus performer and hear what happened to his pet elephant.
Presenter: Spencer Houghton

Members and visitors are welcome to join the Wolverhampton group for this entertaining presentation.
Doors open at 7.15 p.m. for a 7.30 p.m. meeting start.

Kenilworth: "A Private War"
2026-11-11 19:30 - 21:30 | Kenilworth Centre, Abbey End, Kenilworth, CV8 1QJ, Abbey End, Kenilworth, CV8 1QJ, United Kingdom
A Private War: The Diaries of Frederick George Draper 1939-1945

Speaker: Carol Draper
Carol’s father kept a journal throughout his WW2 service, a first-hand account of a young man’s experiences of war. He was conscripted as a Private in the Royal Leicestershire Regiment and travelled through Egypt, Trans Jordan, Libya, Ceylon, India and finally as a Chindit in Burma, never returning home in five years. His diaries remained hidden for 80 years, but Carol has discovered them and published in 2023 a book based on them. Illustrated with his photographs, the talk has more local interest for us, as he was demobbed to the Budbrooke Barracks in Warwick, and eventually became parts manager for the Donald Healey Motor Company in Warwick.
Carol will bring some copies of the book in case anyone would like to buy one.

Wolverhampton: Christmas Presentation
2026-11-25 19:30 - 21:15 | Wolverhampton, The Terry Harding Room, Perton Civic Centre, Church Road, Perton,, Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, WV6 7PD, United Kingdom
Join the Wolverhampton group for its last meeting of 2026 when we will enjoy a social gathering, with light refreshments, and a Christmas themed presentation.
Details of the presentation will be announced nearer to the event.
Members and visitors always welcome.

Zoom Talk on "Family Historian" software
2026-12-05 14:00 - 15:30
The December speaker for the Birmingham group online will be a representative from the makers of “Family Historian” who will demonstrate what the software is capable of and how it will assist you in keeping your records in order.
Midland Ancestors have secured the licence from the makers of the award winning “Family Historian” software, for the use of members only, to transfer their paper records into a digital format that saves on space by creating a GEDCOM file to share.
The software can create pedigree, fan, descendant and waterfall charts. It will produce reports, allow imports of photos, videos, sound recordings and so much more with direct links to the websites:- Find My Past and My Heritage.
Take a look at their Video Tour

North Staffs: Christmas Social Evening
2026-12-07 19:30 - 21:30 | North Staffs, St. John's Centre, Newcastle Road, Stoke on Trent, Staffs, ST4 6QD, United Kingdom

Stourbridge Group - Clive of India
2026-12-15 19:30 - 21:00 | Wollaston Room, Stourbridge Library, Stourbridge, Dy8 1YE
Clive of India
Speaker: Max Keen

Robert Clive(29 September 1725 – 22 November 1774)
At Madras, Clive was moody and quarrelsome; he attempted suicide and once fought a duel. He found solace in the governor’s library, where he virtually educated himself.
Find out how he grew from tearaway youth to empire builder: the facts, figures, battles, personalities and good old British derring-do presented by Max dressed the part!
Its time to take on the East India Trading Company with the armaments of humour, tongue-in-cheekiness all wrapped up in an attempt to put the record straight!
Background
Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive (29 September 1725 – 22 November 1774), also known as Clive of India, was the first British Governor of the Bengal Presidency.
Clive has been widely credited for laying the foundation of the British East India Company (EIC) rule in Bengal. He began as a “writer” (the term used then in India for an office clerk) for the EIC in 1744, however after being caught up in military action during the fall of Madras, Clive joined the EIC’s private army.
Clive rapidly rose through the military ranks of the EIC and was eventually credited with establishing Company rule in Bengal by winning the Battle of Plassey in 1757.
When Clive left India in January 1767 he had a fortune of £401,102 (equivalent to £67,900,000 in 2023) which he remitted through the Dutch East India Company.

Stourbridge & Black Country Group
2027-01-23 14:00 - 16:00 | Stourbridge, St. Peter's Church Hall, Pedmore, West Midlands, DY9 0SW, United Kingdom
TBA

Stourbridge & Black Country Group - TBA
2027-02-27 14:00 - 16:00 | Stourbridge, St. Peter's Church Hall, Pedmore, West Midlands, DY9 0SW, United Kingdom
