Midland Ancestors

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 (Europe/London) | 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 | West Midlands
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 on Saturday 4th July (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, members must book their place with Caroline by email c.mason@midanc.uk beforehand.

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

Join local genealogist Paul Wilkins for expert tips on uncovering your Irish ancestors. Learn what records are available online and how to navigate the challenges of tracing Irish family history.
Paul lectures across the West Midlands and writes for Who Do You Think You Are and Family Tree magazines—don’t miss this chance to learn from a true expert!

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 - 16:00 | London Family History Centre, 64-68 Princes Gate, Exhibition Road, London, SW7 2PA, United Kingdom
Important update: This event has been expanded to two talks.
11:00: “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 the group AGM and a further talk by Dr. Sophie Kay, www.khronicle.co.uk
Note:- The planned buffet has now been postponed so please bring along your own lunch. Tea, coffee and biscuits will be available as usual.
14:00: “What’s That Job?: An occupational history talk”
A joint talk for Lancashire FHHS and Cumbria FHS.
Butcher, baker, candlestick maker: some occupational terms are an instantly recognisable part of our social fabric. When we find these familiar jobs in our family tree, we usually have a good sense of the kind of work involved and the industry we need to understand if we’re to discover more. But what if you encountered a labbet amongst your ancestors? A lumpman? Or a water gilder?
Far more than a mere cross-checking point between record sets, occupations yield rich insights into an ancestor’s daily existence, social status, and role within their local community. In this talk, we’ll delve into a range of resources and strategies for demystifying unfamiliar occupations. We’ll see how sound occupational research is about more than just understanding a job title – and how it can bring an evocative picture of ancestral life and fascinating research leads along the way!

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 | West Midlands
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, DY90SW, United Kingdom
Open to Members and Non Members of Midland Ancestors.

We have access to the following sites

Ancestry – excellent site for building a family tree

FindMyPast – super search engine for UK records

Fold3 – military records, especially American and British

Britishnewspapersarchive.co.uk – now have over 105 million pages of British newspapers.

Newspapers.com – mostly US records but also UK newspapers – 1.3billion newspaper pages

So if you need any help in finding records including military record and newspaper articles please pop along. If you do not have access to Ancestry or FindMyPast we can build a tree in Ancestry under our subscription and make it available to you – you would need to create a free account in Ancestry. You would not be able to change the tree, but viewing is fine.

Have Your Say on the Future of Birmingham Group
2026-09-05 14:00 - 16:00 | Birmingham & Midland Institute, 9 Margaret Street, Birmingham, West Midlands, B3 3BS, United Kingdom
Have Your Say on the Future of the Birmingham Group
2.00pm, Saturday, 5th September at the BMI, Margaret Street
A discussion meeting to explore how the Birmingham Group can
best continue and adapt to changing needs:
What types of events and activities would you like to see?
What are the best times and formats for meetings?
How should the Group organise to deliver these?
Make your voice heard, as decisions could be taken that will impact on your membership.

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, DY90SW, 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 - Winston Churchill - Escape from a Boer Prison Camp
2026-10-20 19:30 - 21:30 | Stourbridge, St. Peter's Church Hall, Pedmore, West Midlands, DY90SW, United Kingdom
Winston Churchill – Escape from a Boer Prison Camp

In November 1899 during the Second Boer War, a 25-year old Winston Churchill (1874-1965) was working as a war correspondent for the Morning Post. He was captured after Boers ambushed a British armoured train in South Africa and sent to a prisoner of war camp in Pretoria. He staged a bold escape that would carry him some 300 miles through hostile territory to safety. Join me as we follow Churchill from despondent captive to a hero of the Empire in an incredible true story of courage, wit and luck.
Speaker: Dr Spencer Jones

Dr Spencer Jones is an award-winning military historian with a passion for bringing the past to life. He serves as Regimental Historian for the Royal Regiment of Artillery and is President of the Western Front Association. He also co-hosts the world’s leading First World War podcast, ‘Not So Quiet on the Western Front’, and has written ten books on military history.

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.

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.

Zoom Talk on "Family Historian" software
2027-01-09 14:00 - 15:30 | West Midlands
The January 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

Stourbridge & Black Country Group
2027-01-23 14:00 - 16:00 | Stourbridge, St. Peter's Church Hall, Pedmore, West Midlands, DY90SW, United Kingdom
TBA

Stourbridge & Black Country Group - TBA
2027-02-27 14:00 - 16:00 | Stourbridge, St. Peter's Church Hall, Pedmore, West Midlands, DY90SW, United Kingdom
