3rd January

No Meeting

7th February

Family Histories (Group input)

Report: Stephanie Higgs explained how she had helped a researcher to produce an article on work by her Silversmith uncle. Iain Alexander described how he had traced the marriage of his 3 x gt grandparents in Leicestershire, and how their five orphaned  children were provided for when the wider family agreed to become their guardians, leading to a discussion on Poor Law certificates. James Dudley described the steps he took to unravel his forebears from Army records, discovering how the thrice married wife came to marry his forebear.

7th March

Maps, House Records, Looking at Deeds

4th April

Free Sites and the advantage of site sharing  Jackie Cotterill

2nd May

Topic - Writing up Your Family History - Speaker Michael Sharp

Guest speaker Michael Sharp, a genealogist and author addressed the topic. He started by suggesting ways to select different approaches to match target audience, how to apply consistent criteria to the task (balancing evidence, facts and commentary) and how to get started.  He outlined the type of content and language that can be used. He also brought along a range of books he has written (or collaborated with) to illustrate his points. After the enlightening presentation, he fielded questions from the floor on copyright issues as part of the wider discussion.

Jackie Cotterell reminded us of forthcoming Family History event at the NEC in September. 

6th June

Skeletons in the cupboard / Disproving stories

4th July

Criminal Records

After the opening notices, Beryl Buckley’s presentation provided a reminder of the origins of our legal systems, how crime was viewed in different eras and the types of punishment  meted out. With contributions from the group, we discussed the way this impacted on our own forebears and their families, and the sources available to family historians. With their consent, the group’s proceedings were captured on video by Ralph Bramley, to provide a digital contribution to the Wyre Forest U3A video to be shown this autumn.

1st August

Brick walls

5th September

DNA update (Group input)

3rd October

Looking at lives and trades in different periods (group input)

7th November

Success and failures in research (Group input)

5th December

Review and programme planning