| Status: | Active, open to new members |
| Coordinator: | |
| When: | Monthly on Monday mornings 10:00 am-12:30 pm 4th Monday Monthly |
| Venue: | Core Creative |
Whether you are a beginner or have been exploring your family history for some time, all are welcome to join the Family History group.
Our meetings take place at Solihull library in Core Creative, which you will find on the first floor. The computers we use allow us to access the family history software Ancestry and FindMyPast, both of which are excellent resources for those researching their family history.
Who knows what you may discover about your past relatives, you may be related to royalty or maybe your ancestors were notorious for other reasons!
The facilitator for this group is Keith Y.
Monthly meetings
Members can use the computers at the library to find census records from 1841 to 1921, details of births, marriages and deaths recorded after 1837 and also parish records that go back to the 1600's in some cases.
Newspapers have records of coroner's court reports, law court reports and a wealth of other information.
The members help and advise each other and also share their findings - sometimes family scandals come to light or sad stories of ancestors who spent time in the workhouse or in another institution.
You may need to do a bit of detective work and your search will not always be successful, but family history research is a very absorbing pastime.
Resources
Information can be found in a number of different types of records.
- Wills can help to identify family members, such as spouses and children
- Newspapers may have photographs of your ancestors, details of military service, court cases
- Census records show where people lived, their occupations and relationships
- Military records record military service, and potentially when and why they were discharged
- You may have letters, photographs and a family bible that will help you to find who you are looking for
- FreeBMD, FreeReg and FreeCen are resources that can be used to find information - records are transcribed by volunteers and can be accessed for free, though not all counties are complete. You can also use FamilySearch.org, which is a free website provided by the Mormon church.