The Online Historical Newspaper Discussion group meets on the first Friday of the month at 2pm via Zoom.

The group is led by Margaret Roberts and all members are welcome to chat about using historical newspapers, to pick up hints and tips from other members and generally to discuss any successes or failures! 

To be included in the emailing list to receive the zoom link for these meetings please return to the Homepage of the website, scroll down the left-hand menu and click on Discussion Groups, then click on 'Subscribe' for this or any other Discussion Group you would like to attend.

Dr Harry Parkin, a senior lecturer in English Language at the University of Chester and editor of The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain, shares his research on the surnames that reveal Cheshire's history.

The names we are given reveal a huge amount about our ancestors and the areas they came from. The family names found in Cheshire reflect the great cultural and linguistic diversity of the region. Research into their origins tells us about past stages of the English language, and the county’s history, people and identity. The five most common surnames in Cheshire in 1881 were Jones, Smith, Davies, Williams, and Taylor. These are also some of the most common in Britain, and so they do not tell us much about the unique history of Cheshire. Some of the names that are much more common to Cheshire than any other county in Britain include Pleavin, Skellern, Coppenhall, and Pimblott, and it is these which provide more of an insight into the county’s individual identity.

Join us and find out more

NOTE:  This meeting is via Zoom and takes place at 2pm 

This event is for members only and registration is open, please press ‘Register [Individual]’ button below on the left and then click 'Process your Registration, you will receive an email confirmation. Registration will close on 13th October at noon and the links will be sent out that afternoon. 

Find out more about The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain   here 👉https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780198868255.001.0001/acref-9780198868255

We are delighted to be welcoming Hilary Blanford, Chair of the East Surrey Family History Society. Hilary’s talk Twisters, slashers, spinners and others of that ilk is the story of the cotton industry based on those workers living around Hyde, Romiley and Stockport, but of course their stories are repeated in the cotton mills across the whole county.

This event is for members only and registration opens on 1st October when the ‘Register [Individual]’ button will show on the bottom left of the Event details on the FHSC website for you to click and then process your registration, you will receive an email confirmation. Registration will close on 13th October

The zoom links/meeting protocol will be forwarded the day before the talk.  If you run into any difficulties with this, then please contact us on the dedicated seminar email address – or see the 'Seminar Talks and how to Register' section under 'Online Talks and Meetings' in the FAQ section of the website.

The Seminar series is co-ordinated by Margaret Spate, Jean Laidlaw and Margaret Roberts and ALL correspondence, queries etc should be sent to the dedicated email address -   

PLEASE NOTE WE DO NOT RECORD SEMINAR TALKS

The Family Historian Users Discussion Group, led by Geoff Johnson takes place on the 3rd Thursday of the month at 7:30pm.  This is the perfect place to meet other users and share frustrations, hints and tips when using the software. 

To be included in the emailing list to receive the zoom link for these meetings please return to the Homepage of the website, scroll down the left-hand menu and click on Discussion Groups, then click on 'Subscribe' for this or any other Discussion Group you would like to attend.

The MAC Users Discussion group meets on the third Monday of the month at 2pm via Zoom.

The group is led by John Reed, a perfect place to discuss any issues or share your hints and tips, and learn from other members 

To be included in the emailing list to receive the zoom link for these meetings please return to the Homepage of the website, scroll down the left-hand menu and click on Discussion Groups, then click on 'Subscribe' for this or any other Discussion Group you would like to attend.

Zooming in on Family History is a wide-ranging session whereby members can come along for help with their research, share success stories or just generally meet other members and chat about family history.  

All members are welcome, you can attend as often or as little as you wish, no rules, just a friendly meeting place

The meetings take place on the fourth Wednesday of the month and are led by Margaret Roberts and Sheila Jones.

To be included in the emailing list to receive the zoom link for the meetings please return to the Homepage of the website, scroll down the left-hand menu and click on Discussion Groups, then click on 'Subscribe' to this or any other Discussion Group you would like to attend. 

FHSC is pleased to announce that the guest speaker at this year's AGM is Dave Annal, with a presentation on 20th century records.

Dave, who is a member of the FHSC, is a popular lecturer and is well known on the family history circuit. In 2019 he was awarded a Fellowship of the Society of Genealogists and in 2022 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.  He regularly gives talks on a wide range of family history topics. Dave is also a respected and successful author; he has written a number of family history books and is a regular contributor to Family Tree Magazine.

Find out more about Dave at his website - https://lifelinesresearch.co.uk/

Bringing it up to date: Research in the 20th Century

Tracing our more recent ancestors can often prove more difficult than tracking down those from earlier times. Dave’s talk will look at the sources available to us and how we can use them to piece together the stories of our 20th Century ancestors.

Dave's talk will begin at 2pm with the formal business section of the AGM following shortly after 3pm

You will need to register to attend, to do so please click on the 'Register [Individual]' button below on the left and process your registration, you will receive an email confirmation.

Registration is now open and closes at 12 noon on the morning of the meeting, after which the Zoom links/meeting protocol will be forwarded

If you run into any difficulties with this then please contact Margaret Roberts on  

The Publishing your Family History Research Discussion group meets on the fourth Monday of the month at 2:30pm via Zoom.

The group is led by Victoria Doran and covers all aspects of publishing your research, whether you are considering writing a book, creating a website or blog, submitting an article to the Cheshire Ancestor, recording a podcast etc, then this group is the ideal place to discuss your ideas and concerns.  

To be included in the mailing list for the Zoom link please initially email  

The DNA Discussion group meets on the fourth Monday of the month at 7:30pm via Zoom.

The group is led by Peter Rowley and all members are welcome to chat about DNA, your experiences and any help the rest of the group can offer 

To be included in the emailing list to receive the zoom link for these meetings please return to the Homepage of the website, scroll down the left-hand menu and click on Discussion Groups, then click on 'Subscribe' for this or any other Discussion Group you would like to attend.

The Online Historical Newspaper Discussion group meets on the first Friday of the month at 2pm via Zoom.

The group is led by Margaret Roberts and all members are welcome to chat about using historical newspapers, to pick up hints and tips from other members and generally to discuss any successes or failures! 

To be included in the emailing list to receive the zoom link for these meetings please return to the Homepage of the website, scroll down the left-hand menu and click on Discussion Groups, then click on 'Subscribe' for this or any other Discussion Group you would like to attend.