This year's Cheshire Local History Association History Day takes place on Sat 7th October
Venue: The Grange Theatre, Bradburns Lane, Hardford, CW8 1LU
Doors open 9am, event starts at 9:30am
Tickets: £15 per person
Online - https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/thegrangetheatre [no booking fee]
Telephone - call 01606 539040 [£2 booking fee]
Directions to Venue - https://www.thegrangetheatre.com/parking
Episode one tonight [12 September] BBC 3 at 9pm
Link to iPlayer 👉https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001qg3q
Programme synopsis from the BBC website -
Luke grew up in a white working-class family in Rochdale but always felt like an outsider. He thought it might be because of his sexuality, but when he came out as gay aged 18, his parents were very supportive, and the feeling did not go away.
Persistent questions about his appearance eventually inspire him to take a DNA test. The result lays bare a secret Luke's mum has kept hidden since he was born – his dad is not his biological father, and he is mixed race.
To find out who he really is, Luke begins the difficult search for a man his mum Liz and her friend Yvonne befriended on a girls’ holiday in Portugal in the 1990s. All Liz remembers is that the man she had a holiday romance with in Albufeira three decades earlier was a bartender called Carlos, but the lack of information and big obstacles do not discourage Luke.
Luke is resolved to try and find out as much as he can, not only in the hope of tracking down his biological father Carlos, but also to understand his new ethnic heritage and culture. Enlisting the help of genealogists, family friends and distant relations he finds online because they share his DNA, he begins the search of a lifetime.
Manchester-based Luke’s extraordinary journey takes him back to Portugal with his mum’s holiday companion Yvonne, to see if she can remember which bar Carlos was working in 30 years previously.
They meet Ângela Campos, a Portuguese historian and forensic genealogist, who accompanies them on their search for any signs of Carlos and the answers Luke is looking for.
Luke’s search reveals much more than he ever imagined possible, uncovering six decades of family secrets and a brand new multiracial family. He also finds himself healing much more than just his own emotional pain.
Following the success (and increased attendances) of the AGMs held via Zoom in 2021 and 2022,
the 54th AGM of FHSC will take place using Zoom on Saturday 28th October 2023 at 3.00pm.
The business meeting will be preceded by a talk by Peter Higginbottomon The History of the Workhouse, to which he will give a Cheshire slant.
The talk will begin at 2.00pm with login from 1.45pm.
Members with a valid email address will have received an AGM Newsletter with full registration details
Members who wish to attend the AGM and talk but who do not have internet access, or do not wish to use Zoom, are invited to the Mobberley Research
Centre where David Smetham will host a meeting linked into the AGM Zoom. Members who wish to attend this event should contact David in advance at
or by phone (01625 426173).
Peter Higginbottom, creator of the websites The Workhouse (www.workhouses.org.uk), Children’s Homes (www.childrenshomes.org.uk) and The Prison (www.theprison.org.uk), first became interested in workhouses while researching his family history. The Workhouse website now has over 2800 web pages, 6000 photos and illustrations and 1800 maps and plans, covering workhouses throughout the British Isles. He has also written many books and articles, as well as contributing to radio and television programmes such as Radio 4’s Making History and Tracing Your Roots and BBC TV’s Heir Hunters and Who Do You Think You Are?
Please note we are unable to record Peter's talk
To ensure that the meeting runs smoothly:
The Secretary’s Report, the annual accounts and the Treasurer’s Report will be available on the website two weeks prior to the meeting.
These reports will be published a future issue of CHESHIRE ANCESTOR. The agenda, and the minutes of the 2022 AGM will also be available on the website.
It would be helpful if members who have questions about the reports or the CHESHIRE ANCESTOR 10 Sept 2023 accounts submit them to the secretary at prior to the meeting so that they can be passed to the relevant officers for a response.
AGM 2023 AGENDA:
The formal business of the Annual General Meeting will be preceded by a talk.
1.45pm: Login for the AGM opens.
2.00pm: Talk by Peter Higginbottam – The History of the Workhouse.
2.55pm: Login for members only intending to attend the formal meeting opens.
3.00pm: Annual General Meeting begins.
Agenda for the 54th FHSC AGM commencing at 3.00pm
1. Apologies for absence
2. Approval of the Minutes of the 2022 AGM
3. Chairman’s Remarks
4. Hon. Treasurer’s Report and Accounts
5. Hon. Secretary’s Annual Report
6. Elections
The Treasurer’s five-year term of office has been completed. Nominations for the role are sought and should be lodged with the Secretary at before the meeting.
7. Appointment of Independent Examiner
8. Proposals
Under its Constitution the Family History of Cheshire invites proposals from its members.The Constitution states that the membership present at the AGM has the opportunity: “To decide by simple majority upon any resolution which may be duly submitted to the meeting for consideration. No resolution, other than those relating to the
adoption of reports and accounts, shall be moved at the Annual General Meeting unless a notice in writing, signed by the members who proposes to move it and
stating its terms has been received by the Hon Secretary at least forty-two days before the date appointed for the holding of such Annual General Meeting.
The Chairman of the meeting shall, at his or her discretion, and with the consent of the majority of the members present and voting, have the power to admit resolutions
of which notice has not been given, if such resolution shall not involve any alterations of the Constitution. Such resolution shall be decided upon by a simple majority of
members present and voting.”
9. Any other business relevant to the AGM.
1st of the month! agin and so soon - Time for my usual list of free online events that members may be interested in.
Links for more details and how to register under each event
Mon, 4 Sept 2023 18:30 BST
Down the Research Rabbit Hole: What Queen Victoria’s Diaries can tell us about Early 19th Century Egyptomania
With Michelle Keely-Adamson
by ISSE [Free to attend but donation suggested]
Link with more details and to register 👉 https://www.eventbrite.com/e/isse-virtual-lecture-down-the-research-rabbit-hole-by-m-keeley-adamson-tickets-691228712687
Wed, 6 Sept 2023 Starts at 15:00 BST
Navigating the Maps Website
by National Library of Scotland
Link with more details and to register 👉 https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/navigating-the-maps-website-tickets-694616916897
Fri, 8 Sept 2023 10:00 BST
Introduction to House History: A Workshop
by Norfolk Record Office
Link with more details and to register 👉 https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/introduction-to-house-history-online-workshop-tickets-653908145867
Fri, 8 Sept 2023 14:00 BST
Tracing WWI Ancestors: A Workshop
by Norfolk Record Office
Link with more details and to register 👉 https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/tracing-first-world-war-ancestors-online-workshop-tickets-653923822757
Fri, 8 Sept 2023 14:00 BST
Uproar! Satire, Scandal and Printmakers in Georgian London
With Alice Loxton
by National Archives [Free to attend but donation suggested]
Link with more details and to register 👉 https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/uproar-satire-scandal-and-printmakers-in-georgian-london-tickets-636510679577
Wed, 13 Sept 2023 Starts at 16:00 BST
Women’s Lives and Writing: Online Resources for Everyone
by National Library of Scotland
Link with more details and to register 👉 https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/womens-lives-and-writings-online-resources-for-everyone-tickets-692412473347
Wed, 13 Sept 2023 19:30 BST
This Thread of Gold: A Celebration of Black Womanhood
With Catherine Joy White
by National Archives [Free to attend but donation suggested]
Link with more details and to register 👉 https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/this-thread-of-gold-a-celebration-of-black-womanhood-in-conversation-tickets-636514862087
Thu, 14 Sept 2023 19:30 BST
Posted in the Past: Stories behind early 20th Century Postcards
With Helen Baggott
by Glamorgan FHS
Link with more details and to register 👉 https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/posted-in-the-past-stories-behind-early-20th-century-postcards-tickets-644869641457
Fri, 15 Sept 2023 14:00 BST
Burying the Black Death
by National Archives [Free to attend but donation suggested]
Link with more details and to register 👉 https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/burying-the-black-death-tickets-636518823937
Mon, 18 Sept 2023 Starts at 17:00 BST
‘In Memory of my Great Grandfather and his infant son’: Histories, Communities & Feelings in the Centenary of WWI
With Prof Lucy Noakes
by Royal Historical Society
Link with more details and to register 👉 https://www.eventbrite.com/e/online-histories-communities-feelings-in-the-centenary-of-wwi-tickets-686558885107
Tues, 19 Sept 2023 19:00 BST
Investigating Tudor Houses
by Triskele Heritage [Free to attend but donation suggested]
Link with more details and to register 👉 https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/investigating-tudor-houses-tickets-698400453557
Tues, 19 Sept 2023 19:00 BST
Playing Up, Playing the Game: Sport & the Eurasians of colonial Singapore
With Josh de Cruz
by History Indoors
Link with more details and to register 👉 https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/playing-up-playing-the-game-sport-the-eurasians-of-colonial-singapore-tickets-685484471507
Tue, 19 Sept 2023 Starts at 19:15 BST
African and Caribbean People in Britain
With Prof Hakim Adi
by Friends of Highgate Library
Link with more details and to register 👉 https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/african-and-caribbean-people-in-britain-prof-hakim-adi-online-tickets-644584829577
Wed, 20 Sept 2023 Starts at 15:00 BST
Introduction to Family History
by National Library of Scotland
Link with more details and to register 👉 https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/introduction-to-family-history-tickets-692410015997
Wed, 20 Sept 2023 Starts at 18:30 BST
Bringing Life to Aberdeen
With Alison T McCall
by Women’s History Scotland
Link with more details and to register 👉 https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/bringing-life-to-aberdeen-whs-seminar-with-alison-t-mccall-virtual-tickets-672963801847
Thu, 21 Sept 2023 19:00 BST
Family History Gems at the National Library of Wales
by Glamorgan FHS
Link with more details and to register👉 https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/coffee-chat-family-history-gems-at-the-national-library-of-wales-tickets-694073080267
Fri, 22 Sept 2023 14:00 BST
Proclaiming Cromwell
by National Archives [Free to attend but donation suggested]
Link with more details and to register 👉https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/proclaiming-cromwell-tickets-602304718627
Fri, 29 Sept 2023 14:00 BST
Women and inventing in the Victorian Age
by National Archives [Free to attend but donation suggested]
Link with more details and to register👉 https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/women-and-inventing-in-the-victorian-age-tickets-636523377557