Summaries of meetings held by our local teams
Henry Cole (designer of the first birthday card) and Digby Wyatt (from the Slade School of Art) approached Prince Albert, patron of the Royal Society of Arts, and suggested a visit to France to see the exhibition with the idea of staging one in the UK. This led to a Royal Commission with a committee of fifty to organise it and to be called “The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations” or “The Great Exhibition”
Discover four fascinating family history stories shared by branch members, featuring artefacts from Thames lock-keeping tools to a WW1 death penny.
Discover how the emergency 1939 population count was compiled, how identity cards worked, and how the records were used to found the NHS.
Learn practical methods for researching family in Wales, from non-conformist records and patronymic naming to understanding historic county boundaries.
Learn how to accurately date historical family photographs using materials, studio mounts, and props rather than relying solely on clothing fashions.
Discover the evolution of Reading's picture houses from 1897, exploring early film screenings, iconic local venues, and cinema heritage.
William Craven was born in 1608, the eldest son of a self-made Lord Mayor of London who died in 1618. Baron Craven of Hamstead Marshall was a soldier who chose the Thirty Years’ War to pursue his military career.
Discover practical interviewing techniques for recording oral histories and life stories from older relatives to enrich your family history.
Jack of Newbury is a legendary figure of early Tudor England. However, you have to get the right one, out of several, including four generations of the same family where the heir was named John
18th C English Law drew a distinction between public and private offences, the former being criminal and the latter being civil . Private offences included assault and battery, slander, libel, malicious prosecution, false imprisonment and abduction.
