In a change to our previously advertised talk we will now welcome Antony Marr, a retired police officer with many years training experience, and former deputy registrar of births, deaths and marriages. Now a professional genealogist and Chair of AGRA (Association of Genealogists and Researchers in Archives) with a specific interest in the records of civil registration.

Why can the same birth be registered more than once and in different years ? Why does a single death registration involve three different certificates ? This talk will look at the complex rules of registering birth and death events, uncovering the complexities and hidden information these essential records of civil registration can contain.

• Date: 4th August 2021
• Wednesday 7.30pm
• Online via Zoom
• Speaker: Antony Marr
• Booking Eventbrite booking details

"Anna Watson is a retired professional archivist with over 30 years experience working at Lancashire Archives in Preston, specialising in probate and Church Court Records.

"The latter has led me to looking into how to find our illegitimate ancestors, a stumbling block for many family historians. My talk looks at legislation and sources beyond the filiation and maintenance order, hopefully offering new avenues for genealogists to explore. Image: Hogarth's print of the examination of a pregnant woman, c1729"

• Date: 1st September 2021
• Wednesday 7.30pm
• Online via Zoom
• Speaker: Victoria Coyle
• Booking Eventbrite booking details

"David Tilsley is an archivist at Lancashire Archives, Lancashire County Council's archive service, where he have worked for 14 years.

"My talk will look at sources that tell us about the schooldays of our Lancashire ancestors in the nineteenth century. Who went to school? How did elementary education develop? Which sources contain information about individuals?"

• Date: 6th October 2021
• Wednesday 7.30pm
• Online via Zoom
• Speaker: David Tilsley
• Booking Eventbrite booking details

Dr. Penny Walters has been a University lecturer for 30 years in Psychology and Business Studies. Penny was brought up with Welsh parents, and DNA testing has revealed solely Welsh and Irish ethnicities; and fascinating insights into her children’s heritage.

This session will look at why Welsh ancestors emigrated from Wales, starting withh a historical overview of life in Wales, maps, counties, 1720 and 1833 gazetteer descriptions, the Welsh language, traditional dress, Welsh dragon and patron saint. We will look at the industrialisation of the rural countryside, coal mining and Merthyr Tydfil specifically. Emigration posters of 1841 to 1848 reveal the call to Utah to embrace the Mormon religion, and to Ohio to help build railroads. The crucial role of DNA testing with specified regions and surname distribution will be revealed, as will language, translation tools and scripts. Censuses in Welsh will be analysed and compared to English language censuses. The feeling of connectedness, diaspora, homelands will be explored. Some traditional foods and helpful forums on Facebook groups will be given. 

• Date: 3rd November 2021
• Wednesday 7.30pm
• Online via Zoom
• Speaker: Dr Penny Walters
• Booking: Eventbrite

Our Meeting Rooms

We hold our meetings at the Montserrat Room, [First Floor], Bolton Old Links Golf Club, Chorley Old Road, Bolton, BL1 5SU. There is ample seating and also room for a helpdesk, and a stationery (for sale) table. Coffee and tea is available and the bar is open. The room opens at 7-00pm for the helpdesk and meetings start at 7.30pm.

Our Venue

Bolton Old Links Golf Club has ample car parking facilities but access to the first floor is by stairs only. The venue is easy to get to by car and meetings are always popular and well attended.