Saturday 11th July, at 2pm
An in-person, informal event.

This is a departure from our usual format in that we will be meeting in the new Local Studies & Archives Library, on the corner of Parliament Square and Ascroft Street. The entrance is just across the road from Billingtons on Ascroft Street. It will be open exclusively for our use at this time.
The Local Studies and Archives Library now hold all their archive and local history material on site rather than in the off-site storage facilities used previously.

The newspapers are on open access, through the film readers. In addition, for the meeting, we will have a selection of archived resource materials brought out for us to browse and learn how to use in our own family or local history research.
There is also a collection of local history publications on the open shelves, in the library area, to look at.

This is an opportunity not to be missed.
If you wish to suggest anything specific, to be brought out, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by 30th June 2026, or the first 2 or 3 days in July, at the latest, and let us know what you wish to look at so that we can arrange things with the Archivist.

This Meeting is free to both members and non-members of MLFHS.
All are welcome to join us.

Registration on Eventbrite is not necessary - just come along and join us.

Thursday, 13th August, at 7:30
The Great Miss Lydia Becker - Suffragist, Scientist & Trailblazer
An illustrated presentation given by the author, Joanna Williams.

Lydia Ernestine Becker (1827-90)
Fifty years before women were enfranchised, a legal loophole allowed up to a thousand women to vote in the general election of 1868. This surprising event occurred due to the feisty and single-minded dedication of Lydia Becker, the acknowledged, though unofficial, leader of the British women's suffrage movement in the later 19th century.
Brought up near Manchester in a middle-class family as the eldest of fifteen children, she broke away from convention, remaining single and entering the sphere of men by engaging in politics. Although it was considered almost immoral for a woman to speak in public, Lydia addressed innumerable audiences, not only on women's votes, but also on the position of wives, the abuse of women, and their rights at work. She battled grittily to gain academic education for poor girls, and kept countless supporters all over Britain and beyond abreast of the many campaigns for women's rights through her publication, the Women's Suffrage Journal.
Steamrollering her way to Parliament as chief lobbyist for women, she influenced MPs in a way that no woman, and few men, had done before. In the 1860s the idea of women's suffrage was compared in the Commons to persuading dogs to dance; it was dismissed as ridiculous and unnatural. By the time of Lydia's death in 1890 there was a wide acceptance that the enfranchisement of women would happen, sooner or later. The torch was picked up by Lydia's younger colleague on the London committee, Millicent Fawcett, and by a woman she had inspired as a teenager, Emmeline Pankhurst; the rest is History.

A Zoom only meeting, .
Registration is on Eventbrite and free to everyone.
All are welcome to join us.

Thursday, 10th September, at 7:30
Transported to Tasmania
An illustrated presentation given by Kelly Cornwell

Exploring English and Australian records to help you discover more about your convict ancestors; demonstrated via the case study of a young girl from Shoreditch, her conviction, transportation and ensuing escapades in Tasmania.
This presentation looks at the history of British convict colonies in the ‘New World’, the records created by the penal system, and how useful they can be in our research. Many of the collections discussed are accessible online.

A Zoom only meeting, .
Registration is on Eventbrite and free to everyone.
All are welcome to join us.

Saturday 10th October, at 2pm
An in-person, informal event.

Meeting to be held in the Local Studies and Archives, on the corner of Parliament Square and Ascroft Street. The entrance is just across the road from Billingtons on Ascroft Street. It will be open exclusively for our use at this time.

The newspapers are on open access, through the film readers. In addition, for the meeting, we will have a selection of archived resource materials brought out for us to browse and learn how to use in our own family or local history research.
There is also a collection of local history publications on the open shelves, in the library area, to look at.

With these in-person meetings, in the Local Studies and Archives, we would like to try out different activities related to our local and family history research.

If you wish to suggest anything specific, or archived material to be brought out, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by 30th September 2026, at the latest, and let us know what you wish to look at so that we can arrange things with the Archivist.

If you have any thoughts on what we might include, please get in touch. Contact details HERE

This Meeting is free to both members and non-members of MLFHS.
All are welcome to join us.

Thursday, 12th November, at 7:30
Delinquents and Debtors in Lancaster Prison
An illustrated presentation given by Michael Winstanley

This talk explores how Lancaster's medieval castle was converted into a modern prison from the late 18th century; how those found guilty of crimes were treated and how debtors, who were not criminals but simply detained because they could not pay a debt, lived in the castle.

A Zoom only meeting, .
Registration will be on Eventbrite and free to everyone.
All are welcome to join us.

NO

MEETING

IN

DECEMBER

Saturday 11th April, at 2pm
An in-person, informal event.

A tour round the newly renovated old Library & Art Gallery, on Union Street, with Sean Baggaley

We will be meeting on the Ground Floor of Gallery Oldham, then up to the 2nd floor in a lift. We then cross the bridge to the Old Library and Art Gallery where the Oldham Panorama (celebrating its 150th year) has been reinstated. This will take us to the Old Art Gallery exhibition about working in a Cotton Mill, various portraits of Mayors etc., and then another, smaller gallery, exhibiting information about Oldham firms and the wider world. (This part is open to the public.)
Behind the scenes, we will visit the Civic Centre part of the Old Gallery and can view the Civic Silver, Manchester Regiment Drums, memorabilia, and medals of VC recipients etc. We will then look at the Art Store, on the 1st floor of the new building, to view some paintings which are not on display at present, (these areas are normally closed to the public).

Booking is not necessary but please arrive before 2pm.

Looking ahead : The July and October in-person meetings will be held in the Local Studies and Archives Library.  If you have any thoughts on what we might do in those meetings, please get in touch and share your ideas.

Thursday, 14th May, at 7:30pm
Growing Old disgracefully!
An illustrated presentation given by Linda Sawley

"What makes you old? Is is grey hair? Arthritis? Receding hairline? Memory loss? The talk explores a light hearted look at growing old with stories from the internet, my life and things I've learnt along the way, along with an update on Cinderella’s life! Come and be entertained and have a good laugh!"

A Zoom only meeting, .
Registration is on Eventbrite and free to everyone.
All are welcome to join us.

Thursday, 11th June, at 7:30
Chetham's Library : from the Universal to the Local
An illustrated presentation given by Julianne Simpson.

Chetham’s Library was founded in 1653 through the legacy of Humphrey Chetham, a wealthy Manchester cloth merchant originally from Crumpsall. Until the nineteenth century it was the only repository for books and manuscripts in Manchester. The increase in subscription libraries and creation of rate-supported libraries from 1851 led to a change in focus. The decision was made to specialise in the history and topography of the north west of England. Chetham's now has one of the largest collections of material relating to Manchester and its region, with extensive holdings of prints, maps and photographic slides, and large runs of newspapers, trade directories and periodicals.
Before the establishment of local record offices, many local manuscripts and archival holdings came to Chetham’s, often through members of local historical societies, particularly the Chetham Society. These include the oldest history of Manchester (Richard Hollingworth’s 1656 Mancuniensis), the first ever census of Manchester, compiled in 1773–74, and numerous social, economic, and political papers, including wages books of early mills, accounts of the poor house and the overseers of the poor.

A Zoom only meeting, .
Registration is on Eventbrite and free to everyone.
All are welcome to join us.

Thursday, 8th January at 7:30pm
James Caldwell as Executor of Josiah Wedgewood
James Caldwell of Linley Wood in Staffordshire, 1759-1838; protege of Josiah Wedgwood.
An illustrated presentation given by J.J, Heath-Caldwell.

Thursday, 12th February at 7:30pm
Platt Bros. & Co., and other Oldham Engineering Firms.
An illustrated presentation given by Kelly Anderson.

Thursday, 12th March at 7:30pm
Scamps in Khaki
An illustrated presentation given by Andrea Hetherington.
This talk will be preceded, at 7:20, by the brief Annual Branch Meeting to formalise the Branch Committee for the next 12 months.