OLDHAM & DISTRICT PROGRAMME OF MEETINGS
Starting in December 2020 and into early 2022, we had a full programme of online, monthly meetings using zoom, which were well received by both local attendees and many from further afield. In April 2022, when pandemic restrictions were lifted, we decided to run our meetings as hybrids (in person in Oldham Library and simultaneously on zoom).
Our first hybrid meeting took place on Saturday 9th April. As anticipated there were 'teething problems' mainly concerning sound quality for the zoom audience. Since then, endeavouring to improve the experience both in the library and on zoom, we have introduced new equipment and moved from the Education Suite into the Performance Space where the acoustics appear to be better. At the moment, we are preferring to use two laptops, for the powerpoint presentation, instead of introducing a separate camera. It does mean, however, that although we ask the speaker if they will sit in front of the zoom laptop, so that they can be seen easily, on some occasions the speaker prefers to stand. In that instance, it means that the speaker can be heard on zoom but not seen.
We're still working to improve the 'hybrid experience' before we will be completely happy and hope that you will continue to support us both in the library and on zoom. The programme for 2023 is a mix of zoom only, hybrid and library only. This means that we can also invite speakers from outside our local area and, hopefully, offer a programme that satisfies attendees in both the library and on zoom
Booking to attend via zoom is essential ... online, on Eventbrite.
We continue to look forward to welcoming you to our talks in the months to come.
The Branch Meetings on zoom will remain free to both MLFHS members and non-members alike.
In the Library, for those attending in person, there is free admission for MLFHS members and the usual £3 charge for non-members.
Tea, coffee and biscuits are provided as you arrive.
| Video Menu & Links : | Video menu |
In order for us all to get the most enjoyment possible out of our hybrid and on-line meetings, you can download a couple of .pdf files that explain the process of actually joining a meeting with zoom, and the protocols which help to make the meeting run as smoothly as possible. 'New to Zoom' HERE and our Branch Protocols HERE.
2023 PROGRAMME
‘How We Used To Live’
"This is a PowerPoint presentation with my running commentary that will take the audience from the day they were born – just why did your parents call you the name you have? Were you born at home or in a hospital... what kind of house were you born into and how many people did you share the house with? I take the audience through the various stages of growing up. We go through street games, street traders including the ice cream man and then here come the church socials, the youth club and maybe a little bit of independence; and eventually, the word 'courting' ... "
An illustrated talk given by Chris Helme
Saturday 14th January, at 2pm
A zoom only meeting.
* Booking for attendance on zoom, free to all, on Eventbrite
Pit Lasses - the Female Miners of 1842
DeniseBates is a historian and writer. Her interest in female miners started when she discovered that she was descended from one of them. The talk looks at the role of Women and girls working underground in coal mines.
An illustrated talk given by Denise Bates
Saturday 11th February, at 2pm
A zoom only meeting.
* Booking for attendance will be on Eventbrite and free to all.
Booking for zoom on Eventbrite
Crime City :
Manchester's Victorian Underworld
Historian Joseph O'Neill recreates the sights, sounds and smells of a lost milieu in all their fascinating detail. He chronicles the era's crooks, cracksmen, pimps, prostitutes, conmen, garrotters and bare knuckle fighters, and the gin palaces, dance halls and cheap brothels that were as much a part of Manchester as giant cotton mills.
An illustrated talk given by Joseph O'Neill
Saturday, 11th March at 2pm.
IMPORTANT NOTIFICATION
This meeting was planned as a hybrid but, owing to the poor weather conditions, the in-person meeting in the Performance Space at Oldham Library has been cancelled and the speaker will give his presntation only on zoom.
* Booking is essential for attendance on zoom and will be free to all.
* Booking will remain open until 11am on Saturday morning and a zoom meeting link will be sent out at 11:30am.
* Any queries should reach me at < This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. > before 12:15pm (please do not email the MLFHS office).
Booking for zoom on Eventbrite
Manchester Avro
Avro is one of the most famous names in the aircraft industry. It is synonymous with some of the most iconic aeroplanes ever built. As a company it was based around Manchester and the north west for its entire life: but we are very lucky that it was. My talk isn’t about the various fabulous aircraft that they produced, though some will get mentioned, but details the fascinating history of the company and its long association with our region.
An illustrated presentation given by Frank Pleszack
Saturday, 8th April at 2pm
A very brief Annual Meeting, at the start, to formalise next year's Branch Committee etc.
A library-only meeting in the Performance Space at Oldham Library.
No booking is necessary
Members free; non-members £3
The Tiffany Windows
Douglas's latest talk for us is about Tiffany stained-glass windows, in which Briggs specialised. The company produced over 5,000 windows and sold them all over the world. While only six came to Britain, they are all linked to a fascinating series of events, and of people both famous and infamous.
Douglas Jackson, a journalist and writer, has made several visits to America to research the life of Joseph Briggs, and has produced a book on his work.
An illustrated presentation given by Douglas Jackson
Saturday, 13th May at 2pm
A hybrid meeting in the Performance Space at Oldham Library and on zoom.
* Booking essential for attendance on zoom and will be free to all.
* No booking necessary for attendance in the library; members free, non-members £3.
Booking for zoom on Eventbrite
The History of Royton Hall
The talk is about the History of Royton Hall, the families who owned it or lived there, its influence on the village/town and the archaeological dig we undertook in 2005-7.
An illustrated presentation given by Frances Stott
Saturday 10th June at 2pm
A library-only meeting in the Performance Space at Oldham Library.
No booking is necessary
Members free; non-members £3
King John Was Not a Good Man
An insight into the life and times of King John and the Magna Carta.
An illustrated presentation given by Dr. Alan Crosby
Saturday 8th July at 2pm
A zoom only meeting.
* Booking for attendance will be on Eventbrite and free to all.
Joseph Healey, of Lees
(Friend of Samuel Bamford)
An illustrated presentation given by Professor Robert Poole
The radical quack doctor Joseph Healey must be the oddest hero of Peterloo. Healey led the Saddleworth and Lees contingent with its controversial banner
‘Equal representation or death!’, and was gaoled for a year as a result. Samuel Bamford of Middleton wrote warmly of his brave and hilarious comrade, and of their eventual falling-out. Thanks in part to hostile spies we know a surprising amount about ‘Doctor Healey’, and this talk will bring him roaring back to life.
Saturday 12th August at 2pm
A hybrid meeting in the Performance Space at Oldham Library and on zoom.
* Booking essential for attendance on zoom and will be free to all.
* No booking necessary for attendance in the library; members free, non-members £3.
Booking for zoom will be on Eventbrite
Chimney Stacks and Climbing Boys :
the art and mystery of Chimney Sweeping
An illustrated presentation given by Claire Moores
Children were widely used as chimney sweeps in England for about 200 years and the lives of these children who were forced to climb chimneys were the stuff of nightmares.
Saturday, 9th September at 2pm
A library-only meeting in the Performance Space at Oldham Library.
No booking is necessary
Members free; non-members £3
A Trip to Switzerland in 1916
An illustrated presentation given by Tony Foster
The Switzerland talk is based on trips women from this country made to Switzerland to visit their sons/husbands who had been POWs in Germany. Their trips were made between Oct 1916 - Nov 1917. The costs were covered by a fund established by Lord Northcliffe.
Saturday, 14th October at 2pm
A library-only meeting in the Performance Space at Oldham Library.
No booking is necessary
Members free; non-members £3
The Moravians
An illustrated presentation given by Jean Balio
The Story of their Journey from Eastern Europe to Fairfield Manchester. In this illustrated talk we can follow their progress and learn a little of their philosophy and way of life, their advanced ideas on education and equality, focussing especially on the Moravian Settlement in Fairfield Droylsden. We take a virtual walk around the community as it is today.
Saturday 11th November at 2pm
A hybrid meeting in the Performance Space at Oldham Library and on zoom.
* Booking essential for attendance on zoom and will be free to all.
* No booking necessary for attendance in the library; members free, non-members £3.
Booking for zoom will be on Eventbrite
NO
MEETING
IN
DECEMBER
Where to find it ...
Navigate the Branch website pages and see at a glance where you might find what you are looking for, with this site map, HERE
MANCHESTER & LANCASHIRE FHS was formed in 1964 and is now one of the largest family history societies in the world. Although the Society is united by a common interest in Genealogy and Family History, members also pursue interests in closely related fields.
