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Oldham & District : Research

Oldham, MLFHS, Manchester Ancestors, Research, local history,

Holebottom Colliery, Oldham

Family Sampler

articles, local history, ancestry

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


OUR ANCESTRY & LOCAL HISTORY ARTICLES

It's been written that there is a novel in all of us, just waiting to be written. Well, I'm not so sure about that! However, I do believe that there is a story in all of us, waiting to be given a 'voice'.

Our numerous articles are scattered through the Branch pages so, to help you find the ones you might find most interesting, the Research/Local Interest page is going to serve as our Pictorial Index , where you can follow a link directly to an article that catches your interest. 


Featured Articles

Custom Roll and Rental of the Manor of Ashton-under-Lyne,  November 11, 1422.

extracts transcribed :
the 'Introduction';  pps. 93 - 134 ; and Index.
Read More

St Paul's Methodist Church, Rochdale Rd., Shaw

Links to :
Details of over 400 Burials; History; the 150th Anniversary Booklet (38 pages); Gallery of Pictures; 1920 fundraising Autograph Book of WW1 soldiers (124 pages scanned); and List of Ministers from 1791

Read More

The 16th(S) Battalion, Manchester Regiment, in the Second Battle
of the Somme, at Manchester Hill, 21st March,1918,

An Account of the Battle; names of local men who died; and the names of all other men in the 16th, who died on the day or from the wounds received. 

Read More


Projects and Volunteers

Visit the Projects and Volunteers page to have a look at what topics are being researched. You may find something there with which you would like to be involved or even set up your own research project which can be included on our pages.


Research in Oldham

The Local Studies & Archives Library, (currently closed and being re-located) was, and hopefully will be again, the 'go-to' place for everything about Oldham. It has a close association with our own society and is happy to promote Family History research. A visitor will find helpful staff to point them in the right direction, guiding their research. Computers are available, free of charge, to use Family History websites, such as 'Ancestry' and 'Find My Past. They can also provide access to the many digitised archives, for example the thousands of local photographs. The local newspapers can be viewed on the film-readers. Most of the many and varied historical source materials are archived on-site and can be viewed very quickly, when requested. However, some items are stored off-site, and need to be requested in advance. The Local Studies also offers a considerable library of old and modern publications, maps etc., which can be browsed at will by the the visitor.

Our Branch and individual research activities can include anything and everything that we can discover about our ancestors, their lives and their stories. 

Our Research

Over the years our Oldham members have contributed to many of the society’s transcription and research projects. In the last few years there have been a number of centenaries and bicentenaries which had particular importance for Oldham & District. They included the centenary of the 'Women's Right to Vote' movement, which included local women. The Bicentenary of Peterloo was important to us ... the inquest on the death of John Lees, as a result of the yeomanry action, became of national importance.

Rowbottom, Shaw & Butterworth

Oldham is fortunate to have amongst its famous names (as regards local history) William Rowbottom who wrote a diary of daily happening in Oldham, from 1787 - 1830; Giles Shaw who, in 1888, wrote 'Local Notes & Gleanings - Oldham and Neighbourhood in Bygone Times', in 3 volumes; and last, but certainly not least, the various publications by Butterworth father and son, James & Edwin. Edwin Butterworth's 'Reports', from the early and mid 19th century, are particularly useful as they pre-date the first issues of the local newspapers.

A number of the Branch's research contributions to the website can be found in the 'Society Members' Only' pages.
Under the 'Documents' link, you will find a list of the research work undertaken by Oldham Volunteers, and only available to Society Members.

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