Sarah Wise uses her latest book "Inconvenient People: Lunacy, Liberty and the Mad-Doctors in Victorian England" as the basis for this talk. The 19th century saw a series of scandals concerning sane individuals being locked away in lunatic asylums, the victims of unscrupulous persons, who wanted to be rid of a ‘difficult’ family member, spouse or friend. But who were the victims of this trade? How much can you find out about contested cases, private asylums and dodgy doctors in the surviving archives? Sarah Wise explains what she learnt during research for her book and has some fascinating, if not very sad examples.

This event is also open to non-members, with fee of £5. Registration opens on 1st April, when the red ‘Register [Individual]’ button will show on the top left of this page, just click on that button, you will also receive an email confirmation. Non-members will be required to create a free FHSC account and complete the payment details.

Registration will close on 13th April.

The zoom links/meeting protocol will be forwarded to all registrants the day before the talk. 

If you run into any difficulties with this, then please contact us on the dedicated seminar email address – . The Seminar series is co-ordinated by Margaret Spate, Jean Laidlaw and Margaret Roberts and ALL correspondence, queries etc should be sent to the dedicated email address.

PLEASE NOTE WE DO NOT RECORD SEMINAR TALKS

The Family Historian Users Group provides support and tips for using Family Historian software. Led by Geoff Johnson members are welcome to chat about their experiences of using the software and to discuss any problems etc that other members of the group may be able to help out with

The MAC Users Discussion Group meets on the third Monday of the month at 2pm. The group is led by John Reed and is the perfect place to discuss any issues or share your hints and tips and learn from other members about all things MAC related. Thinking of swapping to a MAC  then there is no better way to find out more.

Ever feel that your family history research has hit a dead end? Those stubborn ancestors who refuse to be found? Then this pair of special Brick Wall Busting sessions could be just what you need.

The Family History Society of Cheshire is delighted to be working in collaboration with the Shropshire Family History Society to offer two joint Zoom evenings, each focusing on brick walls from a different county.

Cheshire Brick Walls – Wednesday 22 April, 7.30pm (via Zoom)

Shropshire Brick Walls – Thursday 23 April, 7.30pm (via Zoom) 

You are very welcome to send in details of your own brick walls in advance, so we can take a closer look during the session, but there’s no obligation to do so. If you’d rather simply drop in, listen, and pick up ideas, techniques, and inspiration, you’ll be just as welcome.

These sessions are all about shared experience, fresh perspectives, and learning from one another’s research challenges and successes.

We very much hope this will be the first of many collaborative brick-wall-busting events with other Family History Societies, bringing expertise together across county boundaries.

Come along, bring your puzzles (or just your curiosity), and help us knock down a few walls together. 

You will need to register to attend, to do so please click on the 'Register [Individual]' button below on the left and process your registration, you will receive an email confirmation and the zoom links/meeting protocol will be forwarded the morning of the meeting

Ever feel that your family history research has hit a dead end? Those stubborn ancestors who refuse to be found? Then this pair of special Brick Wall Busting sessions could be just what you need.

The Family History Society of Cheshire is delighted to be working in collaboration with the Shropshire Family History Society to offer two joint Zoom evenings, each focusing on brick walls from a different county.

Cheshire Brick Walls – Wednesday 22 April, 7.30pm (via Zoom)

Shropshire Brick Walls – Thursday 23 April, 7.30pm (via Zoom) 

You are very welcome to send in details of your own brick walls in advance, so we can take a closer look during the session, but there’s no obligation to do so. If you’d rather simply drop in, listen, and pick up ideas, techniques, and inspiration, you’ll be just as welcome.

These sessions are all about shared experience, fresh perspectives, and learning from one another’s research challenges and successes.

We very much hope this will be the first of many collaborative brick-wall-busting events with other Family History Societies, bringing expertise together across county boundaries.

Come along, bring your puzzles (or just your curiosity), and help us knock down a few walls together. 

You will need to register to attend, to do so please click on the 'Register [Individual]' button below on the left and process your registration, you will receive an email confirmation and the zoom links/meeting protocol will be forwarded the morning of the meeting

Publishing your Family History Research Group, covers all aspects of publishing your research, whether you are considering writing a book, creating a website or blog, submitting an article to the Cheshire Ancestor, recording a podcast etc, then this group is the ideal place to discuss your ideas and concerns. Led by Victoria Doran, the group meets on the fourth Monday of the month at 2:30pm, with a break for the Summer.

The DNA Group focuses on the growing role of genetic testing in genealogy, allowing participants to exchange results, tips, and advice on interpreting DNA data.

The Group, led by Diane Kuster, meets on the fourth Monday of the month at 7:30pm.

The Historical Newspapers Group, which meets on the first Friday of the month at 2pm and is led by Margaret Roberts, explores the use of old newspapers in family history research. Hints and tips on using the newspapers online, how to get the best out of your searches and sharing stories of successes, and failures are a mainstay of the group.

The MAC Users Discussion Group meets on the third Monday of the month at 2pm. The group is led by John Reed and is the perfect place to discuss any issues or share your hints and tips and learn from other members about all things MAC related. Thinking of swapping to a MAC  then there is no better way to find out more.

Clare Wilson is a Professional Genealogist with Treehouse Genealogy based in Central Scotland. Born into the RAF Family, through her own Family History Research Clare would discover a WW1 Ace who was awarded a D.C.M., a family member who was shot down over Germany during WW2 whilst serving with Bomber Command & more about her Fathers Service during the Cold War Period.

During WW2 Men from throughout the Commonwealth & beyond would sign up to serve with the Allied Air Forces. This often-dangerous job would take many of them across the world and would see them fighting alongside men from other nations. This being the case tracking down relevant records can often be tricky. During her presentation Clare will tell the story of a crew shot down over France in 1944, showing the sources and documents used to piece their story together, covering records such as where to find Service Records, records at the National Archives, Air Force Lists, researching Operations, publications useful in your research, Combat Reports, looking for memorials, evaders & POWs, oral histories and much more. Members  will be amazed at the level of information discovered in relation to this crew, meaning that you can replicate this to search for your own WWII airmen.

This event is for members only and registration opens on 1st May, when the ‘Register [Individual]’ button will show on the bottom left of the Event details on the FHSC website for you to click and then process your registration, you will receive an email confirmation. Registration will close on 18th May.

The zoom links/meeting protocol will be forwarded the day before the talk.  If you run into any difficulties with this, then please contact us on the dedicated seminar email address – . The Seminar series is co-ordinated by Margaret Spate, Jean Laidlaw and Margaret Roberts and ALL correspondence, queries etc should be sent to the dedicated email address.

PLEASE NOTE WE DO NOT RECORD SEMINAR TALKS

The Family Historian Users Group provides support and tips for using Family Historian software. Led by Geoff Johnson members are welcome to chat about their experiences of using the software and to discuss any problems etc that other members of the group may be able to help out with

Publishing your Family History Research Group, covers all aspects of publishing your research, whether you are considering writing a book, creating a website or blog, submitting an article to the Cheshire Ancestor, recording a podcast etc, then this group is the ideal place to discuss your ideas and concerns. Led by Victoria Doran, the group meets on the fourth Monday of the month at 2:30pm, with a break for the Summer.

Zooming in on Family History is a wide-ranging chatty session where members can come along to ask for help with their research, brickwall or questions relating to using the online databases such as Ancestry and FindMyPast. Discussions also cover research techniques and problem-solving strategies, an excellent place for newcomers to family history to ask questions and learn the basics of tracing their ancestry.  Maybe you live outside Cheshire and want to dive into the rich history of the county or explore how local events, records, and geographic changes could  inform their family research.  The Group, which meets on the fourth Wednesday of month at 7:30pm is led by Margaret Roberts and Sheila Jones.

The Family Tree Maker Users Discussion group meets on the fourth Thursday of every second month at 7:30pm via Zoom.

The group is led by Tony Cox and covers all aspects of using Family Tree Maker, so this is the place for asking any questions or sharing tips on how to use the programme

To be included in the emailing list to receive the zoom link for these meetings please return to the Homepage of the website, scroll down the left-hand menu and click on Discussion Groups, then click on 'Subscribe' for this or any other Discussion Group you would like to attend.

The May FHSC Cheshire Research Buddies topic of the month is the Wirral  - Do you have ancestors in the area, or are you researching a local family and want some help, perhaps on the other hand you live in the locality and could offer help with photographing gravestones or buildings. This is the chance for members to help each other, I'm sure there are many members out there with knowledge of the area that they could share. If you have a research question then please feel free to email me on   and I will circulate it among attendees beforehand.

You will need to register to attend, to do so please click on the 'Register [Individual]' button below on the left and process your registration, you will receive an email confirmation and the zoom links/meeting protocol will be forwarded the morning of the helpdesk meeting.

If you run into any difficulties with this then please contact Margaret Roberts on 

NOTE that registration closes at 10am on the morning of the meeting.and the zoom links will be forwarded once registration is close

The Historical Newspapers Group, which meets on the first Friday of the month at 2pm and is led by Margaret Roberts, explores the use of old newspapers in family history research. Hints and tips on using the newspapers online, how to get the best out of your searches and sharing stories of successes, and failures are a mainstay of the group.