The Friends of Wolverhampton City Archives began as an independent body in 2009.

We  fully support and promote the work of the Archives through fund raising, providing volunteers to work on Archives projects, and helping at Archives events.

The Friends enjoy a full programme of regular  meetings throughout the year, which are held at the Molineux Hotel, the home of the Archives service.  We provide a range of speakers  on a variety of historical subjects and we organise occasional walks around areas of local historical interest during the summer months.  Our current programme can be viewed on the Events page.

On behalf of the frinds, Ann Bailey presents the Pershouse papers to the City Archivist, Heide Macintosh.

Know Your Neighbourhood

Friends of the Archives is also taking part in Wolverhampton Libraries, "Know your Neighbourhood" scheme, a funded national initiative.  Guided by the local co-ordinator Jennifer Lees, history groups have been formed at Low Hill, Warstones, Wednesfield and Bilston libraries.  The Bilston group, Memories of Bilston, opened its first exhibition, on pigeon racing, on August 8th 2024, based on material supplied by one of the members.  Charlotte Woodcock, project worker at Bilston said, “The people of Bilston are very proud of their heritage and our Memories group is a celebration of that.  It has been incredible to see the group grow each month, reconnecting people from their school days as well as learning about various historic Bilston locations such as the steelworks, Thompson’s Ltd and many, many pubs.” 

The Low Hill group is commemorating the centenary of the estate, as has been described on the BBC web-site:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cd9xkv1gyklo

Our main funding activity is providing refreshments at the Local History Fair held at the Archives in November each year.

We transform one of the meeting rooms into a traditional  tea-room with white linen table cloths and  table flower arrangements. Tea, coffee and soft drinks are available with home-made cakes and filled rolls provided by our members.   To complete the ambience, traditional platter table-ware is used for service.

Our fund-raising has enabled us to purchase items such as new lenses for the Archives' viewing machines, and some digital photographic equipment.

200 Year Old Letters Preserved

When the Friends discovered that a series of letters, written in the 1790’s by the Pershouse family of Penn Hall, were up for sale, they decided to buy them to donate to the Archives, so they could be preserved as part of the history of the city.
The letters reveal something of the life of Elizabeth Pershouse, who had inherited Penn Hall from her father, Thomas Bradney in 1782. Her husband, William, and one of her 2 children had died in the late 1780s, which had left her feeling very nervous and anxious about her remaining son. However, this did not prevent her carrying out
building works to the Hall, managing the workmen and purchase of materials herself.
She also assisted her nieces in claiming legacies that were due to them under a family will. Perhaps the strangest thing mentioned is the pineapple plant, which was regarded as such a novelty that it was passed around the wider family.
Anne Bailey, Programme Secretary for the Friends, who presented the letters to City Archivist, Heidi McIntosh, says she hopes visitors to the Archives will enjoy reading these letters, which have much the same style and language as Jane Austen, who was just beginning her writing career in the 1790s.

Friends are contributing to the Express and Star Project

This project aims to carry out vital archiving work, digitise the collection, and make the photographs available through a single web portal, allowing free on-line public access to the unrivalled images of local events, momentous and everyday, for the first time.

Wolverhampton Archives are always looking for volunteers to help with the project. Just get in touch with the Archives.

Part of our fund raising has helped to pay for the digitisation of these photos.