PROGRAMME FOR 2025

From September 2024 our monthly meetings moved to the first Friday of each month in the Rococo Room at the Molineux Hotel, home of the Archives.  Meetings start at 11.00 am with refreshments available beforehand, and close by 12.45 pm

Visitors are most welcome to attend any meeting (capacity permitting), and admission is £3.  It is advisable to email first.  There is no charge to members.

Friday 4th April

The best apology Wolverhampton could offer for Hyde Park: a case study of Molineux Pleasure Grounds

This study traces the evolution of the gardens from a pleasure ground to a football stadium, looking at the accessibility of the grounds to the working class people of Wolverhampton, to it's changing use as a symbol of civic pride.

Presenter:  Olivia Beards

Friday 2nd May

Japanning:  'an Art of Great Importance to Commerce' ... the story of an almost forgotten Midlands industry

For over two hundred years, japanning, or the decorating of tin-ware and papier mache, was a  staple trade in Bilston, Wolverhampton and Birmingham.  From tiny buttons to large pieces of  highly decorative furniture, its products, at their peak, were highly regarded by fashionable society across Europe and beyond.  By looking at its origins, leading factories and the skills of the men and women employed in the various workshops, it will be seen why japanning was, indeed, an important player in the industrial history of the Midlands in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Presenter:  Yvonne Jones

Friday 6th June

Tales from the Coroners Casebook- Life and Death in Georgian Black Country . Part one 1880-1826

This presentation examines jury cases of unexplained deaths, presided over by Henry Smith esq.- Coroner of the Black Country 1802 - 1842. These include accidents, manslaughter, murders, suicides and visitations of God. join Coroner Smith's jury and reconsider some of the cases he dealt with during the first part of his long career.

Presenter:  Quintin Watt

Friday 4th July

Bilston when it was a country town

We are familiar with the Bilston of today. A product of exploitation of the rich mineral reserves: a consequence of the Industrial Revolution. This talk based on research from original documents will describe a different Bilston, that of 300 years ago. It will focus on ordinary inhabitants and their day to day concerns.

Presenter:  Jennifer Davies

Note this extra talk

Friday 1st August

The Men (and Women) of the Little's Lane Memorial

The talk will provide biographies of all the men listed, their lives before the war, fates during the war, and where possible, mentioning family members and using them to describe living conditions in the infamous Irish quarter pre and post war.

Presenter:  Claire Jones

Friday 5th September

Habitual Drunkards, Felons and Incorrigible Rogues: Tales from the Wolverhampton Court of Quarter Sessions – Part 2

Presenter:  Heidi McIntosh, City Archivist

Friday 3rd October

AGM

A short talk on Catherine Fellows 1829-1912 – A forgotten Wolverhampton Sculptor

Presenter:  Anne Bailey

Friday 7th November

‘Elegant, Well-Mannered and Never Dull  –

The Church Architecture of Richard Twentyman’

Richard Twentyman, (1903-1979) the brother of the sculptor Anthony Twentyman, was a successful West Midlands architect based in Wolverhampton, known particularly for the churches he designed.  The talk, based on research into his life and career, explores how his architecture developed in response to changing social, economic and religious circumstances.

Presenters:  Aidan Ridyard and Chris Kennedy

Friday 5th December

The History of Dudley Castle 1071 - 1933
A fortress since 1087, Dudley has seen its fair share of sieges, political derring-do and royal visits - not to mention illegal mints, ghosts and great fires.

Featuring a quick change from medieval to civil war costume & weapons during the talk! 

Presenter:  Max Keen

No meeting in January 2026

Friday 6th February 2026

Tettenhall Towers

Presenters:  Tim Beech and Penny Smith