Romsley & Hunnington History Society -

Programme 2024/25

Our monthly meetings are held in the Church Hall, Romsley, starting at 7.30pm:

2024

• 24 September 2024: Alms Houses – A home for the poor. Speaker: Ned Williams 
• 22 October 2024: Sir William Marshall: England's Greatest Knight. Speaker: Max Keen
  
• 26 November 2024:  Worcestershire Medal Service, Bromsgrove. Speaker: Karen Cook
  (Gladman & Norman, bespoke medal & enamel craftsmen since 1910)

2025

• 25 February 2025: Eleanor of Aquitaine. Speaker: Howard Robinson
• 25 March 2025: Surnames: Their history and meanings. Speaker: Richard Churchley
• 22 April 2025: To Murder a Priest: The Popish Plot and Worcestershire. Speaker: Douglas Smith
• 27 May 2025: A.G.M. followed by Jean Cockin – A Journey into Egypt 2009
• 24 June 2025: Defiance, Drama and Dominoes: Prisoners of war in Britain during the French Revolution. Speaker: Professor Kate Astbury, University of Warwick
• 28 September 2025: The Sinking of the Titanic. Speaker: Paul & Helen Harding
• 28 October 2025: The Visit of Thomas Jefferson and John Adams to the Leasowes and Hagley Hall. Speaker: Julian Hunt
• 25 November 2025: From Christmas Past to Christmas Present. Speaker: Mary Bodfish

For the latest local history events across the county see the Worcestershire Local History Forum website.

New Book: Growing Up in Bluebird's Garden Village

The Society is delighted to publish a new book, Growing Up in Blue Bird's Garden Village, by Margaret Harding and Valerie Mills.

Margaret was born and raised in Hunnington and Valerie moved there as a young child. They share their memories of growing up in this most unusual community, as well as their own research into how the model village was conceived in 1927 by Bluebird's founder, Sir Harry Vincent, and its development since. The book contains many photographs of local places and people, many not seen before.

Copies of the book, priced £15, may be purchased by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. 

Update on Court Rolls

On 4th December 2019 the Court Rolls group met again to continue with the work commenced a number of years ago. A book was printed in 2017, entitled "Court Rolls of Romsley 1279-1643", on our findings and a review appeared in The Local Historian (Volume 49 No. 2.). I add a short quote from that review:

"The abundance and wealth of detail contained in the Halesowen and Romsley records have already attracted the international attention of historians such as Zvi Razi, R.H. Hilton and R.K. Field and also the American sociologist G.C. Homans, which have made Halesowen and its hinterland 'one of the most famous of all medieval villages', rivalling Ladurie's Montaillou and Beresford's Wharram Percy. This splendid new edition is bound to extend that interest further locally, regionally, nationally and internationally."

Wonderful to think we live in a village with such excellent records of medieval times, when the most important things for your family were how to grow or raise food and keep your home warm on the long cold winter nights. The fields of that time in many cases are still around our village.

Such a wonderful review spurs our group, led by Julian Hunt and Michael Hall, to carry on to find out what more information we can discover. It was thought that we had covered most of the records involving Romsley, but when Julian started to look at the Halesowen documents they included not only Hunnington but more Romsley items.

Many thanks to Robert Deeley's legacy that the History Society received, we are able to continue with our research.

Anyone who wishes to join us is very welcome, you do not have to be a member of the History Society.

Jean Cockin