AUDLEY AND DISTRICT FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY

Welcome

Audley Parish is situated in the rolling hills of North Staffordshire and has a long and interesting history, including farming and a period of intensive coal mining.

Since 1986 the Audley and District Family History Society has been working to make records available for Audley and its adjoining parishes.

Our records are based on the ancient ecclesiastical parish of Audley, which comprises of Audley Township, Bignall End, Halmer End, Knowle End, Park End, Eardley End and Talke.

The adjoining area comprises of the ancient parishes of Barthomley and Church Lawton in Cheshire, and Wolstanton, Keele, Madeley and Betley in Staffordshire. (see Records for full details).

Area covered by the Society. Click to enlarge map.

We hold Research meetings every month, where we have much material available to look at. Non members are welcome to attend for a small fee (see Research).

Every two months a talk is held at The Audley Methodist Church Hall (see Talks).

If you wish to join the Audley and District Family History Society please go to the Joining Us page. You can now pay to join or renew using on-line payments.

The Society has a number of Publications for sale, including the annual Society Journal called the 'Audley Historian'. You can now buy publications on-line. sp;

The Members' Area is now active. Old Audley has recently moved to the Members' Area and extracts of some old Audley St. James' parish magazines 1920-69 added.

If your interest is in the surname of Audley please go to http://audleyfamilyhistory.com

Audley & District Family History Society Committee

As you have visited this website, it is likely that you are interested in either family or local history or maybe both. Audley and District Family History Society, the organisation that manages this website, is a successful family and local history society based in Audley. The society runs research sessions, arranges talks and publishes books, with most of the content being about Audley and the surrounding areas. In 2023, Audley and District Family History Society has over one hundred and fifty members, and, taking advantage of online communications, they are based all over the world.

Concerning books, you may be aware of recent, very successful publications, including the Butt Lane and Wood Lane books, both of which are now sold out.

The society manages two Facebook pages with large amounts of followers, sends out four newsletters a year to members and publishes the Audley Historian annually.

The society attends local fairs to promote research, membership and book sales. These are usually highly successful and exciting events. As no one individual has the pool of all knowledge, how all this activity is organised is through a committee of members. As long as you are a paid-up Audley and District Family History Society member, you can join this committee. Joining the committee does NOT mean that you are allocated a job. The society is keen to benefit from the broadest possible range of knowledge and experiences. A significant amount of committee business is done through emails, so there is no necessity for members to be, for instance, retired. Physical meetings do occur irregularly, usually preceding particularly important or exciting activities. We are twenty-odd years into a new millennium, and the committee is keen to broaden its knowledge base to embrace the brave new world we all live in.

To find out more, please contact Robert Mayer (Society chairperson) at mayerfam@btinternet.com

To join our society go to Joining Us page.

Talks and Research Meetings

All meetings and talks are held at

The Methodist Church Hall, Audley

The next research meeting is on wednesday 6 DECEMBER, 2023, 2 - 4pm

talks page

The Audley Methodist Church Hall, New Road, Bignall End, ST7 8QF.

Go here for map of location and images.

Updated 27 Nov 2023

Latest News

Christmas Book Sale

New Publication

Our latest book, "Kidsgrove: A history up to the year 2000" by Philip Leese , was launched at Kidsgrove Library on 1st and 2nd September. It is now available for sale.

This is the society's most important book to date: The largest text by far. More colour. Both paperback & hardback.It is the first book on Kidsgrove.

Go to Pulications

Old Audley

In the Members' Area.

Updated 5th June 2023

more about the updates in the June 2023 members newsletter

Price Reduction

The price of 3 books has been substatially reduced:

"Called to Arms" now only £1.50 +pp

"Letters of Lieutenant John Lawton 1915-19" now only £1.50 +pp

"Letters of Oswald Tittle 1912-18" now only £1.50 + pp

Go to Publications Page

(No members' discout at these low prices)

New Publications

NEW Publication - November 2023

Audley Historian Vol 29, 2023

contents

Go to pubications

New Publication - September 2023

Kidsgrove: A history up to the year 2000

Philip Leese

see above

New Publication - April 2023

Swettenhams - A North Staffordshire Retail Business

Ian Bailey

Only vaguely aware, from childhood, that there was once a company called Swettenhams and intrigued by the striking survival of its name in a former store in Dalehall, Burslem. Ian Bailey set out to satisfy his curiosity about the nature of the business and its significance. He found many curious and surprising things along the way.