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Sutton Coldfield Local History Research Group Logo

Sutton Coldfield Local History Research Group

Regular meetings temporarily suspended due to the closure of Sutton Coldfield Library.
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Sutton Coldfield Local History Research Group

Sutton Coldfield has an interesting history, well documented by an extensive collection of primary sources, formerly to be found in Sutton Coldfield Library. Unfortunately, due to the permanent closure of the library by Birmingham City Council on 27th June 2025, this material is now being transferred to the Central Library, situated on Broad Street, Birmingham. Members of the Research Group will have access to the collection in due course, once it has been collated and given new accession references.

In the meantime, negotiations are ongoing, in an effort to find a suitable venue for members to continue to meet, perhaps once a fortnight, with the view to exchanging knowledge and ideas, for the pleasure of just learning more about Sutton’s history or to enable them to produce articles for the website.

In addition, once a month, it is hoped the Group will be able to arrange to meet in the Archive and Local Studies Departments at Birmingham Central Library, to access the primary source material.

New research articles will continually appear on the website and all members will receive regular emails from the Secretary or other members of the Committee, with details of issues affecting the Group.

For further information, see Join Us.

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Recent Research

St Peters Church War Memorial

St Peters Church War Memorial
St Peters Church War Memorial
This article is about the men listed on the War Memorial at St Peter’s Church, Little Aston. Although it is just outside the Sutton border, some of the men lived within the boundary and for that reason they deserve to be included on this website.
  • Author: Paul Harrison (SCLHRG)
  • Published: 27th January 2026
  • Research
  • Original Research
  • View this Research …

Cross o’th’ Hand and The Stone Tenement

Cross o’th’ Hand
Cross o’th’ Hand
One might never realise that the impressive façade of No. 16 and 18 High Street hides an interesting secret unless you look up at its chimneys. If not the originals, they could well be replacements for those that were there at the time of a complete residential refurbishment in 1816 of an important public house known to have been in Sutton Coldfield High Street called The Red Lion, which itself may have been built in the late 1600s! This article attempts to show the history of the site.
  • Author: Janet Jordan (SCLHRG)
  • Published: 11th January 2026
  • Research
  • Original Research
  • View this Research …

Sutton Coldfield Farms 1900 - 1950

Farms 1900 - 1950
Farms 1900 - 1950
Live Excel Spreadsheet for Sutton Coldfield Farms from 1900 to 1950. Not suitabe for viewing on small screens or phones.
  • Author: Don McCollam (SCLHRG)
  • Published: 18th September 2018
  • Research
  • Original Research
  • Access the spreadsheet ...

The Case of the Contested Divorce

The Case of the Contested Divorce
The Case of the Contested Divorce
Before 1857 a marriage could be dissolved only by an Act of Parliament, the cost of which was prohibitive to all but the extremely wealthy. The 1857 Matrimonial Causes Act provided a much cheaper method by giving the High Court of Justice jurisdiction to grants divorce decrees. This meant that people in humble circumstances could petition for divorce. One such person was William Hopkins, a labourer from Whitehouse Common, who instructed Sutton Coldfield Solicitors Messrs Eddowes & Son to obtain a dissolution of his marriage in 1900. This article, based on a file of papers found in the Solicitors’ office in 1977, recounts the progress of the divorce case from petition to hearing, and throws some light on legal practice in the late Victorian/early Edwardian era.
  • Author: Kerry Osbourne (SCLHRG)
  • Published: 3rd December 2025
  • Research
  • Original Research
  • Click to view this Research ...
  • Visitors:
  • MOD_JSVISIT_COUNTRY_GB39%United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
  • MOD_JSVISIT_COUNTRY_ZZ37%Unknown
  • MOD_JSVISIT_COUNTRY_US20%United States of America

History Spot

Reading Room [277]

sdc10747.png
Reading Room
The old town hall (or moot hall) of Sutton Coldfield, built by Bishop Vesey in 1529, stood at the junction of Mill Street, High Street and...
  • Published: 27th September 2013
Read More …

Photo Galleries

Extra images
Council House in Victoria Square - Extra images
Visit to Birmingham City Council House on Thursday, 27th March 2025
Lord Mayor's Robe - Visit to Birmingham City Council House on Thursday, 27th March 2025 More recent Lord Mayors - Visit to Birmingham City Council House on Thursday, 27th March 2025 Lord Mayor's Chair in The Council Chamber - Visit to Birmingham City Council House on Thursday, 27th March 2025
Shenstone Visit 8th March 2023
Shenstone Visit 8th March 2023 Shenstone Visit 8th March 2023 Shenstone Visit 8th March 2023
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