A FREE taster session in researching house and family history will be held in Rawdon in January.

The event, at Rawdon Community Library, will be followed by a Women in Family History Course at the end of the month.

The taster session will take place at 10.30am on Tuesday, January 8. The five-session course costs £35. It will begin at 1.45pm on Thursday, January 31and run fortnightly.

A spokesman said: “The course is suitable for those starting to research their family history or the history of their house. It is also for those with some experience. This is a great opportunity to find out about your ancestors and local history.

“The Who Do You Think You Are television programmes show what surprising and interesting ancestors we may have and not know about. DNA research has added a new dimension to research. The Local History Library at Rawdon Library, where we meet, has an excellent collection of books about Leeds, its local areas and the whole of Yorkshire. It is a must for those interested in local history as well as being useful in family history research.”

The course will be run by The Workers’ Educational Association and the tutor is Jackie Depelle. It is being promoted by Aireborough Civic Society and Rawdon Community Library.

To join visit https://enrolonline.wea.org.uk/online/coursesearch.aspx or phone WEA Leeds area office on 0113 245 3304. For further information ring 0113 2503580.

The spokesman said: “To help with individual research Rawdon Library has a subscription to the ‘Find My Past’ and ‘British Newspaper Archive’ websites. This means that course members and other library users can research old censuses, birth, death and marriage certificates for free at the library during opening hours. You may find that your ancestors have appeared in newspapers using the online British Newspaper Archive.

“The Wharfedale Observer has recently been added to the Newspaper Archive so that local news from Victorian Times is now available to all.”

The picture shows the family of John Venimore Godwin at Micklefield House. On the left is John Arthur who went on to become the first Lord Mayor of Bradford in 1907. His sister Catherine, mother Rachel, and sisters Agnes and Mary. are also shown. It is thought Mary had cerebral palsy and she died aged 11 in 1861.