Museum searches for borough's 'oldest family'

A Kent museum is looking for a borough's oldest family to be part of a new exhibition.

Maidstone Museum says it wants to find the family with its roots deepest in the region to feature in an exhibition at the newly redeveloped Local History Gallery.

The winning family will have details of their lineage displayed on a wooden information board which will go on display in the gallery.

Stephen Thompson, Maidstone Borough Council cabinet member for healthier, stronger communities, said the competition was a "wonderful way to celebrate our borough's rich history".

The competition, in partnership with the Kent Family History Society, will open on Monday and close on 1 July.

Entrants must find family trees, online research, birth and death certificates or other evidence to back up their claim to be the borough's oldest family.

Workshops will also be held at the museum with the Family History Society to help entrants look through databases and further their research.

Entries will then be judged by a panel of experts and a shortlist of families will be welcomed to the reopening of the gallery.

Maidstone's Local History Gallery is currently being renovated and will reopen in the summer as The Oldham Gallery, named after The William and Edith Oldham Charitable Trust which has funded the project.

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