The Preen Family History Study Group exists to research the history of the Preen Family. They also publish books such as this one and meet every year in a place where some part of the Preen family lived in earlier centuries. For many years, this meeting place was the village of Cardington (near Church Stretton in Shropshire) which was the home of many members of the family.

A recent DNA study has shown that the Preen family is divided into three main groups. The one we call the "Cardington Group" has as its common ancestors Philip Preen and his wife Mary who lived in Hope Bowdler in the second half of the seventeenth century. Some of their descendants moved to Cardington in the late eighteenth century and this book tells their story. John and Hannah Preen had four sons, each of whom had a large family. Their second son William Preen (c1798-1877) lived in Cardington and his James Preen (1829-1911) also lived there with his wife Priscilla George.