Education

Local history is a lifelong study, pursued formally and informally, from primary school to post-retirement participation.

The BALH Education Committee aims to encourage interest and enthusiasm for local history amongst learners of all ages and to share and promote best practice, knowledge and skills. It represents the Association through links with organisations key to the interests of local historians,  responds to consultations on educational issues on behalf of its members, and contributes to BALH's work on publication and conferences.

Why BALH?

Nick Barratt Historian and Author

Where did your ancestors live?

It is impossible to trace the history of one’s family without considering where they lived. Local history societies and one-place study groups have researched and published content that will allow you to place the lives of your ancestors in the context of their local communities, villages, towns and cities as well as some of the key socio-economic factors that lay behind their development. They often use the same sources as family historians, and can help provide an alternative interpretation of a document or suggest new resources to help your research.

Nick Barratt, Historian and Author

Meet the team

Tim Hamilton Trustee

Tim Hamilton

Tim is a museum professional at the Black Country Living Museum, where he helps manage over 80,000 objects that tell the region’s industrial story. Coming from a low-income background and diagnosed with ADHD, he pursued history through the Open University before completing an Advanced Diploma in Local History at Oxford. Passionate about local history and inclusive representation, he writes for West Midlands Magazines and advocates for underrepresented groups in museum collections. As a BALH trustee, he aims to promote the co-curation of museum collections in local history research and bring his museum expertise to the organisation.

Tim Hamilton, Trustee