Local history society directory

Local history society directory

Find a local history organisation near you or to support your research project.

Local history resource directory

Local history resource directory

Explore our Resource Directory — a curated collection of archives, maps, publications, and specialist websites to support and inspire your local history research.

Become a member

Become a member

Join a national network of local historians and societies — with publications, support, increased visibility, and member benefits including discounts and dedicated insurance.

Quarterly publications

Quarterly publications

The Local Historian, our academic journal, was first produced in 1952 and is considered one of the foremost local history publications. It is published four times a year in conjunction with Local History News.

Our educational work

Our educational work

BALH aims to encourage interest and enthusiasm for local history amongst learners of all ages and to share and promote best practice, knowledge and skills.

Featured member society

Featured member society

BALH member societies may now add details of their work to our website, which will be highlighted here. Contact us for further details

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

Jack Southern Trustee

Jack Southern

Jack has a deep interest in the relationship between people, places, and local history, shaped by his upbringing on the Fylde coast. He studied local and regional history at Lancaster University before teaching in Hong Kong, later returning to complete postgraduate research at the University of Central Lancashire, focusing on communities and industrial decline in Lancastrian cotton towns. He collaborates with local history groups, artists, and the Lancashire Local History Federation to explore new ways of communicating history. Now a Public History and Heritage lecturer at UCLan, he is passionate about outreach and engaging wider audiences with local history.

Jack Southern, Trustee

From our archives

The Amateur Historian Volume 7 Number 4 November 1966

Military history from local history sources

Little, Reginald H.

pp 112-118

A case-study of the military history of the parish of Sopley, Hampshire. Initial research, which involved investigating various monuments and tombs in the parish church, revealed several references to military careers of local people, including those of high-ranking officers in the army and navy. The author was able to trace the careers of some of these men using regimental and other military records, newspaper articles, army lists and searches for portraits.

The Amateur Historian Volume 7 Number 4 November 1966

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