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Welcome to the 6th edition of the British Association for Local History’s e-newsletter.
As we continue to live in an online-only world, BALH keeps delivering its digital initiatives to you so that you can continue to enjoy local history from home. We have lots of exciting virtual events plans and we hope to see you there.
BALH encourages participation from all our members and we welcome all your ideas. If you have a local history story you would like to share – be it a blog post, talk, article or project – please do get in contact with us. For those wishing to become a BALH member, information about what BALH has to offer is available on our membership pages. Hope to hear from you soon!
BALH at the Family History Federation Really Useful Show
The BALH team will be out in force on Saturday 10th April for the Family History Federation's virtual Really Useful Show. Reinforcing the close relationship between local history and family history, the team will be helping attendees with their local history enquiries as well as promoting the benefits afforded by BALH membership.
Dr Gill Draper is giving a talk, "Pauper Prisons, Pauper Palaces: Life in the Workhouse". This, and all other talks from the show, will be available for a further week, to view on-demand.
Tickets and details: https://www.fhf-reallyuseful.com
Pharos Tutors: our new education partner
We are delighted to announce that BALH has joined forces with Pharos Tutors to produce an online course in local history: Local History: Uncovering the Places and Communities connected to your Ancestors.
This four week course will guide you step by step through three key time periods, from c.1066 to the present day, using a variety of case studies and sources from across Britain to enhance your learning. The course is designed for those who are just starting out in local history research and for more experienced researchers who would like guidance, inspiration or practical advice.
Read more
Local History Hour – BALH Lecture Series
In March’s Local History Hour we were joined by Dr Charlotte Young and Tim Hasker. We loved welcoming them along to share some of their research with us and over 180 attendees. Their talks contained lots of information on the period ranging from how to find and use records to stories taking us across the county to settle last of all in Tim’s study of Northampton’s response to the Regicide.
Charlotte gave us a tour through some of the sources that we can (and should) be using to research the civil war era in our local research. The range of records on offer is significant and as well as giving practical advice on where to look and how to use them Charlotte shared some fascinating examples of the kind of things we can find (including several instances of stolen cows). The recovery of local experiences of this tumultuous time is well-worth the effort and hopefully some of our attendees have been inspired to dive in further! From here the Hour dived into our local study by Tim who offered his research into the responses in Northampton to the trial and execution of Charles I. This gave us a fascinating insight into how this momentous event was received.
Our next Local History Hour
We are so glad at BALH to be bringing local history into your homes and we warmly welcome you all to join in April. Come and listen in as we take you through wills and account books to explore the lives of early modern women on April 29th in Women’s Lives in Early Modern Documents with Dr Imogene Dudley and Dr Sarah-Jayne Ainsworth in conversation sharing advice and examples from their own research.
Local History Day 2021: AGM and Talk
We are pleased to announce our virtual Local History Day 2021 will be held on Saturday 12th June 2021. Our virtual Local History Day will take place between 1:30pm and 4:30pm.
Further details will be announced soon.
Local History Matters – The BALH Podcast
The BALH Local History Matters podcast is a bi-monthly programme featuring and projects key people from the local history world. Podcasts feature:
Dr Will Butler, Head of Military Records at The National Archives, tells us about the huge range of military records held by The National Archives and some of the local history engagement opportunities afforded by the centenary of the First World War.
Dr Ellie Pridgeon, consultant archivist, gives us an insight into a range of community archiving projects and the ways in which born digital records are changing how we archive material for future generations.
Paul Carter, BALH’s Web Manager, and Pam Smith discussed Name & Place, an exciting new data management and mapping app for local history research.
Elizabeth Wells from the Westminster School Archives discussed the fascinating objects and collections held at the Westminster School Archives. This episode reflects on the ways that school archives can be used to enhance all kinds of local history research.
The podcast is available to listen either through the BALH website or your preferred podcast player. Podcast feeds to subscribe through include:
Spotify
Apple podcasts
RSS Feeds
BALH Digital Webinars – Spring Programme
We have a variety of exciting digital workshops taking place over the coming months. These include:
Uncovering your Medieval Local History
Saturday 10th April, 10:00am - 12:00pm
This workshop will offer practical advice on how to uncover the medieval history of your local area. Participants will be provided with an overview of the structures and institutions which produced records in the medieval period and where these records can be found today. Throughout the workshop case studies will be used from across the UK and there will be plenty of opportunities for questions and a chance to try your hand at some medieval local history research!
Creating Your Local History Website with Paul Carter
Wednesday 21st April, 6:00pm - 7:30pm
A repeat of this popular webinar first held in January. BALH's Web Manager and professional web developer Paul Carter will be introducing the basic concepts of setting up a local history website, whether that is for an individual research project or a local history society. Paul will explain the key components of a website and demystify some of the technical jargon before looking at how to plan your website content and putting it all into action.There will be plenty of time for Q+A as well as one of Paul's fact sheets to save you having to make lots of notes!
The Pleasures and Pitfalls of Researching Disability History with Phillippa Vincent-Connolly
Wednesday 5th May, 6:00pm - 7:30pm
In this webinar Phillipa Vincent-Connolly will discuss how we can research disability history in the local archives, covering everything from important key search terms to useful sources of information. Phillipa will also share some insights from her past and present research which cover a range of disability history topics throughout the ages.
Archiving Your Local History Collection with Dr Ellie Pridgeon
Saturday 8th May, 10:00am - 12:00pm
Most local history societies and groups own paper and digital records that document their activities, such as meeting minutes, event posters and flyers, and photographs. This session with Dr Ellie Pridgeon will provide advice on archiving these collections, on the best way of preserving physical and digital records for the future, on cataloguing, and on archiving emails, websites and social media. We will also explore depositing local history society archives with county records offices and history centres.
How to Self-publish Your Local History Research with Dr John Chandler
Wednesday 12th May, 6:00pm - 7:30pm
In this webinar, John, the Chair of the BALH Publishing Committee, will describe the steps needed to turn a local history text into a self-published or society-published book. The various tasks – editing text, preparing and captioning images, designing pages, indexing – will be explored, and then printing and binding options, financial aspects, dealing with booksellers, marketing, publicity and legal requirements.
Ten-Minute Talks
Our Ten-Minute Talks are a great way to enjoy local history from home during a time that we can’t all get together to hear people’s wonderful research. Some of our latest talks include:
Bill Reed: ‘The Linolite Light Fittings Factory, Malmesbury’
Hannah Stamp: ‘First World War Lives of the East Riding’
Roger Ottewill: ‘A “Brilliant Spectacle”: Basingstoke’s Grand “Reformation Times’ Bazaar 1903’.
Would you like to share a local history story as a Ten-Minute Talk? Find out more and get in contact here.
Latest on the BALH blog
We have some fantastic new blog posts for you all, including:
Dr Ryan Perry’s ‘Whittington’s Gift: The Lost Common Library of London’s Guildhall (A new project)’, which examines theological texts sourced from the Guildhall Library to demonstrate that Londoners created new programmes of religious education for the City’s clergy and literate lay communities, and Philip Cousins’s ‘Opening up our research to others: from department store to model colliery village’, that explores how Derbyshire County History Trust have opened up our research to people who might not have heard of us or their studies.
You can also find recaps of our Local History Hour talks written by Joe Saunders, Outreach Committee member. Here is Joe’s report from the Local History Hour ‘Rebellion in Medieval Kent’, 26th February 2021
Would you like to share your local history stories in a blog post?
Click here to find out more about our blog and how to get in contact.
Late Night Local History
Our next Late Night Local History Hour will be taking place on the BALH Twitter profile on Thursday 15th April 2021 at 7:30pm. Our next guest is Sally Forgan who will be discussing local history and house history, as well as how these two disciplines closely interact.
The following month, Dean Irwin will join us on Thursday 20th May 2021 at 7:30pm to discuss his work on medieval Jewish communities and local history.
High Street Tales – a new podcast series from Historic England
Historic England has launched a podcast series and accompanying ebook called 'High Street Tales'.
These are the first outcomes of a four-year-long national Cultural Programme led by Historic England, in partnership with the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Arts Council England.
Additional information about this podcast series can be found here.
John Stow's Legacy - a LAMAS special lecture by Professor Vanessa Harding
This special lecture from the London and Middlesex Archaeological Society will focus on John Stow’s legacy, addressing what happened to Stow’s books and papers after he died in 1605? And who followed him in his endeavours? This lecture will be taking place on Monday 19th April 2021 at 6:30pm.
More details are available here.
Time Travel for Armchair Archaeologists
A Visit to Toynton, Lincs in 1614 is a talk for Society for Lincolnshire History & Archaeology (SLHA), presented by Jenne Pape on Wednesday 14th April 2021 at 7:30pm.
Join Jenne for a time travelling visit to Toynton All Saints and St Peter, in the Lincolnshire countryside, as we explore the village in 1614. King James is on the throne, the Gunpowder Plot is a vivid memory, and a group of religious radicals from Gainsborough will cross the Atlantic in a few years’ time. But what is going on in a rural place like Toynton? And how can we connect with the past from our living rooms, when we can’t get out and about?
Admission is £3.00 and you can book via Eventbrite. Details are available here.
The Building as Museum Artefact
Major restoration and conservation work on the Grade II* listed building in Wimborne, which houses the Museum of East Dorset, has revealed a historic town house which dates to the 1500s. Join architect Claire Fear as she explains the features that were revealed during the renovation and the conservation work that was involved to preserve them as museum artefacts.
Further information is available here.
‘The Starvation Act’? The Poor Law Amendment Act 1834
The Family and Community Historical Research Society virtual conference is taking place on Saturday 15th May 2021.
The rearranged conference, postponed from last year, with the same speaker line-up. Further details.
More material is being added to our website all the time, so check back regularly!
The BALH Digital Team
digitalteam@balh.org.uk
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