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Welcome to the 7th edition of the British Association for Local History’s e-newsletter.
The end of lockdown may just be around the corner but there are still many ways to enjoy local history from the comfort of our homes. In transforming our digital offer over the last year we have been so overwhelmed and overjoyed by the number of people from near and far who have joined in BALH in celebrating local history. We continue to both host and promote online local history events 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!
Could you be our next Social Media Fellow?
The British Association for Local History (BALH) is seeking our second annual Social Media Fellow, to commence September 2021.
The purpose of the Fellowship is to develop the online profile of the BALH and its associated publication activities concerned with the study and teaching of local history across the British Isles, and offer support and mentorship to the appointed Fellow. Since the dramatic events of the Covid-19 pandemic the BALH has raised its ambitions to engage with its membership, the wider historical community and the general public through a range of online activities which have become a key part of our ongoing engagement programme. These activities will continue to run in collaboration with our usual publications and events, and are designed to help the Association to adapt to the changing needs of our current and future members.
We are looking for an individual with experience of using social media (Twitter and Facebook), with the ability to effectively manage their own time, work pro-actively and independently. An active interest and involvement in local history is an essential requirement.
To apply please send a CV and cover letter to the Chair of BALH, Dr Jessica Lutkin, at recruitment@balh.org.uk. Closing date for applications is 5pm on Monday 26th July 2021. Interviews will be held on Monday 9th August 2021.
More details can be found here.
Local History Hour – BALH Lecture Series
On 29th July at 7pm we’ll be welcoming Dr Anna Cusack and BALH’s very own Professor David Killingray to our Local History Hour lecture series. David and Anna will discuss ‘Marginalised lives in localities’. David’s talk focusses on people of African origin and descent in British localities, 1500-1950. Anna’s talk uses crime and execution to discover marginalised individuals and their stories in eighteenth century London.
This talk will be held over Zoom and you can book your spot by visiting the BALH website.
Late Night Local History
Our next Late Night Local History Hour will be taking place on the BALH Twitter platform on Thursday 15th July at 7:30pm with Dr Mike Esbester from the University of Portsmouth. Mike will be discussing the ‘Railway Work, Life & Death’ project, exploring British and Irish railway worker accident c. 1870s-1939.
The following month we’ll be in conversation with BALH’s very own Joe Saunders, who’ll be telling us all about how family history and local history closely interact. Join us on Thursday 19th August 2021 at 7:30pm to find out what Joe has to say.
Latest on the BALH blog
We have some fantastic new blog posts for you all, including:
Megan Kelleher’s ‘Repatriation of a Motor Company Heir’ examines the work of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) in Britain, focusing on the case study of casualties buried in Canterbury, Kent.
Dr Dean Irwin also contributed a piece for our blog focusing on ‘Adam of Newmarket and the Jews’ in medieval England.
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 ‘Public Libraries in early modern England and the case of Thomas Plume’, 24th June 2021, and ‘Burberry - Local Draper to International Fashion Brand’, 27th May 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.
Recording of Local History Day
If you missed our Local History Day AGM and talk with Dr Nick Barratt, not to fear! The recording of our online Local History Day 2021, held on Saturday 12th June, with our Local History Awards video, have been made available to watch on the BALH website.
Catch up with this event here.
Skills of the Huguenots: Unfolding the story of London’s Huguenot Fan Makers - Zoom Talk
If you’re interested in the history of the Hueguenots in London, join the Huguenots of Spitalfields for their next online event ‘Skills of the Huguenots: Unfolding the story of London’s Huguenot Fan Makers’ on Thursday 22nd July at 2pm.
Join Jacob Moss, curator of The Fan Museum, as he reveals the complexities of a once thriving industry, maps out the locations of the City’s Huguenot fan makers on the ‘Layers of London’ website & introduces the Chassereau dynasty who, in the years following the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, travelled from France to London where successive generations of the same family maintained an association with fans & fan making throughout the 18th century.
Click here for further information on how to book.
Telling Our Story – A Royal British Legion Update
BALH is very pleased to have worked closely with the Royal British Legion on the ‘Telling Our Story’ project to uncover local history stories across the world.
A hundred stories have been added to the Royal British Legions website and are now available for you to explore. Visit the BALH website to access these.
Digging Deeper
‘Digging Deeper’ is a new, exciting community History and Archaeology project created by the Tudor Farming Interpretation Group and part-funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and the Peak District National Park Authority Community Challenge Fund. We are based on the edge of the Staffordshire Moorlands in the beautiful Dove Valley.
This new project aims to provide a unique opportunity for local people and the wider community to engage in the process of finding out how our landscape was lived in during Medieval times. The project focusses on exploring and excavating a potential medieval house platform in the Peak District partly investigated as part of the Peeling Back the Layers project in 2016.
To find out about this project, visit our website.
Communities of Dissent 1850-1914
A day conference Saturday 30th October 2021, organised by the Chapels Society in association with Harris Manchester College, Oxford.
This conference is one of the outcomes of the project about nonconformism called Communities of Dissent, started by the Family & Community Historical Research Society, under Project Director Dr Kate Tiller. Following this, there will also be a publication in 2022, and that will draw on the conference contributions and the project work done by the FACHRS researchers.
An important feature of the October conference will be the session on 'Chapels: present and future?', during which there will be an expert panel and Q&A looking at what can be done now to record, save and conserve, repurpose and make better known chapels and their significance. The hope is to encourage an alliance of professionals, organisations and enthusiasts in support of this threatened legacy.
For further details and a booking form click here.
In Their Own Write: The Testimony of the Victorian English and Welsh Poor
The ‘In Their Own Write: The Testimony of the Victorian English and Welsh Poor’ talk is organised by The National Archives and will examine how the Victorian poor tried to explain their poverty, the conditions in which they lived, and what they considered should be their rights to welfare in times of unemployment and/or sickness.
This event is taking place on Friday 23rd July 2021 at 2pm.
Further details about the event and booking can be found here.
Rochford District Heritage Tapestry Community Project Exhibition
Over the last year, Rochford District Heritage Tapestry, a community project, was completed but the exhibition had to be postponed due to Covid. However, a 2-week Exhibition of all ten 2ft by 3ft framed panels, together with fabulous knitted items, accompanying drawings, historical information and children’s activities is being held this summer.
To find our how tickets for this exhibition can be booked, visit the BALH website.
Historical Pageants Day
Following the recent exhibition Pageant Fever! Historical Pageants and the British past, this is a day of talks, exhibitions and performances of historical pageantry from local history organisations, museums, theatre groups, musicians and dancers, taking place on 7th August 2021 at 11am. This will be followed by a separate evening event featuring exciting scenes, music and dance from selected pageants, some of which have not been staged for many decades.
Additional information can be found on our website.
Mayflower International Genealogical Conference
To celebrate the anniversary of the Mayflower’s voyage in 1620 to the New World, the Devon Family History Society have organised the Mayflower International Genealogical Conference that is taking place on Saturday 28th August 2021.
Find out more here.
‘The Northern Way’: The Archbishops of York and the North of England
The Northern Way’ is a research project funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and based at the University of York in partnership with The National Archives and with the support of York Minster. Their conference is to be held over two days in September.
Registration is now open for this virtual project conference which focuses both on the nature and purpose of administrative records of the northern province and their value in writing the history of northern societies and institutions.
Professor Sarah Rees-Jones and Dr Paul Dryburgh will deliver the keynote talks.
Find out more about The Northern Way’s upcoming conference here.
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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