We begin by considering the context of working-class writing in the 19th century, including the practicalities of opportunity and obtaining materials, as well as the ‘big issues’ of motivation and literacy. It is vital that local historians assess such sources critically, so questions about truthfulness, completeness and typicality are considered – how can we use working-class writing to illuminate the key themes of people’s lives during this period, and what limitations or reservations might we identify?

William Small, 1820-1890, was a painter and glazier who spent this whole life in the cathedral city of Salisbury, Wiltshire.  He wrote 4 volumes of Cherished Memories and Associations in the early 1880s. Ruth Newman and Jane Howells transcribed and edited volumes 1 and 2 for the Wiltshire Record Society, published 2011. William wrote about his family, neighbours and employers; he copied items of interest from newspapers and wrote out poetry from memory. The details he provides throw light on the commercial, political and religious life of the city, as well as providing information on the Smalls and their business. In this talk we will share a few selected topics to illustrate the value of William’s writing as a source for local history.

Alan Crosby is one of Britain’s leading local historians, and since 2001 has been the editor of The Local Historian, the quarterly journal of the British Association for Local History. His edition of The Family Records of Benjamin Shaw: mechanic of Dent, Dolphinholme and Preston 1772-1841 has been described as perhaps the most important publication in the field of working class autobiography to appear in the last seventy years, and it is now a standard text.

Local author and lecturer, Ruth Newman taught history for many years in a Salisbury school. Her specific interests in the 19th century include political reform and social protest movements. She currently lives on the site of a once progressive Victorian lunatic asylum on which she has published papers and lectured. For 20 years she was on the editorial board and latterly chairman of Sarum Chronicle, historical research on Salisbury & district. She is a Salisbury Cathedral guide and a recently retired Blue Badge guide.

Jane Howells is the editor of Local History News, and is a member of the Steering Committee of the West of England & South Wales Women’s History Network. Her special interest is ‘local women’s history’, which is the subject of her PhD thesis (2007) and many conference papers, articles, and talks. She wrote a new introduction to the 2013 reprint of Maud Davies’ Life in an English Village (Hobnob Press).

Ruth Newman and Jane Howells are the authors of Salisbury Past (Phillimore 2001) and Women in Salisbury Cathedral Close, Sarum Studies 5, 2014. Together, they transcribed and edited William Small’s Cherished Memories and Associations (Wiltshire Record Society 2011).