The Local Historian Volume 55 Number 3 August 2025
Hugo Javier Freitas
Laura Yeoman
Why BALH?
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
Jane Golding
Jane sees local history as a guide to understanding the present, enriching life through shared ideas and exploration. With a background in landscape history from UEA and Reading, she began her career in Oxfordshire Local Studies before joining the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England, now Historic England. Her work spans teaching, exhibitions, and community programmes, highlighting local history’s power to inspire. She manages the Heritage Gateway and researches rural change and enclosure (1750–1850). A former ALHT trustee, she now serves BALH, alongside roles with CAHG and Kirklees Local TV.
Jane Golding, Trustee
Wed 9th September 2026 7:00 pm
