The Local Historian

The Local Historian contains articles and features for the general reader that may be of a wide, perhaps national, application or may reflect a local subject.

There is emphasis on applying principles and methods to local research and study, so that you can benefit from the work of others. Family historians can learn about the local world in which their forebears lived and worked. There are extensive reviews and lists of publications.

Published in February, May, August and November.

Back Issues

Issues published within the last three years can be purchased for £5.00 each (subject to availability). Members have access to downloadable copies of these issues.

Issues older than three years are available for download free of charge.

Check out our back issues for free

All back issues (excluding the latest issue) are currently free to view.

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

Tim Hamilton Trustee

Tim Hamilton

Tim is a museum professional at the Black Country Living Museum, where he helps manage over 80,000 objects that tell the region’s industrial story. Coming from a low-income background and diagnosed with ADHD, he pursued history through the Open University before completing an Advanced Diploma in Local History at Oxford. Passionate about local history and inclusive representation, he writes for West Midlands Magazines and advocates for underrepresented groups in museum collections. As a BALH trustee, he aims to promote the co-curation of museum collections in local history research and bring his museum expertise to the organisation.

Tim Hamilton, Trustee