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

John Chandler Trustee

John Chandler

John, raised in east Devon, discovered a passion for local history and topography after studying classics and theology at Bristol, where he also completed a doctorate on the late Roman church. Training as a librarian led to a role as Wiltshire’s local studies librarian, where he became a local history generalist while writing extensively. Going freelance in 1988, he built a career through writing, consultancy, and archaeology projects. Since the late 1990s, he has run Hobnob Press, publishing over 150 local history titles. Now involved with the Victoria County History, he continues his lifelong passion in retirement.

John Chandler, Trustee