A series of short guides to different types of public and other records, including rate books, wills, probate inventories and poll books.

Agricultural hiring fairs – now largely forgotten –performed multiple social functions and were an intriguing aspect of rural life, writes Stephen Caunce. Over the last three decades, long-established British newspapers have endured a steady dwindling of staff, depth of reporting and public respect. Paradoxically, however, the digitalising of old content has...

One of the strengths of the HA is our broad interest in all areas of history. So many history themes and narratives focus on the big issues, but for many of us, history starts in the local. That is why we introduced Local History and Community Month for each May...

The Thatcham Historical Society exists to promote an interest not only in the local history of Thatcham and district but also in historical matters in general. A regular series of talks by invited speakers takes place throughout the year. They have a wide range of subject matter in the talks...

The British Association for Local History is the national charity which promotes local history and serves local historians. Its purpose is to encourage and assist the study of local history as an academic discipline and as a rewarding leisure pursuit for both individuals and groups. Local history enriches our lives...

The Common Story: A history of Tooting Common, [ed] Katy Layton-Jones, Wandsworth Council’s Tooting Common Heritage Project, 2019, 132p, £10-00 from the Tooting History Group [or downloadable free via link on the Tooting History Group page]. A few miles from the Historical Association office, a substantial and easily accessible open...

Richard A. Gaunt reminds us that it is still possible to visit the site of a notorious conspiratorial challenge to Lord Liverpool’s government, and why this event was so significant. At around 7.30pm on Wednesday 23 February 1820, a dozen Bow Street Runners in plain clothes, led by George Thomas...

Dave Martin investigates why there is a war memorial for German soldiers, ‘buried in a foreign field’, in a Dorset churchyard.

Many communities have cataclysmic disasters which tend to dominate or define their local history. Gareth Davies reveals that the sudden collapse of the Great Yarmouth Suspension Bridge is a telling example of this trend. Beside the waters of the River Bure in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk stands a shiny black memorial...

The National Archives holds millions of records which can help you find out about people's lives and careers. Their website includes useful guides for those starting out with research, including a dedicated Family History tag. Their online catalogue Discovery holds more than 32 million descriptions of records held by The National...

The Parish Atlas of England: All Early Ordnance Survey 6-inch Maps Traced Over, (ed) T.C.H. Cockin, Malthouse Press, 2017, 898p, £60.00*, ISBN 978-1-907364-10-5. *The Parish Atlas of England is available to Historical Association members at the special price of £45.00 direct from the publishers: The Malthouse Press, Grange Cottage, Malthouse Lane,...

Paula Kitching introduces a very remarkable First World War memorial to a specific group of Yorkshire workers.

The recent attacks on Karl Marx’s grave in Highgate Cemetery have added impetus to the public debate about how we memorialise the dead and the public and private costs of mourning.

Alannah Tomkins introduces a well-chronicled early example of how a local community dealt with cholera. In September 1832 James Holmes, the governor of the workhouse at Bilston in Staffordshire wrote a letter to the salaried parish overseer of Uttoxeter. The initial impetus for the letter came from the two parishes’ shared interest...

This local study by Steve Doe draws together the human effects of what happened at the Battle of Jutland in June 1916 with accounts of how the families of those who fought in the battle and the wider local community dealt with the tragedy.

Frances Houghton examines how and why the popular memory of the Second World War continues to be contested. Early on the morning of Monday 21 January 2019, still-wet white gloss paint was discovered to have been thrown across the Bomber Command Memorial in London’s Green Park. The bronze sculpture of a...

In this podcast Dr Nick Barratt discusses the use of personal heritage in education.

Within British universities oral historians have had to fight hard to seek acceptance for what they do. But within the wider historical community they have found a far more welcoming reception, with local history acting as a particularly warm recipient of their work. There is little mystery as to why...

Tracing Your Ancestors in Lunatic Asylums: a Guide for Family Historians, Michelle Higgs, Pen and Sword, 2019,  196p, £14-99. ISBN 978 1 52674 485 2 My great-great-grandmother Emma Wood’s brother, Theophilus Wood, died in the Warwickshire Lunatic Asylum in 1871. It was his extraordinary fore-name that initially attracted my attention...

Kate Brooks’ interest in her family history led her to trace the life of her great grandfather, Joseph Lowe. His life story provides insights into 19th-century life, disease, orphanages, and child labour, but she also reflects on the ways in which the past can sometimes resonate with the present in unexpected...