This chapter covers the definition of local history and reasons why you might want to study it, and gives an outline of the different types of historical evidence.

What Is Local History?

Local history is about the people, places, institutions and communities in your area; it is a way of building up a picture of what your town or city looked like in the past, who lived there and what they did. Sometimes local events will have national importance, such as civil war battles; sometimes they might seem unimportant to someone on the other side of the country, but had a big impact in your local area (such as fires or floods).

Local history is all about looking at the facts, analysing what those facts tell us and comparing it with what was happening nationally at the time. You may find yourself switching between different sources so you can build up the picture of the past – you are unlikely to find all the information you want in one place. So many of the records mentioned in Chapter 3, for example, would shed light on buildings and institutions as well as people, and the records mentioned in Chapter 4 would shed light on people as well as the places they lived, worked, spent leisure time and prayed.

But do bear in mind that it’s not always possible to find out the whole story about what happened, because the source material might be limited or even missing.

Reasons To Study Local History

History is becoming more and more popular. People are fascinated with their own family past and enjoy finding out more about their ancestors; and that can often shift into an interest in wanting to know more about where they come from as well as who! You might have moved into an old house and want to know who lived there before you. You might have seen an article about your street or village and want to know more about what happened there in the past. You might have seen an article in the local newspaper about a local famous person and want to know more about them. Or you might be interested in a theme, such as an industry, domestic service, public health, schools, the workhouse or local pubs.

You might want to study local history just for your own interest – but bear in mind that local magazines and newspapers might be interested in your findings. Whether it’s the parish magazine, the local glossy magazine or even the Saturday supplement of your local paper, it’s worth sharing what you find because other people might be asking the same questions – and might have answers you haven’t found yet.

You don’t have to be a trained historian to be interested in and research local history; all you need is an interest, an enquiring mind, an ability to keep your notes in an order where you can retrieve information quickly, and perseverance to follow a trail. If you want to take a formal course in local history, you could try your local university. Ask at your local library – they will have details of evening classes and possibly courses run by the Workers’ Educational Association (WEA). Some libraries and associations (such as the Oral History Society) run courses on particular topics, such as using a census, tracing a house’s history and how to record and structure interviews.

Different Types Of Historical Evidence

Historical evidence falls into several categories:

• Primary
• Secondary
• Oral
• Physical

 

Below is a quick guide to what you can expect to find in each category; they are covered in more detail further on in the book. One source might also be useful for different things; for example, title deeds can tell you about a building and its occupants, as can street directories and maps (particularly those with schedules).