All articles in Local & Family History
18th December, 2015 in Local & Family History, Military
London in the Second World War
London is a fascinating place, that is something we all know, but I find it even more so when looking back at the city as it was during the Second World War. Despite all the bombing, a vast amount of Second World War history has survived. However, for every building that has an o…
18th December, 2015 in History, Local & Family History
Vintage London: 1910 to 1960
The past is almost always seen in black and white. Various factors have conspired together to ensure that the public perception of colour photography is that it is a relatively recent invention, certainly within the last half century or so. It is not always appreciated that colou…
18th December, 2015 in Local & Family History, Society & Culture
Vintage visions above the high street
London’s often overlooked advertising history shows us how the capital’s businesses of old made use of hand-painted signs to inform, advertise and appeal to customers. Although we’re taught it’s not kind to pick favourites there are definitely one or two ‘ghost signs’ that hold a…
18th December, 2015 in Local & Family History
A curious history of London
London offered up many ideas when I started to write The A-Z of Curious London. It seemed there were mountains of material to choose from, a plethora of heinous crimes, murders scandals, ghost stories and bizarre historical events. Research taught me things I did not previously k…
18th December, 2015 in Folklore, Local & Family History
Poorhouse peculiarities in Bedford
My view of the poorhouse and workhouse was, until recently, comprehensively bleak. Tales of children taken from a mother’s arms, each of those children then failing to thrive then passing away, were part of the currency for me in writing about Bedfordshire’s folk and historical p…
18th December, 2015 in Local & Family History, Military
The Manchester Blitz
2020 marked the 80th anniversary of the World War II Luftwaffe raids on Manchester, Salford, and Trafford Park. The attacks reached a climax just before Christmas 1940, when on two consecutive nights thousands of incendiary bombs and hundreds of high-explosive devices were u…
18th December, 2015 in Local & Family History, Military
The First World War and Eastern England
The Centenary of the First World War is still under the shadow of the 50th Anniversary around 1964. This created powerful stereotypes of lions and donkeys, butchers and bunglers and Oh! What a Lovely War – Joan Littlewood, Alan Clark and A.J.P Taylor were some of the main se…
16th December, 2015 in Local & Family History, Military, Women in History
Essex Land Girls
I am on a mission to make it happen for Essex girls who have become the butt of so much sexist and patronising humour. So choosing to write about women who, in both wars, contributed to women’s history and the history of wartime agriculture as well as Essex history and twent…
16th December, 2015 in Archaeology, History, Local & Family History
House histories: Paramour Grange
Paramour Grange in Ash, Kent, may appear to be like any other country house, but behind the front door is an incredible collection of original historic detailing rarely seen elsewhere. It features a rare example of a Jacobean painted room, an original Tudor staircase and inglenoo…
16th December, 2015 in Local & Family History, Women in History
Researching the suffragette movement
Women have struggled to gain equal rights for centuries. The question of women’s voting rights finally became a core issue in the 19th century, with the struggle particularly intense in Great Britain and the United States. The suffragette movements of the late 19th and 20th Centu…
16th December, 2015 in Local & Family History
How to get started on researching your family tree
If you’re reading this then you’re probably already a history fan, and one of the best ways to engage with the subject is to investigate your family history. Despite what you might think, it’s not just about building a ‘tree’ full of names and dates. It’s really about uncovering…
16th December, 2015 in Local & Family History
The roots of genealogy
Curiosity about one’s forebears is nothing new; in fact, the study of genealogy dates back centuries. In Britain, early genealogy was intricately bound up with the class system. Genealogists (who were generally antiquarians) grappled with the family trees of the nobility and gent…