Top Ten Local History Sources

TOP TEN LOCAL HISTORY SOURCES

Here are the top ten sources to use in local history:

Books: Don’t forget the old technology as they may have covered the subject you are researching and can provide you with facts, dates and references to other sources. A standard history for most areas of the country is The Victoria County History series, very useful for facts and dates – ask your local library if they exist for your area. There are seven volumes of this covering the Hull and East Yorkshire area. The best way of getting the information you want from them is to use the index at the back of the book.

Useful for covering KS 1/2 subjects on Victorian period, fishing industry, WWII; Tudor life. KS 3 subjects of Slavery, English Civil War, Medieval Hull. As well as any local history subjects for children and adults.

Maps: these can date back as far as the year dot (but not always). They are useful for showing the growth of towns/cities, location of particular buildings or their uses (e.g. hospitals, schools), changing street names and routes. They are a very good source, but until the publication of Ordnance Survey maps in the 1850s the accuracy of maps can not always be relied upon.

Useful for covering KS 1/2 Victorian studies as they will show the development of Hull with its Victorian housing, industries and social amenities; WWII with the RAF maps showing the extent of the bombing raids in Hull; the fishing industry with the increase in docks including the new docks built for the trawling industry; KS 3 for the study of Medieval Hull and the Civil War. Also for any subjects on the history and development of Hull.

Newspapers: Don’t really get started until the late 1700s, but do come right up to date. They are useful for finding out about the news of the day; major events; minor events; prices; crime; adverts; births, marriages, deaths; and stories about people. Most libraries keep old newspapers on microfilm with some indexes depending on the newspaper and the library.

Will cover KS 1/2 subjects of the Victorian period showing opinions on national events as well as local issues around employment, industry, housing; WWII for the damage inflicted on Hull and the children evacuated from the City; fishing industry for trawler accidents. As well as many subjects for children and adults (e.g. royal visits, theatres/pastimes, events, industrial change, education/social/cultural events, famous people - e.g. Amy Johnson).

Census returns: begun in 1801 these are most useful for family history research. However, they have other purposes, for example: population statistics; trades/occupations; living conditions; demographics; family make up; social history; the population changes of an area; finding out who lived on a particular street; biography. The down side as a resource is that for cities and large towns they are easier to search by personal name and street name than by an area; and people’s personal details are not made public for 100 years on the census so for this kind of information the most up to date census is 1901 (also people’s personal details were not collected prior to 1841).

Coverage of KS 1/2 subjects on the Victorian period as they will provide a history of an area, show population growth, trades/occupation no longer undertaken. Also suitable for any subjects on demographics and social change as well as the history of streets and houses.

Directories: often called trade directories or Kelly’s directories. For Hull they exist between 1781 and 1939. They provide information on trades and occupations, who lived on a particular street, transport links (e.g. stagecoach, train, tide times) and often give a potted history of towns and villages.

Good coverage for KS 1/2 Victorian period subjects and trades and occupations in the fishing industry. Also useful for tracing the history of streets houses and businesses.

Photographs: photography has been around from approximately 1850 and photographs are a good source of how fashions have changed, showing old trades and occupations and of how buildings, streets, towns looked as well showing lost buildings/streets. The Hull Local Studies Library has approximately 12,000 images including 2,000 Health Department Photographs showing lost streets in Hull.

Suitable for KS 1/2 Victorian studies as they could show housing conditions, costume, types of transport (e.g. horse and cart, steam ships, steam railways); and for showing war damage. Other subjects covered for all age groups includes: lost buildings, lost streets, architecture, housing conditions, famous people.

Posters and leaflets: how many of you pick up theatre and cinema listings or advertising for companies and their products? Do you keep them or throw them away? They are useful for showing the wealth and variety of entertainments that have been provided over the centuries. For instance did you know that because someone saved the “posters” in Hull we can trace theatre performances back to 1770! Similar material exists for old businesses in Hull showing where they had their premises and what products they sold. This collection also includes pamphlets from the English Civil War describing the siege of Hull and supporting the parliamentarian or royalist causes.

Could be used in KS 1/2 Victorian studies demonstrating cultural activities and industry of the period; and KS 3 English Civil War studies. Also any subjects on theatre, pastimes, leisure and business.

Letters: these are an individuals personal thoughts and opinions, but they can tell us about what life was like in a certain period, what the attitudes of the period were and what the trends were (e.g. music, cinema etc). As an example the Hull Local Studies Library has letters for: Amy Johnson, written in the 1920s they show what university life was like and attitudes to marriage; from the Great War we have the Hohenrein letters which provide an insight into the attitudes of the period; and the Winifred Holtby letters show social campaigning and the fight against the introduction of apartheid in South Africa.

These sources would cover any social history subjects in the period they are written (e.g. women’s studies, attitudes to war, KS 1/2 Victorian studies, KS 3 English Civil War).

Diaries: another personal document, but they often cover many years of a person’s life and the events that have affected that life. Therefore they can tell us about a whole period, for example: the social attitudes of the time, major events happening in the area or nationally. Diaries are “an eyewitness” type of reporting dealing with events as they happened.

Possible coverage of social history subjects in the period they are written (e.g. WWI KS 1/2 WWII, attitudes of the day, KS 1/2 Victorian period).

War Records: Sources for soldiers who died in the two world wars (for example, those serving in the East Yorkshire Regiment in WWI), as well as other information on regiments (e.g. The Snapper the journal of the East Yorkshire Regiment). There are also sources for civilian war casualties and bombing raids on towns and cities. Local newspapers are a good source of information for all aspects of war at home and abroad. However, a word of caution: because of the sensitive nature of a war period some information is censored or not reported for fear of affecting morale and some towns are not specifically named as a security precaution – throughout WWII the newspapers referred to Hull as “a north-east coast town”.

Good coverage for KS 1/2 WWII subjects (e.g. Hull in the blitz, bombing raids and evacuated children); and for any age group studying war/military history.