Whether you're a programme secretary from a family or local history society looking for a speaker who can give a talk at one of your meetings (live or via Zoom), a community group who'd like a presentation on a historical theme or you're simply looking for a talk with a link to a particular subject, you've come to the right page!
​
I'm based in Clitheroe, close to the Lancashire/North Yorkshire border, and am very willing to give live talks within a 60-mile radius (or further, by negotiation).
​
Most of my presentations have been inspired by research into my own family history, and others were simply inspired by subjects that caught my imagination!
WHAT'S ON MY CALENDAR?
I've already been booked to speak at the following meetings during 2024:
1 May 2024
​
​
​
20 May 2024
​
​
​
21 May 2024
The Catholics of Bolton
for Bolton Family History Society
7.30p.m., Bolton Golf Club, Chorley New Road, Lostock, Bolton, BL6 4AJ
​
Jane Sharp: 1670s Midwife
for Newburgh WI
7.30p.m., School Hall, Back Lane, Newburgh, WN8 8XB
​
The Stories They Could Tell: A Few Historic Buildings in Clitheroe
for Pendleton WI
7.30p.m., Pendleton Village Hall, BB7 1PT
TALKS AVAILABLE
If you're interested in booking any of my talks, please get in touch via my enquiry form
CATHOLIC HISTORY
A Priest In The Tree
An overview of the anti-Catholic legislation which affected the lives of English men who trained as priests between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries, followed by a summary of five members of the Hurst family who trained as priests. This talk ends with an overview of useful resources, which can be left out, if preferred, to shorten the running time by five minutes.
​
1 hour (approx.)
£25 plus travel
Catholic Blackburn c.1550 to c.1850
A brief summary three hundred years of Catholic history in Blackburn, from recusancy fines in the sixteenth and seventeenth century to growing acceptance of Catholicism in the eighteenth century, and the establishment of a Catholic community. Newspaper extracts, maps, parish register extracts, and family trees showing connections to the Walmsley family of Showley Hall and the Sparrow family of Woodfold all feature in this presentation.
​
1 hour (approx.)
£30 plus travel
Catholicism In Ormskirk
Exploring how Catholic life was documented, survived and became accepted in and around the market town of Ormskirk, Lancashire. This talk concentrates on the period between 1640 and 1850, featuring first-hand accounts of prejudice against Catholics, examples of recusancy fines, statistics about the seventeenth-century recusant population of West Lancashire and family trees showing the connections between influential local Catholics, before exploring the origins of what became St. Anne's Catholic Church, extracts from early parish registers, and the way that changes in the law allowed the parishioners to establish their own community within the town.
​
1 hour 5 minutes (approx.)
£30 plus travel
The Ormskirk Recusants: Who Were They?
A brief summary three hundred years of Catholic history in Blackburn, from recusancy fines in the sixteenth and seventeenth century to growing acceptance of Catholicism in the eighteenth century, and the establishment of a Catholic community. Newspaper extracts, maps, parish register extracts, and family trees showing connections to the Walmsley family of Showley Hall and the Sparrow family of Woodfold all feature in this presentation.
​
1 hour (approx.)
£30 plus travel
Roman Catholics in Maghull and Lydiate:
From Repression To Acceptance
A slightly different approach to Catholic history in one area of south-west Lancashire, in which I explore the origins of the buildings and locations that were connected to Catholics, guided by seventeenth-century recusant records, Georgian land tax assessments, trade directories, historical essays, newspaper articles, old maps and a few of my own photographs.
1 hour (approx)
£30 plus travel
INSPIRED BY MY OWN RESEARCH
The Trouble With Edward: The Story Behind
A Maghull Gravestone
The story of the colourful life of my 3xgreat-grandfather Edward Willday, an accountant who moved from Worcester to Maghull in present-day Merseyside. This talk is illustrated with certificates, family photographs, criminal records, images of relevant locations and family tree charts, and also includes newspaper references.
​
1 hour (approx.)
£30 plus travel
Who Do You Think They Are? My Experience Of Researching For Television
In 2016, I carried out some background research for the BBC series Who Do You Think You Are? This talk discusses my experience of doing that work, the differences between the TV portrayal of research and the reality, and includes examples of some of the resources I consulted in the process.
​
1 hour (approx.)
£30 plus travel
Innkeepers and Gamekeepers: Tracing My Wandering Ancestors
Family stories passed down through the generations aren’t always strictly accurate, and that was certainly true of my great-grandfather William Siggs . . . far from being a Grenadier Guard outside Buckingham Palace, he was - in fact - descended from a long line of gamekeepers! Newspaper extracts, census records, portraits, and birth, marriage and death records all play a part in telling the story of a branch of my family who travelled from Suffolk to Nottinghamshire (via Essex, Yorkshire, North Wales and Lincolnshire) between 1800 and 1930, and what I discovered about some of their very distinguished employers. Titles and grand country houses come up again and again here!
​
1 hour (approx.)
£30 plus travel
Jane Sharp: 1670s Midwife
Adapted from a series of short videos published on my YouTube channel, this presentation investigates the identity of Jane Sharp, author of The Midwives Book (1671), her views on science, society, medicine and the roles of men and women during the reign of Charles II. The second half uses Jane’s guidance to build up a picture of what a typical 1670s mother might have experienced during childbirth and the subsequent lying-in period, before trying to decide whether Jane’s methods would seem completely alien in the modern world or whether they still have some merit . . .
​
1 hour (approx.)
£30 plus travel
Origins: A Brief History Of St. Michael and St. John's RC School, Clitheroe
Inspired by my research into my old school, this talk explores the origins of the building, its relocation to a new site on the same road, what was there before the school and how the building's history was charted through log books, tithe maps, newspaper reports and trade directories over the course of two hundred years.
​
1 hour (approx.)
£30 plus travel
The 1921 Census: Searching For Grandad
Knowing very little about my maternal grandad's early life, I decided to take his details as a starting point to find out what the 1921 census would reveal about his life before his family managed a Nottinghamshire hotel in the late 1920s. This talk includes some background details about the preparations for the 1921 census, examples of the schedules filled in by householders, additional resources for tracing ancestors after 1911 and a little bit of scandal relating to the printing of the original forms . . .
​
1 hour (approx.)
£30 plus travel
SOMETHING A BIT DIFFERENT?
Exploring Family History: A Beginner's Guide
This presentation is ideal for newcomers to family history
or those who have always wondered how to start their research. Using examples from my own research and commissioned work, this Lancashire-themed demonstrates how to start investigating family history, how to understand census and parish records, how to use Lancashire-orientated genealogy websites and make the most of resources available at the Lancashire Archives.
​
1 hour (approx.)
£30 plus travel
Read All About It: Making Use Of Old Newspapers
Investigating the many ways that a family historian can make use of historic newspaper archives. The changing tone of birth, marriage and death announcements, accounts of annual shows and fairs, crime and punishment, and nineteenth-century advertisements all feature in this very varied slideshow.
​
1 hour (approx.)
£25 plus travel
Is It Art? The Creative Side of My Family Tree
The Stories They Could Tell: A Few Historic Buildings In Clitheroe
Smith isn't a name that anyone wants to research, but my determination to trace the immediate family of my Worcester-born 4xgreat-grandmother Mary Smith led to the surprising discovery that no fewer than twelve of her relatives had artistic leanings. In this talk, I draw on old newspapers, wills, maps, trade directories, university records and a host of surviving examples of the art they created to tell their stories, and discover exactly what they considered to be "art".
1 hour (approx.)
£30 plus travel
Inspired by a request for a talk on this theme, this presentation hopes to offer a walk back in time through Clitheroe. Assisted by newspaper archives, several trade directories, and an assortment of old maps, I call at the Swan Inn, before moving on to Church Street, where I investigate what the residents' occupations tell us about the kind of street it was, track down the address of one family whose house wasn't given a number, and end with a case study concentrating on one specific address.
​
​
1 hour 10 min (approx.)
£30 plus travel
TALKS IN DEVELOPMENT
The Catholics of Bolton (working title)
This talk is currently being finalised. An overview will be added to this page in due course.
​
​
Price and length to be confirmed.
Available for bookings from May 2024
If you're interested in booking any of my talks, please get in touch via my enquiry form.
PREVIOUS BOOKINGS
Since 2012, I have given talks for the following groups and societies:
-
Cambridge Street Mothers & Others Ladies Group, Accrington
-
Catholic Family History Society (North West Branch)
-
Lancashire Family History and Heraldry Society (Burnley and Pendle Branch; London Branch; Blackburn and Darwen Branch)
-
Maghull and Lydiate U3A History For Fun Group
-
Ormskirk Emmanuel Methodist Church Ladies' Evening Group
-
Over Wyre Family History Group
-
St. Anne's RC Church, Ormskirk
-
The Wellbeing Cafe at The Grove Community Centre, Burscough
-
West Lancashire Heritage Association
-
Wigan Family and Local History Society