Gill Blanchard on Twitter
Indeed. If anyone has any house history questions or news they'd like to share while @HouseHistoryHr finds out what the problem is please go ahead & we'll fill in #HouseHistoryHour twitter.com/HouseHistorian…
About Gill Blanchard
Founder of Past Search Learning, author, researcher and tutor.
Gill Blanchard is an author, professional house historian, genealogist and tutor based in Norwich. Her academic background is in history, sociology (BA Hons.) and international relations (MA). She set up Past Search, her family history, house history and local history research business in 1997 after working in a local record office for six years and trained as an adult education tutor at the same time. She holds a second MA with Merit in Biography and Creative Non Fiction from the University of East Anglia. She has had several guides, local histories and biographies published and writes regularly for national genealogy magazines, along with specialising in producing family and house history books for clients. Gill is a full member of AGRA – the Association of Genealogists and Researchers in Archives.
She is the author of several research guides, biographies and local histories published to date, with more on the way. These include Writing Your Family History, Tracing Your House History, Tracing Your Ancestors: Cambridgeshire, Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk, Struggle and Suffrage in Norwich (Pen and Sword Books). I Therefore Post Him as a Coward: an anatomy of a scandal 1836 (Poppyland Publishing) and Lawson Lies Still in the Thames: The extraordinary life of Vice-Admiral Sir John Lawson (Amberley Publishing). Gill also a regular contributor to national family history magazines and other print and online publications. Full details of these books, including where to buy them, can be found on the books page of this site.
Gill has undertaken many research projects for authors, academics, journalists and television production teams, including the BBC’s Who Do You Think You Are? She appeared on the Mary Berry episode of this show in 2014 and the Jonnie Peacock episode in 2018. Among other organisations she has worked for are local architects, property developers and solicitors, hotels and pubs; tour companies, English Heritage; development companies, architects and The Times and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
She gives talks on a range of family history and house history courses locally, nationally, and online, including at the Society of Genealogists and Bury St. Edmunds Record Office. Past, present and future talks and courses include designing and running a two year post graduate certificate in genealogy at the University of East Anglia; to family and local history societies; record offices, museums and libraries countrywide; The Family History Shows; The Genealogy Show; Family Tree Show Live; Who Do You Think You Are? Live; Families in British India Society (FIBIS) conferences; the Guild of One Name Studies, the Society for One Place Studies, Norwich Heritage Open Days; the National Writers’ Centre; Deepings Literary Festival and the National Trust.
Mentoring
Gill offers personalised mentoring for family history, biography and other historical writing. This is available to anyone, not just students of the courses on this website, if you are interested in knowing more, please get in touch. It would be helpful if you briefly outline the sort of research and writing you are working on, or aiming to work on, in your email.
Writing Your Family History – Module One
Tutor: Gill Blanchard
Author and Professional Family Historian
MA. Biography and Creative Non Fiction (UEA)
Module One: 12 Weeks comprised of five lessons and weekly group discussions
Next running: TBC, if you are interested in joining this course please email to register your interest.
This is a practical writing course spread over a twelve week period that guides participants through the process of bringing their ancestors to life. The aim is on producing an entertaining family history that other people want to read. The lessons will focus on enabling students to choose the most suitable format for them, decide what to include and how, and find and add relevant context. The tutor will provide personalised and in-depth feedback on students writing throughout the course.
Students will be encouraged to move beyond a basic ‘John begat William and Jane begat Mary’ chronicle; learn how to integrate relevant social and local history materials and to deal with repetitions, missing pieces and anomalies in their writing.
The course lasts for twelve weeks and is comprised of five lessons. The first four lessons are posted online at fortnightly intervals, with an extra week after lessons four and five to allow additional time for reading, writing, critiquing and feedback.
The lessons include writing exercises, focussed guidance, useful tips, writing examples, links to useful resources and background reading. There will be regular live online discussions with the tutor and other students, either via live text or Zoom, depending on students’ preferences. A dedicated learning hub can be used at any time throughout the course to share work, ask questions and post news.
This course is aimed at those who have completed a body of research into their family history and are ready to start writing.
Writing Your Family History – Module Two
Tutor: Gill Blanchard
Author and Professional Family Historian
MA. Biography and Creative Non Fiction (UEA)
Module Two: 12 Weeks comprised of five lessons and weekly group discussions
Next running: TBC, if you are interested in joining this course please email to register your interest.
Only available to those who have completed module one.
This is a practical writing course spread over a twelve week period. It is only available to those who have completed Writing Your Family History Module One. It focuses on further developing craft, style and technique through writing exercises, discussions, workshopping and feedback. Students will work on a specific aspect of their family in depth.
The tutor will provide personalised and in-depth feedback on students writing throughout the course. The background reading and writing exercises will guide students in determining structure, building character and creating an authentic sense of time and place.
The course lasts for twelve weeks and is comprised of five lessons. The first four lessons are posted online at fortnightly intervals, with an extra week after lessons four and five to allow additional time for reading, writing, critiquing and feedback.
Each of the five lessons includes writing exercises, focussed guidance, useful tips, writing examples, links to useful resources and background reading. There are two weeks between each set of course materials to allow time for reading, writing and feedback. There will be regular live online discussions with the tutor and other students, either via live text or Zoom, depending on students’ preferences. A dedicated learning hub can be used throughout the course by students to share work, ask questions and post news.
Writing Your Family History – Module Three
Tutor: Gill Blanchard
Author and Professional Family Historian
MA. Biography and Creative Non Fiction (UEA)
Module Three: 12 Weeks comprised of three workshops and weekly group discussions
Next running: TBC, if you are interested in joining this course please email to register your interest.
Only available to those who have completed modules one and two.
These three workshops will focus on further developing a written family history through writing exercises, discussions, workshopping and feedback. Students will work on a specific aspect of their family in depth.
The course lasts twelve weeks and is comprised of three lessons. Each lesson is posted at four weekly intervals to allow time for students to craft their work. Each lesson includes one or two exercises to facilitate this.
The tutor will provide personalised, detailed and in-depth feedback on students writing throughout the course. There will be weekly live discussions with the tutor and other students. A dedicated learning hub can be used throughout the course by students to share work, ask questions and post news.
Extension Module
Tutor: Gill Blanchard
Professional house historian, genealogist, writer and tutor.
Extension Module: Three calendar months comprised of a learning hub to share writing for feedback and live discussions via zoom every week in order to complete a project.
Start: Saturday 20 January 2024
Students who have completed module three and the ones proceeding it can join the extension module. This involves a weekly writing, re-writing or editing assignment which is then shared with the other students to be critiqued.
The feedback will be provided via a weekly Zoom session in which one or two students will get feedback from the others, followed by a general discussion. Students can also post their writing to the learning hub for comments outside of the scheduled weekly session.
Tracing a House History
Tutor: Gill Blanchard
Professional house historian, genealogist, writer and tutor.
Tracing a House History: A practical tutor led course spread over 15 weeks that guides participants through the process of investigating a house history and what was there before, plus a presentation seminar one month after course completion.
Start: 28 October 2023
Payment can be made as three instalments of £150, please email to arrange this.
This is a practical tutor led course spread over 15 weeks that guides participants through the process of investigating a house history and what was there before, plus a presentation seminar one month after course completion. The format enables students to focus on their own research projects with personalised guidance from one of the UK’s leading house historians.
House history research involves a holistic approach in investigating buildings, places and people. To enable this there are five sets of course materials with an accompanying introductory video, spaced at three weekly intervals. These include focussed research tasks that will enable students to embark on their own research and learn how to use resources effectively. The dedicated Learning Hub allows students to share their discoveries, ask questions and receive feedback from the tutor.
Live group discussions are held at least once a week where students can discuss their progress and ask for advice, either via live text or Zoom, depending on students’ preferences.
It is strongly advised that participants are familiar with using some of the main archival sources used in family and local history research such as census returns, parish registers and wills. However, guidance will be given on using and interpreting all the records. Participants also receive a 15% discount on the Name and Place data management and mapping app, although taking out a subscription is not a requirement for joining the course.