© Leicestershire History 2012 Work in Progress We are currently working with individuals and groups across the county to explore the history of several towns and villages, helping them to understand and interpret the evidence and present their findings to a wider audience. We have held a series of workshops for our volunteers, to help them read early handwriting and to understand documentary sources relating to population and taxation, enclosure, village schools, the Reformation, charities and parish government. We have also run field trips to local villages and churches, to provide our volunteers with the skills required to interpret non-documentary sources for village history, and have arranged a coach trip to The National Archives at Kew, to look at farming records. If you are a member of a local or family history group and would like to arrange a practical session for your members on any of the above topics, please get in touch, using the contact form at the foot of this page. As part of our research, volunteers are also gradually transcribing 17th century probate inventories for selected parishes. These are wonderfully rich documents, listing a person's possessions at their death on a room by room basis, and can tell us much about housing, standards of living, wealth, farming and much else besides. They are an essential source for family historians as well as those interested in the history of our towns and villages. A name index of inventories  transcribed so far can be found here, but do keep checking, as more are being added on a regular basis. Transcripts of the inventories themselves, arranged by parish, can be found here. Leicestershire Parish Histories Our aim is to publish online and within a series of books, a history of every town and village in Leicestershire, from the first settlers to the present day. Each history will cover seven main themes: • The development of the landscape • Landowners and estates • Farming and industry • Social life • Religious life • Local government • Buildings Some parts of Leicestershire, notably the City, surrounding parishes and part of south-east Leicestershire including Market Harborough, already have a published history within the Victoria County History series of volumes, available online.  Although there have been many changes in the 50 years since these histories were produced, our priority is to research and write, to the same high standard, a history of the 300 or so places within the county that are not covered by those volumes. For many of these parishes, nothing has been published since John Nichols completed his monumental history of the county in 1815. Those volumes are now available online. We are currently working with volunteers across the county, providing them with free training and one-to-one support to enable them to research each of these topics in their own town or village. All training and support is delivered by professional historians and heritage experts, to ensure the completed  histories will be accurate and well-informed.  Publication will initially be online, but in due course these will be gathered together and published within the renowned Victoria County History series of volumes. Our ability to recruit more volunteers is currently constrained by our limited financial means, but there will be a few vacancies each September. We are particularly keen to hear from people in the Charnwood area, where we are hoping to obtain support from the Heritage Lottery Fund for a major new project. Making Leicestershire’s Past Available to All About us Leicestershire History is a project of Leicestershire Victoria County History Trust, which is a registered charity (No. 1128575) and a registered company (no. 6683052). Registered Office:  20 New Walk Leicester LE1 6TX Donate online To make a secure donation, please use the Paypal button below, or contact us using the form below left. If you are a UK taxpayer, we should be grateful if you would also sign a Gift Aid form. Getting involved We would love to recruit more volunteers, but our ability to do so is limited by our financial resources. If you agree that this is a very worthwhile project, you can donate online using the Paypal button above, download a form to become a Friend of Leicestershire Victoria County History Trust, or contact us using the form on this website.   We would also like to hear from potential volunteers, especially those with research experience, or anyone in the Charnwood area who would be interested in joining a new project there. Contact us To find out more, to make a donation towards the cost of training and supporting our volunteers, or to register interest in becoming a volunteer, use the contact form here, or write to Leicestershire VCH 5 Salisbury Road Leicester, LE1 7QR Find out more about Leicestershire & Rutland Churches