Southern History is the regional history journal of the thirteen historic counties of southern England. Founded in 1979, Southern History followed Welsh History Review (1960), Northern History (1966), and Midland History (1971) as the history journals of England’s regions. It transcends the confines of the county archaeological societies. Southern History fills the geographical gap and as befits a thoroughly modern journal, it embraced such topics as social crime, urban history, and the proletariat. It is a peer review journal, publishing articles and reviews. Originally it also listed each year the articles to periodicals related to southern England and encouraged the study of regional history, especially at the southern universities.
Whereas the other regional journals are published by universities of Wales, Leeds, and Birmingham, Southern History was a commercial enterprise launched by Wm. Dawson & Sons Ltd. (vols. 1 and 2) and then by Alan Sutton Publishing (vols. 3-6). The prime movers were John Lowerson (Continuing Education, Sussex), Nigel Yates (Portsmouth City Archives), Brian Short (Geography, Sussex), Christopher Chalkin (Reading), and Barry Stapleton (Portsmouth Polytechnic).
The first committee represented the other southern universities of Bristol, Exeter, Kent, Reading, Southampton, Sussex, and London. Wm. Dawson & Sons devised a splendid format and secured a hundred institutional subscribers worldwide, many of the United States and Canada, that continues today. John Lowerson was the editor for the first five issues and Nigel Yates was the reviews editor.
There were ten wide-ranging articles in the first two issues and volume 5 (1983), with twelve articles, was dedicated to the theme ‘Church and Society’ to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the beginnings of the Oxford Movement.
The commercial publishers never made a profit and thus in 1984 the journal was adopted by the newly founded Southern History Society, which exists solely to publish Southern History. The new charitable trust required a treasurer and membership secretary and a committee of trustees. The Society began wholly without resources and took twenty years to achieve financial stability. In those early days Southern History was publicised by twenty-day conferences held across in South, often in collaboration with county societies.
Nowadays periodical academic conferences focus on particular themes. Southern History does not serve a coherent region, so that subscribers cannot guarantee coverage of their own interests, and it has been difficult at times for the committee and membership to convene. The journal continued through the vicissitudes and the quality of the journal itself was maintained by successive editors (John Rule, Roger Wells, Andrew Spencer, and Carl Griffin) and review editors (Ivan Roots and Michael Hicks).
The Society has benefited also from the long-term chairmanship of John Chapman, who first published in Southern History in 1980, of George Tatham as treasurer, and a settled base at the University of Winchester. Although some articles do cross shire boundaries, the journal aims to publish the best research from the constituent counties, and ensures that record society volumes and other books on the South are authoritatively reviewed.
Emeritus Professor Michael Hicks (former Membership Secretary and Reviews Editor).
Articles are welcomed from academics, independent historians and research students. For further information visit Guidance for Contributors
To subscribe to Southern History please visit our Membership page.
For all enquiries please refer to our Contacts page.