25th Anniversary Essay Competition - a family history

Thanks to a generous donation from our President there will be two prizes of Book Tokens of £50. You may enter either or both parts of the competition.

Rules: Write an essay of 2000 words on either a family villain or a family hero. The essay should include your own ideas or research and relate to the events or social conditions of the historical period. References and footnotes should be included. Ideally the essay should make some reference to relevant historiography on the subject. It should not be a revamped TMA!

The subject of the essay need not be a member of your own family. It could, for example, be about a great, great grandfather who emigrated from Suffolk to London in the nineteenth century and founded a successful family company. Alternatively you might like to write about an unrelated member of the aristocracy who spent the family fortune.

The word limitation is deliberate. It is difficult to produce an argument within a short essay but this is what we would like you to do. The Editor and the Webmaster will welcome longer pieces on the same subject at a later date for inclusion in Open History or on our website.

Two copies of the essay should be sent to the Editor, Jill Groves, 77 Marford Crescent, Sale, Cheshire, M33 4DN by 31 October 2008. The competition is open to Society members and 2008 OU students. Please state if you are a member or a student.

Read about last year's competition here.