I was looking forward to meeting Keith Johnson, a renowned local historian who has written over 15 books. One of his previous works, the A-Z of Preston, was actually the inspiration for my article on pediments. But how did he become an author and what is his favourite thing to write about?
A passion for Preston’s past
From the moment I sat down with Keith, his enthusiasm was infectious. We met at Society1 on Cross Street, and he immediately produced an old photograph he’d found of the building when it served as a union headquarters in the 1970s!
The crime that sparked his career
Keith has long had an interest in Preston’s history but it was firmly a hobby as he worked full-time as an engineer in the printing business. His journey to becoming a published author started when he was at the Harris Library researching local crimes and stumbled across a newspaper clipping about Jane Scott.
The headline read that a ‘man and wife poisoned by arsenic supposed to have been administered by their own daughter’. Jane was later found guilty of murdering the ‘man and wife’, her parents, by putting arsenic in their porridge. She was hanged in 1828.
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From hobby to first book
Fascinated, Keith began compiling a collection of crime stories from Preston’s past. This became his first book ‘Chilling true tales of old Preston’ and it was eventually published with Owl Books in 1990. It proved to be a success and some bookstores, like WHSmith, got creative with their displays placing a shadowy figure in the window. The success of that book led to Chilling Tales of Lancashire and Chilling Tales of London, and before long, Keith was working with Amberley Publishing, where he has since written a wide range of titles.
Although it was hard for him to choose a favourite, Keith particularly enjoyed writing Preston At Work. It gave him the chance to explore the daily lives of ordinary people, from their triumphs to their struggles. He also said that it was fascinating to Preston’s transformation from using windmills to cotton mills, and becoming an industrial heartland.
Sharing stories
Alongside writing books, Keith also has a regular slot in the Lancashire Evening Post, including one called the ‘court archives’. One of his previous articles was about Beech’s chocolate factory and when the owner saw the article in the paper he was so pleased he sent Keith a box of chocolates! He has also written extensively about Preston North End legend Sir Tom Finney, whose book Keith proudly bought with a school prize token years ago.
Read more: Delve deep into Preston’s chilling past
Capturing a century in Lost Preston
In his latest book, Lost Preston, Keith looks at how the city has changed over the past hundred years, from busy shops and cinemas to landmark buildings and industries that have either changed or disappeared. The book offers both nostalgia and a visual record of Preston’s changing landscape. The book is available now in Waterstones and online.
Preserving Preston’s history for the future
Keith says he feels privileged to continue documenting the city’s past, reminding me that “there is history everywhere in Preston” and that it’s vital to record it before it disappears. As we talked, I thought about places like St Wilfrid’s car park, which sits on top of a former Catholic graveyard, containing around 5000 bodies, however there is no plaque to inform people of this.
Looking ahead
Keith also shows no sign of slowing down and is working on his new book ‘Preston’s colourful past’ which involves colourising photos from various points in Preston’s past. Copies of Lost Preston sold out at his book signing, and Keith regularly gives talks and radio interviews, so keep an eye out for his future events!
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