Hi, I’m Malcolm. This page tells you about me and my main interests which may reveal themselves on this website.
Born in England but raised as a Scot, I grew up on the borders of Surrey & South London, and have now been living in or around Wiltshire for more than 20 years. These days I write, and sometimes talk about, history, fiction and genealogy, and am often found wandering around churches and graveyards looking at stained glass, wall paintings, and memorials to the dead.
About Me
There is a detailed autobiography written in 2023 on my first post for this site: ‘This is My Life’.
For here, suffice to say that I am retired from a career as a psychiatric nurse, drugs worker, trainer, manager and NHS director, and now I spend much of my time writing, reading, researching and talking about all the themes on this website: Medieval to Victorian History, Churches and Religious History, Genealogy and DNA.
To support and further these interests, I have taken a Masters Degree in Medieval Studies (Distinction) with the University of Wales Trinity St David , I am a member of the Editorial Board of the History Research Journal, Sarum Chronicle on whose behalf I am co-writing a book on the Churches of Salisbury and District, and I am also a YDNA Group Administrator for Family Tree DNA.
Two other areas of interest are: first, Jazz & Jazz Photography due to the work of my late father whose images can be seen all over the wall of London clubs like Ronnie Scott’s and whose work I have exhibited in Paris, Bristol, Portsmouth and at the Royal Albert Hall; second, a love of Fiction-writing, which I maintain through membership of a small writers group which helps keep the fiction flame burning, alongside undertaking the Goodreads Reading Challenge – target for 2024 is 35 novels to read, sometimes influenced by family and friends chosen books on Goodreads.
I also am occasionally taken out for a walk by my Basset Hound, Yoshi, and have an unfortunate passion for two football teams: Chelsea and Heart of Midlothian.
When not pursuing any of the above areas, I can often be found on Twitter as @HistoryMalc connecting with historians, writers, church visitors, and others interested in art, literature, film and politics.
Lastly, and I have been very open about this with family, friends and on social media, I have been living with Kidney Cancer since 2018 when I lost one kidney due to a large tumour. In 2023 a secondary tumour led to further abdominal surgery, an adrenalectomy, but that has in no way diminished my creative drive, and in some ways it has in fact increased it. Our life on this earth is limited, regardless of illness, so, other than supporting our nearest and dearest, we should put our time into whatever gives us the most enjoyment, and where possible connect with others who share similar interests.
The threat of further secondary cancer, whether it is real or just a scare, makes me realise that now, for me, it is immediate family needs and self-indulgent interests first, close friends and wider family second, and the rest of the world a very distant third. This website is about the me part in all that, and I hope that from time to time, other people may find it worth exploring.
Malcolm Sinclair, Berryfield, Wiltshire.