I’ve been a huge fan of the series Who Do You Think You Are? for many years, so it was a real thrill to be contacted earlier this year by the series’ magazine for an article about my 2021 crowdsourcing project to transcribe the 1886 petition that helped save Clissold Park. Featured in the September edition of Who Do You Think You Are? magazine, the piece highlights the 11,000-signature petition raised by residents of Stoke Newington, Hackney and Islington to stop the sale of the land that would become Clissold Park, and tells the story of how I initiated, organised, coordinated and managed a community-wide effort that brought together 40 volunteers from across the country to digitally transcribe this remarkable document.

As the piece notes, managing such a large volunteer project remotely was not without its challenges: keeping everyone coordinated, maintaining accuracy across thousands of names, and ensuring momentum over several weeks required both structure and perseverance. But the effort paid off. In about a month, the team successfully completed the full transcription, turning the historic petition into a searchable digital resource.

The project revealed the extraordinary scale of local support for preserving the park and shed new light on the leadership of campaigners such as Joseph Beck and John Runtz, whose efforts were part of the wider nineteenth-century open-space movement.

I’m delighted that the Who Do You Think You Are? article is helping to bring greater visibility to the story of the campaign to save Clissold Park, a subject I’ve been passionate about sharing for many years. Seeing it recognised in a national print publication is incredibly rewarding and a testament to what can be achieved through collaboration, curiosity and community spirit.

You can read more about the transcription project here: Transcribing the 1886 Petition to Save Clissold Park and explore the full Clissold Park Campaign Archive, which documents the extraordinary nineteenth-century fight to keep the park open for everyone.