Having qualified as a barrister, Alistair Dougall worked in business in London for several years before returning to university to do a degree, Masters and then PhD in History. While doing his doctoral research, he taught students at both undergraduate and M.A. level at the University of Southampton. He later turned his PhD thesis into a book, and he has written for BBC History magazine and given a number of talks to local history societies.
Between 2002 and 2021 (when he retired from teaching), Alistair taught History at an independent girls’ school in Salisbury, where he was Head of Sixth Form and Head of History for several years. He taught a wide range of British and world history from medieval through to twentieth century, always aiming to pass on his love of history and historical research to students of all ages. He also organised talks from leading academics, and led a number of trips including an annual trip to the First World War battlefields (he has also run that trip for adults). Lots of his students went on to study History at university.
Alistair believes strongly in the aims of the Hampshire Archives Trust and in the enormous importance of historical archives. As a trustee, he hopes to encourage and educate more young people to learn about and to use the extensive range of archives in Hampshire so that they too can experience the thrill of holding and reading diaries, letters and records written centuries ago, and to make their own discoveries using such valuable primary sources.