Using Archives for Academic Research

In Digital Versus Physical Archives: a Personal Account I discussed my use of archives while researching my family history, describing how digital archives were the catalyst for my research in various archives in Britain and Ireland spanning several years.  With ten years’ archival research behind me, I decided to study for a history degree.  Those years were invaluable to me, as I headed into the archives … Continue reading Using Archives for Academic Research

A Blogging Experiment and a Domain Name

In the last six months my blog has grown gaining many new readers and (I assume) some of my original 40-odd followers are no longer blogging. Indeed, initially enthusiastic, after three months I failed to blog for fourteen whole months! But I had a couple of early posts that proved popular with internet searches and thus my blog was not exactly dormant (even though I … Continue reading A Blogging Experiment and a Domain Name

More from the Philanthropic Society

In my recent post the Philanthropic Society I introduced you to ten-year-old George Lefoy the first ‘subject’, as the children of the Philanthropic Society were called. In this article I give you Thomas Mitchell and Nicholas Sweetman, subjects number two and three. Children admitted into the Society’s Reform were the offspring of the criminal classes or those destitute and in need of rescuing from penury … Continue reading More from the Philanthropic Society

The Philanthropic Society

My Master’s dissertation was a study of the Philanthropic Society founded in the late eighteenth century. Having changed computers since my original research, with the majority of it lost, I was thrilled to come across this photograph in my ‘old’ emails. The Philanthropic Society was founded in London in 1788 and its mission was to resolve the problem of homeless and criminal children.  It was … Continue reading The Philanthropic Society

Sourcing History for Blogging: Research Without Leaving the House

What inspires me to write an article for my history blog? The answer could be anything. A phrase,  a book, watching a film, a TV programme, a memory or possibly a newspaper article. I work away from home a lot and so need resources that can inform when at home or staying in a hotel. Here I take a look at some of my blog … Continue reading Sourcing History for Blogging: Research Without Leaving the House

The Many Ways to Consume History

History as entertainment can be consumed without you knowing it. The popularity of historical dramas, Downton Abbey, Jamaica Inn, Jamestown, The Crown and Victoria, to name a few, help educate the public, albeit passively, and at the risk of the odd inaccuracy if an historical advisor has not been consulted. Traditionally, history was consumed through reading text books and learning dates by rote – I … Continue reading The Many Ways to Consume History