A Tour Through (Part of) the Whole of Great Britain in October 2019. Day 2: RBKC, 8 October 2019
I found inspiration for the novel I’m (still, a year later) working on
Books and Borrowing, 1750-1830: An Analysis of Scottish Borrowers’ Registers
I’m happy to say that I’ve joined an exciting new project! ‘Books and Borrowing, 1750-1830: An Analysis of Scottish Borrowers’ Registers’ is a three-year AHRC-funded project which explores How the untapped potential of Scottish borrowers’ registers can be employed to enrich our knowledge of the histories of books and reading. The project started at the…
There’s Something About Mary: Johnston v Paisley (1769): A Tale from the Session Papers
“Miss Graham, I cannot go out but I am dunn’d with poor Mally’s light carriage with the servants and others in the neighbourhood, which you cannot but know. If she behave so now, What will she do afterwards? which has given me more uneasiness than all I heard from Moffat. It is not my children, but every body will talk. I wish I may be preserved from danger at this time of life, and not be made a speech to the whole country. I hope there is no harm done, is all from, your most obedient servant. James Paisley.”
Treasure Kists!
Sometimes being a historian is just plain fun… See ‘Armada chests and legal documents: Anderson Strathern‘ by Professor John W. Cairns the Edinburgh Legal History blog for a recent adventure featuring locked treasure chests, legal documents, and getting covered in the dust of ages. I was delighted to be invited along to the ceremonial opening…
18th-century Faces and Fire Screens
If you have ever visited a country house, castle, or other historic building that displays fire screens, it is likely that you have read or heard that they were necessary for a very odd reason. In the eighteenth century, you see, both men and women ‘wore heavy wax makeup and the screens were there to…
Write Here: Learning to Write in Edinburgh
At the finish of my latest time-limited job, I decided not to seek full-time work – unless something came up that I really wanted to do. I was lucky to have some part-time work lined up and some freelancing and my husband agreed that we’d manage. I’m lucky in that: it has not always been…
The Flowers of Potter-row: A tale from the Session Papers
In February 1760, advocate Walter Steuart presented a petition to the Court of Session on behalf of his client, John Grieve, a taylor in Potter-row. [1] The petition was part of a long-standing dispute between Grieve and his neighbour John Neill, a barber and wig-maker. Their disagreement involved the use of a shared garden and…
More Uproar: How the Caledonian Mercury Reported Mr Fennell’s Edinburgh Adventure in July 1788
As described in a previous post, Mr James Fennell was tormented by a mob of Edinburgh lawyers as he tried to work as an actor at the Theatre Royal during Mrs Siddon’s visit there in July 1788. The events did not escape the notice of the Caledonian Mercury and its reports provide more details about…
William Hunter and the Anatomy of the Modern Museum: Private View
The Hunterian’s new major exhibition, which opens today, celebrates and analyses its founder William Hunter who was born 300 years ago this year. Hunter was many things – anatomist, royal physician, bibliophile, collector, historian, patron of the arts, teacher – and this exhibition sets out to explore the various aspects of his life and legacy…
The REF, Redundancy, Rag Rugs, and Renewal: A Personal Post
A post about being an early career researcher, how I failed at it, and why I’m glad Note: This is much more personal than I would normally be. I may take it down in future since it doesn’t show off the ‘professional me’ that I need to show to the world to be successful. But…