Free talk tomorrow in Frome! Sat 31 Jan, 11am A Flock of Ravens: The business of death in eighteenth century England. Join me at Christ Church in Frome for a talk about the early undertaking trade and 18th century funerals. No tickets - just turn up! ⚰️ #history #deathhistory #skystorians

Free talk coming to Frome next weekend! Sat 31 Jan, 11am A Flock of Ravens: The business of death in eighteenth century England. Join me at Christ Church in Frome for a talk about the early undertaking trade and 18th century funerals. No tickets - just turn up!⚰️ #history #deathhistory #frome

Free talk coming to Frome! Sat 31 Jan, 11am A Flock of Ravens: The business of death in eighteenth century England. Join me at Christ Church in Frome for a talk about the early undertaking trade and 18th century funerals. No tickets - just turn up!⚰️ #history #deathhistory #frome

Many thanks to @profilebooks.bsky.social for this copy of Molly Conisbee’s ‘No Ordinary Deaths’ a social history of death which is this death historian’s sort of thing!! It has undertakers too! More thoughts to come! #skystorians

Ok, an object which demonstrates my passion for death history. A fragile Delftware plate titled ‘You and I are Earth. 1661’ It was found in a sewer and went into the collection of @londonmuseum.bsky.social #skystorians

Excellent evening talking as part of Goths for Breakfast -‘Night of the Leaving Dead’ looked at the some of the curious things that happened involving both living and the dead. Here we have two of Newton’s cartoons ‘Resurrection Men’ and ‘An Apparition’ from British Museum! #gothsforbreakfast

Maria O’Brien - 1958 - 2025 My mum died suddenly yesterday evening at home. Despite her chronic RA she always seized the most of life and history and listened to many funerary tales. She always encouraged my studies and my research into death history!

I will be joining in for this brilliant day of ideas and gothicness - the tickets are going fast but hopefully you can join me for ‘Night of the Leaving Dead’ ⚰️

If you are in Australia or would like some death history to start the day I will be giving an online talk for NDAN about the lively and often busy world of 18th century burial grounds - 7th Feb - 7pm AEDT / 8am GMT Tickets: www.trybooking.com/events/landi...

At Donmar Warehouse this evening for Natasha Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812. A whole performance based on a segment of War and Peace #musicals

Welcoming me to any new Bluesky members and the regulars (you are very much appreciated too!) Here is a one of my favourite mourning rings - a memento mori and an example of eighteenth century mourning ring from British Museum #skystorians

I’ll be in this year’s Goths for Breakfast with ‘Night of the Leaving Dead’ - The Impermanent World of the Eighteenth Century Grave at 8pm GMT on 15th Feb. It’s an online day of Gothic & horror sessions in support of the charity Magic Breakfast! Tickets at: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/goths-for-...

It’s a coffin! A fine way to grab a death historian’s interest. This coffin pendant is a quite a bit smaller and its pop-out inhabitant is not faithful or a traitor but a memento mori skeleton. #thetraitors

If you are new Bluesky hello! I’m Dr Dan, death historian and cemetery wanderer. Bringing you items from the material history of death from the early medieval to the present. I’m also quite partial to a Roman tombstone so maybe that needs tweaking… #skystorians

Found myself in a Devizes churchyard today and somehow rather viciously bumped my knee on the ironwork surrounding this impressive memorial to John Hart Burges, rector of St John’s (d.1899) #skystorians

As a death historian this is what I would call a death card. Death carrying a scythe and wearing a galero and red cape (ferraiolo) of a cardinal. Watercolour on card, varnished. Italian. c.1490 (From V&A) #TheTraitors

I’ll be in this year’s Goths for Breakfast with ‘Night of the Leaving Dead’ - The Impermanent World of the Eighteenth Century Grave at 8pm GMT on 15th Feb. It’s an online day of Gothic & horror sessions in support of the charity Magic Breakfast! Tickets at: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/goths-for-...

Finishing my Nelson funeral day with these patch boxes enamelled with mournful sentiments about the fallen Nelson. One imagines the moment of his injury and the other a sailor standing alongside a monument to Nelson. Both from NMM #skystorians

A view of Nelson’s funeral at St Paul’s with the giant lantern illuminating the coffin below. The ensigns of captured French and Spanish ships hang around the mournful scene. Print after Charles Augustus Pugin. From British Museum. #skystorians #navalhistory

One of my favourite funerals - 9 Jan 1806, the funeral of Horatio Nelson at St Paul’s Cathedral. A spectacularly large event preceded by a procession from the admiralty. Here is Nelson’s funeral car (from British Museum) and its surviving figurehead (NMM) #skystorians

Twelve Graves of Christmas - Day 12 🪦🎄: The Platt memorial at St Pancras Old Church features busts of William & Mary Platt of Highgate. It was originally in the chapel of Highgate School. The memorial is decorated with heraldic shields illustrating the heritage of the deceased. #skystorians

Twelve Graves of Christmas - Day 11 🪦🎄: Skulls bookend the memorial to various relatives of goldsmith George Reeve at Bath Abbey (his parents, wife and four sons) - accompanied by the words ‘thers a tyme wherein our bodys must revive agayne though now turn’d into dust’ 1664. #skystorians

Twelve Graves of Christmas - Day 10 🪦🎄: Edward Harris’ memorial records his service for the navy including almost two decades enslaved by Barbary pirates. Harris lived at the Royal Naval Hospital Greenwich & died in 1707. The grave slab has been moved into the Devonport memorial. #skystorians

Twelve Graves of Christmas - Day 9 🪦🎄: Tudor effigies from Old St Paul's. In the crypt of Wren's cathedral are a family of effigies which survived the burning of St Paul's during the Great Fire of London. Thomas Heneage (d.1594) lies alongside his wife Anna (d.1592). #skystorians

Twelve Graves of Christmas - Day 8 🪦🎄: Effigies of Sir Maurice Berkley (d.1464) and his wife Ellen (d.1475) rest in prayer on their tomb at Bristol’s Lord Mayor’s Chapel. Sir Maurice’s effigy is dressed in full armour including gauntlets that look a bit like metal mittens. #skystorians

Happy New Year to all - in the most death history way I know!! However you celebrate - whether you are dancing, feasting or just enjoying a welcome rest! #skystorians #happynewyear

Twelve Graves of Christmas - Day 7 🪦🎄: The brilliantly detailed mail and shield of William Longspée, Earl of Salisbury (d.1226) The tomb contained a curious mystery - a dead rat was found in his skull and its remains contained arsenic…were rumours that Longspée been murdered true? #skystorians

Twelve Graves of Christmas - Day 6 🪦🎄: This memorial comemorates two brothers who were lost at sea. Henry Orfeur was on the Invoice which sank 23 Nov 1856 & John Orfeur was on board the Geraldine which was lost in April 1862. It stands in Abney Park cemetery quite close to the path. #skystorians

Twelve Graves of Christmas - Day 5 🪦🎄: A memento mori skull shrouded in drapery stares out from the monument to William Doble (d. 17th Oct 1675). There are crossed bones behind the skull & atop the memorial two putti support the arms of the deceased. From @universitychurch.bsky.social #skystorians

I share my birthday with the feast of St Thomas Becket. In this day in 1170 Becket was murdered in his cathedral at Canterbury. These items tell the stories of Becket’s miracles and his untimely end at Canterbury. #skystorians #otd

Twelve Graves of Christmas - Day 4 🪦🎄: The Karolinian Burial Vault, Riddarholmskyrkan, Stockholm. Nine ornate coffins stand in a semi-circle beneath a starry ceiling (added in the 19th century). Pictured here we have the coffins of Karl X Gustav (d.1660) and his successor Karl XI. #skystorians

One curious death history item from a visit to the American Museum in Bath was this tiny glass cup that is decorated with the faces of Lincoln and Garfield and the dates of their assassinations - rather than their actual deaths. #skystorians

Twelve Graves of Christmas - Day 3 🪦🎄: The tomb of Ellen Maria La Touche at St Mary’s Churchyard in Bathwick. This impressive memorial commemorates Ellen Maria who was born in Göttingen and lived in Bath with her husband the Irish soldier Peter La Touche and died in 1845. #skystorians

Twelve Graves of Christmas - Day 2 🪦🎄: In 1878 the church of St Dionis Backchurch was demolished after merging with All Hallows Lombard St. The burials from the vault of St Dionis were moved to the City of London Cemetery where they were re-buried and marked by this memorial. #skystorians

Twelve Days of Graves of Christmas - Day 1 🪦🎄: The memorial for Peter Capponi at St Olave Hart Street in London. Capponi was a Florentine merchant and spy who died of plague in the 1580s. His effigy in armour was commissioned by Peter Land, a man of Florentine descent. #skystorians

Now…if you followed me in the old place you may remember (this might be a bit of a stretch) that Christmas Day is the start of 12 Days of Mortality History Christmas. I’m excited to say that this year will be no different - but it will be ‘12 Graves of Christmas’ #skystorians #christmas

Advent Calendar of Mortality History - Door 24💀🎄: This rosary bead is carved from bone with a living head on one side and a cheery skull on the other. A reminder of fragility of life. Early 16th cent. From @londonmuseum.bsky.social #skystorians

Advent Calendar of Mortality History - Door 23 💀🎄: A winged hourglass sits atop a skull and crossed bones in this guild funeral medal for Marten ten Hoven. Lots of tiny detail in the wings of the flying hourglass From @amsterdammuseum.bsky.social

A polychrome écorché figure cast in plaster under the supervision of William Hunter in his time as Professor of Anatomy for the Royal Academy. The cast was made from the body of thief and murderer Solomon Porter who was hanged in 1771. #skystorians

Advent Calendar of Mortality History - Door 22 💀🎄: This cheerful memento mori skull-shaped silver pomander was believed to protect the bearer against miasma. With a living face on one side and a skull on the other it is a reminder of the fragility of life. Early 17th century. #skystorians

Advent Calendar of Mortality History - Door 21 💀🎄: This pipe bowl features a skull and crossed bones - it is from the last half of the 19th century and the motif may be a reference to the 17th Lancers’ ‘Death or Glory’ motto. From @findsorguk.bsky.social HAMP-67CFBB #skystorians

Advent Calendar of Mortality History - Door 20 💀🎄: This miniature, wooden gable-lidded coffin opens to reveal a decomposing corpse and a tiny snake slithering around it - a stark reminder to the owner of what they would become. From @wellcomecollection.bsky.social #skystorians

Advent Calendar of Mortality History - Door 19 💀🎄: A skull stares out from the bezel of this gold memorial ring for Queen Henrietta Maria, wife of Charles I. Behind the skull are crossed bones and underneath are the initials 'HM' in thread. c.1669. From the Royal Collection #skystorians

Advent Calendar of Mortality History - Door 18 💀🎄: This funeral or mortuary board from the Netherlands is decorated with memento mori imagery. The board would have been placed outside the house of a dead person until their burial as a marker of their end. From Nederlands Openluchtmuseum #skystorians

Advent Calendar of Mortality History - Door 17 💀🎄: A tarot card depicting death. 'I am death'* says the speech scroll. Death carries a scythe and also wears a galero and red cape (ferraiolo) of a cardinal. Watercolour on card, varnished. Italian. c.1490 *translation from record From V&A #skystorians

Advent Calendar of Mortality History - Door 16 💀🎄: ‘Sacred to the best of husbands’ - This mourning ring is decorated with a scene of a memorial attended by a grieving widow and her daughter. The ring commemorates William Hembrow who died 8 October 1792, aged 31. From V&A #skystorians

Mortality History Advent Calendar - Day 15🎄💀: A skull-shaped tomb decoration recovered from the war-damaged (now demolished) church of St Lawrence in Exeter. The skull was accompanied by crossed bones. c16th-17th century. From Royal Albert Memorial Museum #skystorians

Twelve Days of Mortality History Christmas - Day 13🎄💀: A heart-shaped silver medal commemorating the death of Charles I. A skull appears between a ‘C’ and ‘R’ (Carolus Rex). Above is the message ‘Prepared bee to follow me.’ #skystorians

Advent Calendar of Mortality History - Door 12 💀🎄: Death is no laughing matter but this cadaverous fellow has other ideas. A wormy Death takes the jester’s hand and begin the dance in this illustration from a medieval dance of death by the Master of Philippe de Gueldre. Français 995 #skystorians

dvent Calendar of Mortality History - Door 11 💀🎄: 'Death Calling the Dance' - two skeletons emerge from a packed charnel house playing musical instruments. This plaster ornament is part of a set inspired by Basel’s Dance of Death. Early 19th cent. #skystorians