Sex, lies, and the Chevalier d'Eon! You can now listen to my @long18thsem.bsky.social talk on Lord Mansfield and the Chevalier d'Eon on the IHR website: www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...

Job klaxon 📢: fancy managing a busy University archives service? Now's your chance: warwick-careers.tal.net/vx/lang-en-G...

Over 20,000 item descriptions have been added to REQ 2 (Court of Requests proceedings) since March 2024. An absolute treasure trove for Tudor historians. discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/browse/r/r/C...

Over 20,000 item descriptions have been added to REQ 2 (Court of Requests proceedings) since March 2024. An absolute treasure trove for Tudor historians. discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/browse/r/r/C...

The National Archives' contribution to #wdpd2025 www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/blogs/digita...

How was the Gunpowder Treason discovered 420 years ago? webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/202506...

Cataloguing connects your audiences with your assets. It's arguably the most responsible & sustainable way of fostering these connections because work done once can be (re)used many times. It empowers users to (re)discover collections for themselves.

I'm procrastinating on Bluesky rather than writing up this research, plus I hate writing, so the IHR website really is the only place to hear about this for the time being. If anyone sees me in person this week, tell me I should be writing.

Its Miscellany Monday! Here's Butler, "'Horys, strumppettes and fyssenagges': Defamation in the Court of Later Medieval England" (2021) legalhistorymiscellany.com/2021/08/23/h...

Henry VIII's original will (fighting the urge to post this in all caps, because it's so very cool) [TNA E 23/4]

I've reached the stage of indexing where I don't know what letters are anymore. But, a small milestone, I finished indexing the Elizabethan Star Chamber fines today. Over halfway there.

👻 🧙‍♀️🎃 Molyneux Papers (TCD MS 883): Examinations & depositions taken in Co. Antrim in 1710 respecting witches and witchcraft — including testimony from Mary Dunbar, who has been "in a most grievous and violent manner / tormented and afflicted with Witches". www.virtualtreasury.ie/item/TCD-MS-...

There's one ghost 👻 in the Star Chamber catalogue, STAC 8/151/7, allegations that a ghost was haunting a husband and wife so that they "could not thrive". Happy Halloween 🎃 discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C5...

A remarkable case. The preliminary hearing from last year is on Find Case Law, if anyone wants a read. caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ewhc/kb/2024...

Just your periodic reminder that there is an early modern pub night once a month for PhDs and ECRs and anyone else who'd like to join in London. If you'd like to be added to the mailing list please DM me.

This is an excellent deep dive by @kjkesselring.bsky.social into the Devil in legal records. My (very) small contribution was coming up with the title, which I blurted out mid-conversation with Krista when told about the subject.

What if the Devil made them do it? A new post by @kjkesselring.bsky.social 'Crime, Culpability, and the Devil in the Details'. legalhistorymiscellany.com/2025/10/27/c...

If I tell enough people I'm writing the book, that'll force me to write it. Right?

It was a pleasure to collaborate with Paul Dryburgh (TNA, UK) on this blog on the fascinating life of H.S Sweetman. More to come so watch this space! @historytcd.bsky.social @virtualtreasury.bsky.social www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/explore-the-...

King James I so enjoyed (I assume?) Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice on Shrove Sunday in 1605 that he requested it again on Shrove Tuesday. Love the spelling for "Shaxberd" and "Marchant of Venis". TNA AO 3/908 discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C2...

Want to know exactly how much tea was destroyed during the Boston Tea Party? Just check the bill the East India Company sent the British shortly afterwards, a copy of which is now at The National Archives [TNA CO 5/247] www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/explore-the-...

What was a bear worth in Elizabethan England? Well, thanks to a deed held at The National Archives [TNA C 146/8581], we at least know a few specifics, like Nan, the old she bear, valued at 30s in 1590. www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/explore-the-...

Talking Records: Pollution in the Archive is now open for registration! 🏭🌊 In person symposium at The National Archives on 4th December: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/talking-re... Afternoon of online talks on 5th December: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/talking-re... #envhum #envhist

I haven't taken any document pictures all week (and am therefore unreasonably grumpy), so in lieu of this, a little shout out for the continuing REQ 2 project. Up to REQ 2/275 now searchable to item level on Discovery. discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/browse/r/r/C...

😓💔

A periodic reminder that the ORIGINAL STAR CHAMBER CEILING from Westminster Palace is now in a hotel outside Liverpool. www.leasowecastle.com/dine

One of the best parts of the day job is putting on document displays. Today, I got to show off this gorgeous 15th-century illuminated statute book [TNA E 164/10] #LegalRecords

A great little 1777 King's Bench case. The defendants were accused of boiling "great quantities of soap lees, whale oil, and caput mortuum of aqua fortis", causing "unwholesome smokes, stenches, and smells" and corrupting and infecting the air. [TNA KB 28/304]

It’s Miscellany Monday! Here’s Tim Streeton, “Mary Hockmore’s Lawyer,” (2021) legalhistorymiscellany.com/2021/08/14/m...

Deadline extended to 1 Nov. Please share with UGs interested in #legalhistory or #womeninlaw. Don't have to be studying legal history, topic is open. Chance to connect with Selden's Sister, who also run PG mentoring scheme. £100 in Hart Publishing vouches up for grabs!

Today we visited The National Archives for a workshop organised by @joecozens.bsky.social and our own @martinspychal.bsky.social on Peter McLagan, Scotland's first Black MP. We looked at original documents relating to McLagan's life & had some great discussions about future directions for research.

Henry VIII's original will (fighting the urge to post this in all caps, because it's so very cool) [TNA E 23/4]

A family tree describing how James I was descended from William the Conquerer, part of a succession tract made by Thomas Wilson at the end of Elizabeth I's reign. [TNA SP 12/280]

At @ihr.bsky.social we can now offer PhD by Publication in History! For those with a substantial body of existing published research (within past 10 years), but without a PhD, should be of particular interest to #heritage professionals and independent scholars!

A great little 1777 King's Bench case. The defendants were accused of boiling "great quantities of soap lees, whale oil, and caput mortuum of aqua fortis", causing "unwholesome smokes, stenches, and smells" and corrupting and infecting the air. [TNA KB 28/304]

Just two days to go until my talk at @nationalarchivesuk (7pm on 15 Oct) On display will be a treasure trove of Tudor documents, from Henry VIII’s will to the letter that sealed Mary, Queen of Scots’ fate www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/whats-on/eve... @thegozfather.bsky.social @hodderbooks.bsky.social

Nothing makes an archivist happier than seeing the proper citation of sources in a social media post. Love to see it. And a top project, too. sites.exeter.ac.uk/materialcult...

This Wednesday at The National Archives! A talk by Tracy Borman @tracyborman.bsky.social on her new book AND a document display featuring Henry VIII's will. www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/whats-on/eve...

THIS is a fabulous website The #Chester Consistory Court Archive of cause papers from the oldest complete ecclesiastical courtroom in #England Find out more about this amazing free database 👉 www.chestercausepapers.org.uk To search 👉 www.chestercausepapers.org.uk/directory #Cheshire

I get told I'm "very enthusiastic" about the records a lot. They're not wrong. Today, I got to show off (among other things) original revels accounts for the performances of Measure for Measure and the Comedy of Errors (by "Shaxberd"). Very cool. TNA AO 3/908

Winter Lecture Series: Finding Women in Scottish History Join us for a series of free, online lectures to explore sources of women's lived experience, intellectual and religious networks, and socio-political power in medieval and early modern Scotland. scottishhistorysociety.com/shs-winter-l...

Apropos of nothing, and yes, I'm bound to say this, but original records are incredibly cool.

I'm unreasonably pleased that my Shakespeare find made it to Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_...

On Wednesday 15 October, Tracy Borman (@tracyborman.bsky.social) is giving an in-person talk at The National Archives, talking about her excellent new book The Stolen Crown [1/3]. www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/whats-on/eve...

Sex, lies, and the Chevalier d'Eon! You can now listen to my @long18thsem.bsky.social talk on Lord Mansfield and the Chevalier d'Eon on the IHR website: www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...

New Bibliography: Royal Proclamations statutes.org.uk/site/collect... #LegalHistory

I'm personally very excited to see Henry VIII's will in the flesh (so to speak), one of the contentious documents at the heart of the "Elizabethan succession crisis" [TNA E 23/4]

If you missed my @long18thsem.bsky.social talk last week on Lord Mansfield and the Chevalier d'Eon, fret not, as the recording is now up on the IHR website. www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...

If you missed my @long18thsem.bsky.social talk last week on Lord Mansfield and the Chevalier d'Eon, fret not, as the recording is now up on the IHR website. www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...

Defendants in Chancery cases could provide answers in a language other than English, such as this 1744 "Singular Reposta". [TNA C 11/2098/21]