That's the thing about buses...

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/...

I posted this👇 to a claim that genAI is better than Ctl+F to search historical docs. @tristanpalmgren.bsky.social replied with a genAI summary of my document and @bookllyfr.bsky.social asked if it was accurate. It turns out that it did exactly what genAI does: made stuff up & got stuff wrong.🧵

When we say "no, everything hasn't been digitized," I need you to understand that we really mean is that virtually nothing has been digitized. This is because the realm of primary sources that historians use is incomprehensibly large.

An early Christmas present for all you Court of Requests fans. *All* the calendared Elizabethan proceedings [TNA REQ 2/26-294], over 20,000 items in total, are now searchable on The National Archives' online catalogue. Ho ho ho 🎄 discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/browse/r/h/C...

C 132/1/1 is a Chancery Inquisition Post Mortem for Richard Noel from 1236, making it The First Noel on The National Archives' online catalogue... discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C8...

Parliament roll for the 1399 parliament, in which Richard II was forced to abdicate. TNA C 65/62

Caroling at the cathedral this evening.

Very rarely does a post warrant all caps, but: SEARCHABLE INTERIM MANUSCRIPTS CATALOGUE. At long last! searcharchives.bl.uk

I found an exciting record today relating to the wagers on the Chevalier d'Eon's sex. The complainant wants his winnings, "the Chevalier d'Eon having lately been proved to be a female"

I'm not saying the records I look at aren't consulted very often, but today, a PRO document ordering slip from the early 1900s dropped out of the volume I was looking at.

Next year, all being well, I have an article that mentions baboon b*ggery (and ravishing fish) and another that says get f*cked. I am a serious academic.

Needless to say I’m delighted about this. It was super to work with Simon Neal, who re-catalogued more than 70 volumes; to collaborate with Eamonn Kenny @adaptcentre.bsky.social who knocked the data into shape; and to incorporate it into the Knowledge Graph we’re building, based on @dib.ie entries

Great Seal of Elizabeth I [TNA E 355/3]

To be fair, you'd have side eye too if you were married to Charles II [TNA LR 16/164]

"Don't go Napoleon on that, boys" is quite the song title. TNA COPY 1/1108

An early Christmas present for all you Court of Requests fans. *All* the calendared Elizabethan proceedings [TNA REQ 2/26-294], over 20,000 items in total, are now searchable on The National Archives' online catalogue. Ho ho ho 🎄 discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/browse/r/h/C...

There are worse problems to have, but I just found another court case which makes the article I was struggling to finish now two articles I'm struggling to finish. Writing never ends ✍️

I am writing. Writing is hard.

It always bugged me that the dates for the Chancery decree and order entry books [TNA C 33] on the catalogue were slightly off, listed as 1589 when the volume ran Mich 1589 to Trin 1590 for example. Well, the Cataloguing team at TNA just fixed it 😍 discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C3...

Fresh on the catalogue today, item descriptions for Duchy Chamber proceedings up to the end of Phil & Mary [up to TNA DL 1/40]. discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/browse/r/r/C...

Yes, the rumours are true (sorry). I'm back at Leeds next July for #IMC2026, speaking on praemunire no less, nearly a decade after I completed the PhD. No, I don't know how it's been a decade. And no, I haven't published the book yet. Have you been speaking to my old PhD supervisor?

In case you missed our first announcement, there’s still over a month to submit your abstracts 🪶 We have already received some amazing proposals, and can’t wait to put together a fantastic programme for April!

Looking for new learning experiences, enrichment and inspiration? Try our new IHR Discovery Courses : Historic Maps, Townscape and Architecture, and Archaeology for Local History. www.history.ac.uk/news-events/... www.history.ac.uk/news-events/... www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...

The IHR Discovery Courses are designed to be accessible for anyone interested in history - family and local historians, students and academic researchers are all welcome! 28th-30th January 2026 - sign up here: www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...

Fair warning to those partaking in Whamageddon (you shouldn't, it's a banger that should be celebrated), I'm wearing a Last Christmas shirt today and I will find you.

Next year, all being well, I have an article that mentions baboon b*ggery (and ravishing fish) and another that says get f*cked. I am a serious academic.

We’re delighted to announce that #AYearinArchives 2025 is now live! Have a browse and let us know which projects you enjoy reading about: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/archives-sec... 📷 RNLI, Tower Hamlets Local History Library & Archives, Staffordshire County Council, Gateshead Archive (1/2)

No chance, however, to discuss how the more usual noun 'law' and its associated adjective 'legal' have no etymological connection

My mission to fill The National Archives website with niche legal records continues. www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/explore-the-...

My favourite thing about libel cases is that the libel had to be repeated in the legal record, which is how we get this (very NSFW) passage in the King's Bench record against John Wilkes for his Essay on Woman. TNA KB 7/6 discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C2...

An absolutely outstanding signature on this commissioner's return for an Elizabethan Duchy Chamber case. TNA DL 1/42/K1b

From hospital records to family papers, collections give unique insights into health across time and place. But they don’t just have historical value. Collections have incredible potential for discovery research – and we need to unlock it. Learn more in our report: wellcome.org/insights/rep...

WE HAVE A FRONT COVER!! 📖📚📘 Oh, it makes me so happy! Available to buy from the 1 June 2026, but if you can't wait til then to dig into our research, the dataset is freely available here: zenodo.org/records/8070... #skystorians #18thC 🗃️ #foodhistory #amwriting uclpress.co.uk/book/the-kin...

Want to feel ancient? You can search Find Case Law by emoji. What a brave new world [Find Case Law search for "😄"] caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk/search?query...

Come & work with me! We’re looking for a project manager to oversee digitisation of the National Farm Survey & other grant-funded projects. Fixed-term until March 2027. £39.5k-48.4k. Apply by 3 Dec 2025. www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/csr/jobs.cgi...

E 133/162 contains schedules of depositions taken by the Barons of the Exchequer, a rare insight into the process behind the legal cases and records we know and love. discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C5...

Only one box, sadly, put at the end of the main series of Barons' Depositions [E 133], but a cool find nonetheless (I listed these a few years ago).

E 133/162 contains schedules of depositions taken by the Barons of the Exchequer, a rare insight into the process behind the legal cases and records we know and love. discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C5...

Fresh on the catalogue, REQ 2/280, more Elizabethan Court of Requests goodness. Over 20,000 new item descriptions and counting for this oft-overlooked conciliar court. discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/browse/r/r/C...

Plea Roll for the Court of Common Pleas for Richard III's reign. Nothing to add, really, I just think it's cool. TNA CP 40/888 discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C3...

Fresh on the catalogue, REQ 2/280, more Elizabethan Court of Requests goodness. Over 20,000 new item descriptions and counting for this oft-overlooked conciliar court. discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/browse/r/r/C...

An absolutely outstanding signature on this commissioner's return for an Elizabethan Duchy Chamber case. TNA DL 1/42/K1b

Not strictly a legal record, this Star Chamber diet book nevertheless informs us how the Privy Council sitting judicially in the Star Chamber ran the court. Or, at least, tells us the vast amount they ate and drank on a particular day [TNA E 407/55]

We’ve published a fantastic new primary source collection—"Radicalism and Popular Protest in Georgian Britain, c. 1714–1832”. Visit the collection landing page at buff.ly/Mf1q0nH.

Are you a scholar of the fifteenth century and have an interest in the British Isles and its wider connections? If so, then you will want to know that @memsunikent.bsky.social will be hosting the 2026 Fifteenth Century Conference in Canterbury and the CfP is now open: www.kent.ac.uk/medieval-ear...

Want to showcase and share the fantastic #Archives and #RecordsManagement work that you’re doing with the sector? There’s still room in the Industry news and Community news sections of the Jan/Feb issue of ARC Magazine! Please get in touch via [email protected]

These catalogue updates allow me, a serious historian, to search for "fart" and find the case where the accused allegedly said he "cared not a fart for the Lord Mayor of London." What will you find? discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/results/r?_a...

I'm not saying the records I look at aren't consulted very often, but today, a PRO document ordering slip from the early 1900s dropped out of the volume I was looking at.

We’re launching our new catalogue on Monday 8 December. To keep our collections safe while we do this, access and ordering will be suspended for a week before launch and all requests for 8 December onwards must be made on the new system when it launches. Find out more: bit.ly/CollectionSu...