Supervisor: Dr Jonathan Finch
My PhD thesis focuses on British political radicalism of the early nineteenth century. Historical archaeology has yet to fully explore its political potential, both in regards to study and activism. In order to promote this engagement, I am exploring the radical landscapes and spaces that were being created across Britain between c. 1815-1822, including the Peterloo Massacre and female reform societies. The study is interdisciplinary, taking influences from sociology, art history, and history, and borrows from documentary archaeology. It seeks to promote archaeological study in areas traditionally dominated by history and reverse the dogma that sees separation of text and material. Rather, textual sources are seen as archaeological artefacts that also act as a way to gain access to ‘traditional’ artefacts which no longer survive.
I completed my BA Archaeology and MA Historical Archaeology at the University of York, before immediately beginning my PhD here. My MA dissertation focused on Peterloo and utilised thematic analysis as a viable option of using text as archaeological artefact, making it a pilot study for my PhD. As well as political radicalism, my research interests include gender, emotion, colonialism, capitalism, and landscapes, within historical periods. I have undertaken two work experience placements at the Borthwick Institute for Archives and helped excavate with the Teffont Archaeology Project and Hidden Guildhall, amongst others.