Hannah Greig
Reader in Early Modern History

Profile

Biography

BA, MA, PhD

Dr Greig is a historian of eighteenth-century Britain, with a particular interest in gender, material culture and the cultural histories of politics and state craft. Greig's first book The Beau Monde: Fashionable Society in Georgian England (OUP, 2013) examined how a new kind of elite - a high-profile metropolitan elite - forged a new and remarkably robust system of social exclusivity in eighteenth-century London. Greig's current research uses material culture to explore the multi-faceted and international power structures of the eighteenth-century British royal court and parliament.

Greig is also a highly experienced and established consultant to film, theatre and television. With over a decade of experience of working with creative partners she is internationally recognised for her expertise in this field. Recent credits include the Oscar and BAFTA-winning feature film, The Favourite; numerous BBC dramas, most notably the flagship BBC drama Poldark (series 1-5); Andrew Davies's adaptation of Sanditon for ITV; as well as RSC stage productions. Greig works in close partnership with productions, supporting script development as well as working with cast and crew on locations and in post-production. The department has been delighted to host guest speakers and support student internships and placements with a number of these productions.

Research

Overview

Dr Greig is a historian of eighteenth-century Britain, with a particular interest in gender, material culture and the cultural histories of politics and state craft. Greig's first book The Beau Monde: Fashionable Society in Georgian England (OUP, 2013) examined how a new kind of elite - a high-profile metropolitan elite - forged a new and remarkably robust system of social exclusivity in eighteenth-century London. Greig's current research using material culture to explore the multi-faceted and international power structures of the eighteenth-century British royal court and parliament.

Greig is also a highly experienced and established consultant to film, theatre and television. With over a decade of experience of working with creative partners she is internationally recognised for her expertise in this field. Recent credits include the Oscar and BAFTA-winning feature film, The Favourite; numerous BBC dramas, most notably the flagship BBC drama Poldark (series 1-5); Andrew Davies's adaptation of Sanditon for ITV; as well as RSC stage productions. Greig works in close partnership with productions, supporting script development as well as working with cast and crew on locations and in post-production. The department has been delighted to host guest speakers and support student internships and placements with a number of these productions.

Projects

The Fashionables: London’s Beau Monde in the Eighteenth Century
The development of the phrase ‘beau monde’, and the elite community associated with it, highlights a new interpretation of status in the eighteenth century and a newly corporate elite identity. The social, political and cultural implications of this development are the subject of Hannah's recent book.

Possessions of the Crown: A Material History of the Eighteenth-Century British Royal Courts, 1688-1830
This project explores the influence and structure of the royal courts through its systems of production and consumption. Approaching the court as an institution which employed and influenced a wide range of people from bedchamber peers to rat catchers, it is the first to reassess the court’s form and functions through its material culture. Hannah's research in this area focuses on the court’s responsibility for the fabric of parliament, the material perquisites granted to courtiers of all social ranks, and the court’s relationships to suppliers, manufacturers and international trade.

This project integrates a social history of consumption, the study of the material culture and the history of high political institutions to develop new insights into British constitutional and political history.

Teaching

Undergraduate

• Life in the Town: The Eighteenth Century Urban Renaissance (first year Period Topic module)
• Histories in Public: Understandings of the Past in Today’s Society (second year Histories and Contexts module)
• Revolutions, Scandals & Reforms: British Political Culture, 1688-1832 (second year Explorations module)
• Beauty (final year Comparative Histories module)

Postgraduate

• Representing Women in Eighteenth Century Britain: Ideas, Images and Texts (MA Option module)

External activities

Media coverage

Consultancy

Hannah is an experienced consultant for film, television and theatre productions.  Her recent credits include:

• Poldark (Series 1 & 2) - BBC/Mammoth Screen Productions, 2014-2015
• Jamaica Inn - BBC/Origin Productions, 2014
• Death Comes to Pemberley - BBC/Origin Productions, 2013
• The School for Scandal - Bath Theatre Royal (dir. Jamie Lloyd), 2012
• The Duchess - BBC Films/Qwerty Productions, 2008
• AHRC-funded collaboration with Duchy Parade Films to develop feature film, The Last Coiner.

Radio & Television

Hannah contributes regularly to radio and television broadcasts.  Recent credits include:

Radio:

• Interviewed Contributor, 'Voices from the Old Bailey: Series Three: Shoplifting'  (BBC Radio 4, August 2014)
• Interviewed Contributor, 'Voices from the Old Bailey: Series Two, Episode Three: Servants'  (BBC Radio 4, August 2011)
• Interviewed Contributor, 'Voices from the Old Bailey: Series One, Episode Four: Conmen'  (BBC Radio 4, August 2010)
• Interviewed Contributor, 'Mistresses in History' - Women's Hour Boxing Day Special  (BBC Radio 4, 1 January 2008)
• Live interviews for 'Nightwaves'  (BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio York, BBC Radio Oxford and RTE1)

Television:

• 'Who Do You Think You Are? - Frances de la Tour'  (BBC1, 26 October 2015)
• Interviewed Contributor, 'The Queen's Palaces'  (BBC1, 12 September 2011)
• Interviewed Contributor, History Short for 'The One Show'  (BBC1, November 2009)
• 'Becoming Queen: The Accession of Queen Victoria' - Timewatch History Television Documentary (BBC2, 18 October 2008)

Journalism

• 'Mary, Mary Quite Contrary: The Life of Mary Wollstonecraft', BBC History Magazine, September 2009.
• 'Let's get our dates straight', The Times Higher Education Supplement, September 11, 2008.
• 'Sirens and Scandals', History behind the news, History Today, October 2008.
• 'Powerful charms: women and beauty in eighteenth-century England', BBC History Magazine, October 2008.