iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by David Foster

Paul du Plessis @sententiaepauli.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

If you’re interested in receiving information about events run by the Centre for Legal History. Please sign up to our mailing list and encourage others to do so also: lnkd.in/e-pFyKXK The Centre runs an active online blog: lnkd.in/epKccMxR #LegalHistory

lnkd.in

This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn

012

Reposted by David Foster

John Tribe @drtribeinsolvency.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

People ask, what are the alabaster medallions of well known jurists like in the normally closed old court building in Southport? Well, take a look at these art deco marvels: (1) Sir Edward Coke /1

3298

Reposted by David Foster

Hart Publishing @hartpublishing.bsky.social · 24/02/2026

Now available: 'Essays on the History of Equity' edited by @david-foster.bsky.social and Charles Mitchell Charts the evolution of equity in English legal history from the medieval period to the present day ➡️ bit.ly/46a4BYr #LegalHistory #EquityLaw

Banner showing the cover image of 'Essays on the History of Equity' and the text: Investigates the history of equity in England between the 14th and 20th centuries.

036

David Foster @david-foster.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

Essays on the History of Equity – published today with Hart 🎉 www.bloomsbury.com/uk/essays-on...

0145

Reposted by David Foster

Jesse Locker @jessemlocker.bsky.social · 15/10/2025

Ghost turnip, Fintown, County Donegal, Ireland, c. 1900 (replica), National Museum of Ireland

Frightening face carved into a turnip to place a candle in

"In 1943 the National Museum of Ireland received a turnip lantern from a schoolteacher, Rois Ní Braonáin who was teaching near Fintown, Co. Donegal. She stated that it was the type that was always made in that locality around 1900. This plaster-cast model was created and painted by the museum artist, Eileen Barnes.

Candles were placed inside the turnips and they were used to frighten people on the night of 31 October. The pumpkin that is prevalent today is an American development of this Irish tradition." https://www.museum.ie/en-IE/Collections-Research/Collection/Top-things-to-see-in-the-Irish-Folklife-Collection/Artefact/Ghost-turnip/b202e8ea-0728-4b3d-b0f1-82660fe45ce9

15471137

Reposted by David Foster

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 14/10/2025

'While researchers typically publish in academic journals and books, the authors found, higher education managers are more likely to consult practice-oriented journals, newsletters, conference inputs and social media platforms such as LinkedIn.' Physician, heal thyself.

timeshighereducation.com

HE research ‘rarely informs administrators’ decisions’

Knowledge transfer should include the university itself, says thinktank after identifying disconnect between managers and those who study them

53917

David Foster @david-foster.bsky.social · 30/09/2025

Trusts fans: CoA decision on LPA 1925, s53(1)(b) today: www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWC...

253

Reposted by David Foster

Prof Tracey Hill @tracelarkhall.bsky.social · 30/09/2025

TIL that people actually did call each other 'varlet' in the past and also that 'loggerhead' was once an insult

3204

Reposted by David Foster

Mark Copelovitch @mcopelov.bsky.social · 07/06/2025

👇🎯 These people will never stop trying to get rich by telling everyone they can learn & teach w/o doing the actual hard work of learning & teaching. They peddle fake alternatives to the hard daily grind of education because they're greedy & lazy. They're charlatans, & we should treat them as such.

6364119

Reposted by David Foster

Victoria Crooks @victoriacrooks.bsky.social · 16/09/2025

It is vital that #historyteacher s continue to make the case that history is an evolving discipline - as we apply new lenses, reconsider (or even discover) source material to derive new interpretations. 👏Quotes from William Doyle and David Andreas in recent @histassoc.bsky.social HA news.

072

Reposted by David Foster

Daniel F Gosling @thegozfather.bsky.social · 14/09/2025

Interested in London trades in the 16th Century? Court of Requests proceedings in REQ 2 have you covered. One way to find a bunch of cases (over 500) is to search REQ 2 for "citizen and". discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/results/r?_a...

discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk

Search results: "citizen and" | The National Archives

The official archive of the UK government. Our vision is to lead and transform information management, guarantee the survival of today's information for tomorrow and bring history to life for everyone...

02210

Reposted by David Foster

Daniel F Gosling @thegozfather.bsky.social · 23/08/2025

I found a cool Shakespeare document, but why was it missing in the first place? www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/about/news/s... [1/4]

nationalarchives.gov.uk

Shakespeare family will found by historian - The National Archives

Red sealing wax seal and string on 1642 parchment will of Thomas Nash

413251

Reposted by David Foster

Alan Greene @alangreene.bsky.social · 11/08/2025

Universtities forcing more and more dogs to dig up bones while the number of bones in the ground gets smaller each year. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-r...

researchprofessionalnews.com

UKRI award rate halves in seven years as grant applications double - Research Professional News

Trends across research councils prompt warning that system is “overstretched or broken”

243

Reposted by David Foster

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 04/08/2025

'Two of four autobiographical volumes were discovered by Cordelia Beattie, a history professor at the University of Edinburgh. One was handed by a descendant of Thornton to Beattie’s father in a pub in Ludlow, Shropshire, and the second was unearthed in the library of Durham Cathedral.'

theguardian.com

Woman’s memoirs give fascinating insight into life in 17th-century northern England

Newly reunited manuscripts by Alice Thornton show how she navigated personal crises during tumultuous events such as the civil war

18427

Reposted by David Foster

Shoaib M Khan @shoaibmkhan.bsky.social · 26/06/2025

The King has approved the appointment of six Lord and Lady Justices of Appeal. He has been pleased to approve the appointments of Mrs Justice Cockerill, Mr Justice Dove, Mr Justice Foxton, Mrs Justice May, Mr Justice Miles and Mrs Justice Yip. www.judiciary.uk/appointments...

judiciary.uk

Appointment of Lord and Lady Justices of Appeal - Courts and Tribunals Judiciary

Find out who the new appointees are and read their biographies

2412

Reposted by David Foster

SpinningHugo @spinninghugo.bsky.social · 20/06/2025

We went through all of this during Brexit European Union law is a species of international law agreed between member states. It can't conflict with German law, or Hungarian law. Anymore than they can conflict with one another. They're separate systems. /1

3126

Reposted by David Foster

Richard J @preachypreach.bsky.social · 20/06/2025

As a case in point, a certain crowd-funding publisher that went bust recently owed nearly £360k to HMRC in PAYE it had withheld from peoples' payslips but hadn't actually, you know, paid across to HMRC - there are a *lot* of SMEs and this adds up, even disregarding the umbrella scams going round.

3198

David Foster @david-foster.bsky.social · 19/06/2025

Preliminary study on use of AI & its effects on critical thinking. ‘The group that wrote essays using ChatGPT all delivered extremely similar essays that lacked original thought, relying on the same expressions and ideas. Two English teachers who assessed the essays called them largely “soulless.”’

time.com

ChatGPT's Impact On Our Brains According to an MIT Study

The study, from MIT Lab scholars, measured the brain activity of subjects writing SAT essays with and without ChatGPT.

010

David Foster @david-foster.bsky.social · 16/06/2025

With the rise of Generative AI, a return to in-person assessment is the only way to protect the integrity of our degrees. Coursework still has a place, but only in conjunction with vivas/in person exams. Gen AI is a useful tool, but it's no substitute for learning how to think in the first place.

theguardian.com

Revealed: Thousands of UK university students caught cheating using AI

Guardian investigation finds almost 7,000 proven cases of cheating – and experts says these are tip of the iceberg

031

Reposted by David Foster

Scott Wortley @scottwortley.bsky.social · 16/06/2025

Lord Reed's recent speech on judges in an age of populism includes this passage on the high quality of MPs and an accurate summary of Judge John Deed

74119

Reposted by David Foster

Neil Younger @neilayounger.bsky.social · 12/06/2025

IHR Tudor & Stuart seminar news: it's time for our annual call for papers! If you'd like to speak to us in the coming academic year, full details below. Get in touch with any questions or if you would like to be on our mailing list. Please RT.

11417

Reposted by David Foster

English Civil War @englishcivilwar.bsky.social · 30/05/2025

Great new episode of The World Turned Upside Down on John Bradshaw, the judge who sentenced King Charles to death www.worldturnedupsidedown.co.uk/podcast/sent...

Two woodcuts showing the trial of Charles I and a portrait of John Bradshaw. The text reads "New podcast – The judge who sentenced a King to death. John Bradshawe (1602-1659)"

053

Reposted by David Foster

John McCafferty @jdmccafferty.bsky.social · 10/04/2025

10 Apr 1594: Sir Edward Coke appointed Attorney-General for #England & #Wales #otd At the Walter Ralegh prosecution in 1618, he said: "Thou viper, thou hast an #English face but a #Spanish heart"

041

Reposted by David Foster

Joshua J. Friedman @joshuajfriedman.com · 06/04/2025

I saw someone criticizing a very funny poster for making jokes instead of posting about politics, and I am reminded of a favorite line from E. B. White: We should strive not for balanced books but balanced libraries

318647916

Reposted by David Foster

👻BOOryan BlessDeAd🎃 @bryb.bsky.social · 20/03/2025

Just catching up on the Penelope Keith nonsense, gang. I'm sure plenty of people have already pointed out that Richard Briers -portrayer of history's greatest monster, Tom Good- was *obviously* the assassin, but did he rope Margo in? Second shooter? Because that's that selfish fucker's M.O.

The Good Life title sequence but MONSTER Tom Good is shooting the duck dead.

4223

Reposted by David Foster

Ceri Shields @cerishields.bsky.social · 19/03/2025

In AD410 emperor Honorius sent his letter to the Brittons telling them their cities had to look to their own defence: the notional end of Roman Britain. No doubt he assured everyone that this would help Make Rome Great Again.

View from the Centre of the Forum. Line engraving by Piranesi, from Vedute di Roma, c. 1748-78. The three remaining columns of the ruined temple of Castor & Pollux stand in the derelict and largely buried Roman Forum, populated by strolling peasants and grazing animals.

184

Reposted by David Foster

Niamh Howlin @niamhh.bsky.social · 11/02/2025

Funded PhD opportunity at UCD School of Law! This year we particularly welcome applicants interested in pursuing a PhD in Legal History. Closing Date 27 March; feel free to get in touch if you have an idea for a project. #history #legalhistory #loveirishresearch www.ucd.ie/law/study/sc...

Rear exterior of Sutherland School of Law

075

Reposted by David Foster

Scott Wortley @scottwortley.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

Academics with an interest in the assessment process! A judicial review in Scotland raising an issue of discrimination in operation and examination of classes.

scotcourts.gov.uk

143

Reposted by David Foster

The Material Culture of Wills Project @materialwills.bsky.social · 12/03/2025

We really enjoyed speaking to @transkribus.bsky.social recently, and are delighted to see this write-up of our project. The blog post provides an overview of our project and how we're using Handwritten Text Recognition 📜✍️ @uoearchhist.bsky.social @zooniverse.bsky.social @leverhulme.bsky.social

0168

David Foster @david-foster.bsky.social · 05/03/2025

Charles v Prior of Royston (c1440) petitioner possessed ‘the Kinges foul called an Estrich’.Petitioner earned income charging the public to view the bird but complained that the defendant had taken & exhibited it ‘in the common strete & hym openly made to be seyn for nought of all manner of people.’

1217

Reposted by David Foster

mwhoyle96.bsky.social @mwhoyle96.bsky.social · 22/02/2025

This is definitely one of my less popular views, but I have real qualms about compulsory ADR. One paragraph in this latest judgment gets to the nub of the problem: caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ewhc/ch/2024...

151

Reposted by David Foster

Sue Bright @suejbright.bsky.social · 26/02/2025

Article in Cambridge Law Journal about escalating ground rents. Views must be tested in court (**leaseholders must still pay for now**) but terms may not be enforceable against consumers. Complex legal arguments, and fact specific application. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

cambridge.org

ESCALATING GROUND RENTS IN RESIDENTIAL LEASES AND CONSUMER PROTECTION | The Cambridge Law Journal | Cambridge Core

ESCALATING GROUND RENTS IN RESIDENTIAL LEASES AND CONSUMER PROTECTION

032

Reposted by David Foster

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 24/02/2025

'So can universities actually make money through branch campuses, particularly in India? Or do their overseas ambitions risk worsening their already dire financial prospects?' Profits figure throughout each part of this extensive analysis; pedagogy and research are nowhere mentioned. Speaks volumes.

timeshighereducation.com

Could Indian branch campuses bail out struggling Western universities?

India’s opening up to overseas outposts has injected new life into a form of transnational education that many observers had considered to be moribund. But will the clutch of early adopters blaze a su...

44313

Reposted by David Foster

Karin Wulf @kawulf.bsky.social · 21/02/2025

"Abigail Kimball's law book...1785." Bc I can never visit a library w/ out stopping in Special Collections, bc the brilliant Eric Slauter mentioned this remarkable volume when he was @jcblibrary.bsky.social last month. And bc the history of women and law is so impt. Fr Lapidus Collection. 1/ 🗃️

Two screenshot arranged one atop the other; inscription reading "Abigail Kimball's law book which she is A Studying in order to learn the law June 12th 1785" and the header for the title page "English Liberties or the Free-born Subject's Inheritance."

15416

Reposted by David Foster

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 06/02/2025

'The educational crisis triggered by generative AI has an especially profound impact upon first-year college students, who are sometimes using ChatGPT to bypass the cognitive effort that is essential to their attainment of course learning outcomes and general education outcomes.'

24113

Reposted by David Foster

Dr Sophie Michell @sophiemhistory.bsky.social · 21/01/2025

I found an 1830s burial register in Norfolk that records cause of death before death registration demanded it. Lots of fits, old age, fevers and consumption deaths but also... teething. And oral thrush. And poverty. But Sarah Wakefield apparently died of EVIL

5677

Reposted by David Foster

Steve Peers @stevepeers.bsky.social · 10/01/2025

Challenge accepted! 🎤I am the very model of a modern crashed economy I've underperformed vegetables like lettuces and broccoli I know the cheese of England, and I want a Keir apology From pork markets to pensions too, my life is tragicomedy

831307374

Reposted by David Foster

Simon Stern @simon8.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

The Learned and Lived Law: Essays in Honor of Charles Donahue brill.com/display/titl... - with enticing chapters on history & literature: @lizpappkamali.bsky.social, Consent in Medieval English Marriage and Misconduct; @sallyhadden.bsky.social Lawyers & Their Books in the 18C @lpcprof.bsky.social

brill.com

The Learned and Lived Law

"The Learned and Lived Law" published on 21 Oct 2024 by Brill | Nijhoff.

173

Reposted by David Foster

Chloë Kennedy @chloejskennedy.bsky.social · 16/12/2024

Come and work on a @leverhulme.bsky.social project about the history of ‘hurt feelings’ & the law with @katieebarclay.bsky.social Alice Krzanich and me! We’re looking for a historian of medicine (or similar) for a 4 yr postdoctoral research fellow position elxw.fa.em3.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid...

elxw.fa.em3.oraclecloud.com

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

We are seeking a post-doctoral research fellow to work on a Leverhulme-funded interdisciplinary project titled ‘A History of Hurt Feelings and the Law’. The project is a collaboration between Prof Chl...

02325

Reposted by David Foster

Barbara Rich @barbararich.bsky.social · 31/12/2024

“Women of a certain age”, state pensions, Suffragette costumes, and disappointment. My blog in the WASPI campaign and its supporters’ expectations of compensation, now disappointed by the government open.substack.com/pub/bleakhou...

open.substack.com

Full Restitution, Empty Promises

The WASPI campaign and increases in women’s state pension age

83314

David Foster @david-foster.bsky.social · 29/12/2024

RIP Jimmy Carter - pictured here, aged 95, volunteering in Nashville after sustaining injuries from a fall that morning. A life well lived.

0132

Reposted by David Foster

Dr. Jim Getz @jimgetz.bsky.social · 20/12/2024

Interviewer: Can you explain this gap in your resume? Assyriologist: Du[ring] grad sch[ool] I [took?] a position ... [13 lines illegible] ... now.

352784576

Reposted by David Foster

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 16/12/2024

'In a world where everything is data driven, what happens when the quality of data drops? If we were ever making good, data-driven decisions, a problem with the raw material suggests a problem with the end product.' An important read for university staff dependent on survey scores.

wonkhe.com

The data dark ages

Without any fuss, large survey instruments are starting to fail. David Kernohan asks what is going on and what might happen next

2267