iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Jess Ayres

IHR Society, Culture & Belief, 1500-1800 @ihrscb.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

We're on the lookout for some PhD students who would like to give a Lightning Talk at our seminar on 12 November! Open to early modernists working on any geography, talks are 3-5 minutes! Get in touch via BlueSky or email tmt29@cam.ac.uk with a short summary of PhD and bio by 12 October! ✨🥳

Poster on Lightning talks:

PhD Lightning Talks: Society, Culture, and Belief Seminar, 1500-1800, Institute of Historical Research. Deadline: 12 October, Event: Thursday 12 November, 5.30 pm

The Society, Culture, and Belief Seminar is inviting applications for lightning talks from PhD students on their research. We ask that these talks be 3-5 minutes. This is a fantastic opportunity to talk through your research with a broader audience of fellow students and more seasoned academics, as well as test out some ideas in a comfortable and welcoming environment. The talks will be followed by a brief Q&A session.

The seminar was founded in 1979, hosting papers on themes ranging from witchcraft and piracy to early modern medicine and urban religious practices. We look to create an open and welcoming atmosphere and are always excited to hear a broad range of papers and geographies.

The event will take place on Thursday 12 November 2026, from 5.30 pm onwards. For those presenting in-person, we typically continue the conversation after the seminar over drinks or dinner. We’re open to applications from students working on any geographical region between 1500-1800.

If you would like to participate, please email: tmt29@cam.ac.uk by 12 October 2026 with a 300-word thesis summary and a brief bio. If you would like to attend the seminar, do keep an eye out on our webpage (very soon to be updated with our events for this term) or you can always follow us on Bluesky @ihrscb.bsky.social. We tend to meet on Thursdays during term time at 5.30 pm — all are welcome!

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Negin Owliaei @neginowl.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

Out of curiosity I did this search for Ben-Gvir and Smotrich and let’s be clear, The Telegraph went way harder on Arday than it did on people actively committing war crimes.

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Dr Laura Sangha @lsangha.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

Ok, this is next level archiving #ArchiveHour

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Dr Eleanor Janega @goingmedieval.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

Keir Starmer is a bad person who used his power to make the United Kingdom a more unequal place and dismantle the possibility of opposing oppression and genocide, and to drive trans people from public life. If you think he is decent, I have news for you about your own moral judgement.

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Jess Ayres @drjessayres.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

Can anyone read 17th-century shorthand? 🖊 Coming across shorthand is a good reminder that the volumes of secretary hand that we find are only half the story. Many official records would have been written up from shorthand or other rough notes. 📷 COL/CA/05/02/001 @thelondonarchives.bsky.social

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Francois Soyer @fsoyer.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

Some snark from 1542: asked her age by the inquisitor, Ana de Leão responded that "she did not know because she did not see herself being born" (nam sabia porque nam se vyu nacer) but admitted she was probably 19, "more or less."

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Jess Ayres @drjessayres.bsky.social · 13/06/2026

📍St Bartholomew-the-Great The oldest parish church in London at over 900 years old, it started life as an Augustinian priory and was lucky enough to escape the Great Fire of 1666 My favourite feature is the brutalist tower of the Barbican peeking out behind, highlighting London's blended history.

The front facade of the church, with both white and grey stone and one of the towers of the Barbican pocking out to the right

View up to the ceiling of the church, showing an oriel window

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Jess Ayres @drjessayres.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

The NHS prescription cost is capped at £9.90, but what did an apothecary charge in 1678? 💊 The bill from Oct 1678 for the treatment of Elizabeth Noel includes 'a cordial potion' and 'six purging pills', coming to £1 3s 3d, nearly £200 today. 📷 COL/CA/05/01/0001, @thelondonarchives.bsky.social

Seventeenth-century paper with a handwritten list of medical prescriptions, with numbers down the side and a signature at the bottom

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Jess Ayres @drjessayres.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

Two matching sides of an apprenticeship indenture from 1673 While we have thousands of indentures, we so rarely have the two matching sides! This apprentice, William Pott from Cumberland, requested to be made free early as his master was ill 📷 COL/CA/05/01/0001 @thelondonarchives.bsky.social

Two seventeenth-century parchment apprenticeship indentures placed together to show how the jagged and cut line fits together.

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Jess Ayres @drjessayres.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

The 1678 poll tax 📜 Unlike other poll taxes from this period, the returns for 1678 included the names of servants! This return from the ward of Bassishaw shows the house of Sir John Stamp, including his wife, his three maid servants, his coachman and his footman. 📷 COL/CHD/LA/03/067/003

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Jess Ayres @drjessayres.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

This engraving, based on a print by William Hogarth, featuring Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn with a *very salty* Cardinal Wolsey on the right absolutely sends me 📷 Special collections, @thelondonarchives.bsky.social

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Jess Ayres @drjessayres.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

👉🏼 Manicules always fascinate me, as we never know for sure why the scribe drew it. Did he need to come back to this page? Was this entry particularly important? Was it part of his own indexing or tracking techniques? 📷 COL/CA/01/01/088, @thelondonarchives.bsky.social

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Jess Ayres @drjessayres.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

I spent the weekend devouring this book and I have never read something that so perfectly captures the experience of trying to recover the lives of women from the past. The frustration, excitement and obsession that come with trying to fill the silences and gaps left in the archive…

A book by Doireann Ni Ghriofa called A Ghost in the Throat, with a cover of dark leaves and flowers in orange and red.

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Jess Ayres @drjessayres.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

I wonder how the repentant John Rand would have felt knowing that his grovelling petition asking for forgiveness from the City of London was later used as paper to make rough notes? 🤔 📷 COL/CA/05/03, @thelondonarchives.bsky.social

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University of York Library @uoylibrary.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

Noted, thanks Mel. We should probably hold off on making any firm decisions about REF2029 until we've heard from the bloke who made Angry Birds.

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The London Archives @thelondonarchives.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

We still have a few remaining tickets for our STAR workshop on Wednesday, book your ticket below 👇

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Jess Ayres @drjessayres.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

📍St Lawrence Jewry, City of London One of my hobbies this year is to visit every church in the City of London. Where better to start than the official church of the City of London Corporation and perhaps one of the grandest churches in the Square Mile.

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Jess Ayres @drjessayres.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

“I’ll just check a reference really quick…” 🫠 These are files of actions from the Mayor’s Court in the City of London. The court dealt with all sorts of cases, from apprenticeship disputes to debt recovery and merchant law. 📷 CLA/024/04/005, @thelondonarchives.bsky.social

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Jess Ayres @drjessayres.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

One of my favourite finds nosying in boxes recently is this *tiny* book with the most beautiful end papers. It’s an ‘Almanach de Goth’, a directory of European royalty and nobility from 1775. 📷 A/ATB/258 @thelondonarchives.bsky.social

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The London Archives @thelondonarchives.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

⭐️ Our final Skills Training in Archival Research (STAR) workshop of the 2025-26 year is on 3rd June! ⭐️ Are you doing archival research for a degree or work? Or just want to learn more about how to research at TLA? Then come along! Book your place using the link 👇

eventbrite.co.uk

Skills Training in Archival Research (STAR) Workshop

Join us for a hands-on workshop designed to help postgraduate students and researchers make the most of archival collections.

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Jess Ayres @drjessayres.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

An awful day in the office if you’re a seventeenth-century clerk… @thelondonarchives.bsky.social #Archives #EarlyModernHistory

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Jess Ayres @drjessayres.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

For the @thelondonarchives.bsky.social exhibition 'Londoners on Trial', I researched the story of Jenny Diver, an 18th-century pickpocket who was transported twice and still returned to London! Read more about her exploits in my blog post 👇🏼 www.thelondonarchives.org/blog/jenny-d...

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Jess Ayres @drjessayres.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

In the 17th century, the people of Farringdon Within had a bone to pick with the City of London, complaining of adverts giving ‘intelligence of a safe & speedy cure for a clap & pox’ acting as a ‘a great encouragement… to giddy and unthinking youths’ 📷 @thelondonarchives.bsky.social - COL/CA/05/02

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Jess Ayres @drjessayres.bsky.social · 02/05/2026

#OTD in 1536, Anne Boleyn was arrested and taken to the Tower of London. This Victorian print reimagines Anne’a few weeks while imprisoned, with incredibly vivid colours. The last photo is from a visit to Hever Castle, Anne’s childhood home. 📷 @thelondonarchives.bsky.social - SC/GL/GRA/005/098

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Jess Ayres @drjessayres.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

I’m back with more burnt archives! 🔥 This register from the late C17th records admissions to the freedom of the City of London, damaged by fire in 1786. We keep it to show the effects of fire on parchment, but also because one day we may be able to read it. @thelondonarchives.bsky.social

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Sharon Howard @sharonhoward.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

I don't think people fully understand yet just how fragile university-hosted digital resources are after external funding ends (especially if the lead academic retires or moves or is made redundant).

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Jess Ayres @drjessayres.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

While I admit the Uffizi Gallery is full of iconic art, I was enamoured by the ceiling…

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Euan Healey @euanhealey.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

Quite something to think we are staring down the barrel of a crisis which will end high level research and teaching as something spread evenly across the country's cities and towns, accessible to all, and both UK and devolved governments just don't seem to particularly care?

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Jess Ayres @drjessayres.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

The Booksellers’ Staircase, built in 1480. 📍Rouen Cathedral, France

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Jess Ayres @drjessayres.bsky.social · 13/04/2026

Although not relevant to my research, the scribbles left by clerks on the endpapers and back covers of volumes are always the most fascinating. Quick sums, lists, and handwriting practice left by City of London clerks in official records ✍🏼 📷 @thelondonarchives.bsky.social - CLA/002/05/012

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Jess Ayres @drjessayres.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

The Elizabethan Hall @middletemple.bsky.social completed in 1574. The Hall has a double hammerbeam roof, and a minstrels gallery. I was lucky enough to visit the hall before it was closed earlier this year for inspection and preservation, which takes place every 10 years.

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The Prize Papers Project @prizepapers.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

Our colleague, Dr Oliver Finnegan, records specialist for the Prize Papers at @nationalarchivesuk, holds a workshop on 'Practical Archival Skills Training (PAST) Workshop on English High Court of Admiralty Records', more info below & tickets can be booked here www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/practical-...

Workshop Announcement: Practical Archival Skills Training (PAST) Workshop on English High Court of Admiralty Records. 18 June 2026 at the UK National Archives. Banner with an archive image in the background.

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Emily Midorikawa @emilymidorikawa.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

The intriguing story of a Victorian 'lady burglar', presented by @thelondonarchives.bsky.social. I look forward to visiting their Londoners on Trial exhibition when I'm back in the UK this summer. @https://tinyurl.com/397vrca6

tinyurl.com

Minnie Pheby: a Victorian Lady Burglar | The London Archives

Learn more about the life and crimes of Minnie Pheby, a Victorian lady burglar who broke in to dozens of houses across West London between 1896 and 1900.

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Jess Ayres @drjessayres.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

Recently visited York Art Gallery to see the Japanese Woodblock exhibition, with beautiful prints from the Edo Period and later. I even got to make my own Great Wave off Kanagawa print!

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Jess Ayres @drjessayres.bsky.social · 05/04/2026

Some photos from a visit to Mansion House back in January, including the beautiful Egyptian Hall used to host banquets, and the collection of 17th century Dutch and Flemish art.

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Jess Ayres @drjessayres.bsky.social · 18/03/2026

The new ‘Londoners on Trial’ exhibition @thelondonarchives.bsky.social is now open! You can find out more about the research I did on women and theft, including the fascinating life of Minnie Pheby, in the exhibition and on The London Archives website #history #skystorians

thelondonarchives.org

Minnie Pheby: a Victorian Lady Burglar | The London Archives

Learn more about the life and crimes of Minnie Pheby, a Victorian lady burglar who broke in to dozens of houses across West London between 1896 and 1900.

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Jess Ayres @drjessayres.bsky.social · 13/03/2026

Visited the Love Letters exhibition at TNA last week, and it was great to see them address the fact that documents expressing love and affection end up in state archives because of war, persecution and colonialism. A great example of a simple topic approached in a thoughtful and considered way.

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The London Archives @thelondonarchives.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

Lovely to see this review of our 'London in the Second World War' exhibition published on its last day. Huge thanks and congratulations to our staff who worked hard to curate it 🥳👏 Our next exhibition, 'Londoners on Trial' opens on the 9th March.... 👀 www.thelondonarchives.org/visit-us/exh...

thelondonarchives.org

Londoners on Trial: Crime, Courts and the Public 1244-1924

A free exhibition 'Londoners on Trial' will be at The London Archives from 9 March 2026.

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Jess Ayres @drjessayres.bsky.social · 18/02/2026

Very excited to be giving one of the talks on the ‘Researching 17th Century Ancestors’ course run by the @sogorg.bsky.social in the summer!

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The London Archives @thelondonarchives.bsky.social · 10/02/2026

We have more Skills Training in Archival Research (STAR) workshops coming up! Join staff at The London Archives for a hands-on workshop designed to help postgrad students and researchers make the most of archival collections. 📍 The London Archives 📅 1 April + 3 June 🕛️ 1-4:30pm

eventbrite.co.uk

Skills Training in Archival Research (STAR) Workshop

Join us for a hands-on workshop designed to help postgraduate students and researchers make the most of archival collections.

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Jess Ayres @drjessayres.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

Very intrigued to know the gossip about the dispute between the Mayor of Liverpool and the London cheesemongers in the late 17th or early 18th century… 🧀 📷 COL/CA/05/02/002 @thelondonarchives.bsky.social

Petition from the seventeenth/eighteenth century with signatures at the bottom and strain from a seal in the middle.

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Jess Ayres @drjessayres.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

I wrote a short blog on the Court of Orphans probate inventories held @thelondonarchives.bsky.social A fascinating source for anyone researching early modern social history or material culture 📜 Link below 👇 www.thelondonarchives.org/blog/the-pro...

thelondonarchives.org

The Probate Inventories of the Court of Orphans

Probate Inventories of the Court of Orphans reveal hidden details about lives of Londoners, their businesses and women in the economy of early modern London

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The London Archives @thelondonarchives.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

⚡ Lightning Talks at The London Archives ⚡ Are you a student or ECR? Need feedback on your work? Can you summarise it in 5 minutes? Join us for Lightning Talks at The London Archives - a friendly event open to researchers of London and its history! 📆 Wed 11 February 🕔 5pm

eventbrite.co.uk

Lightning Talks at The London Archives - IN PERSON

Are you a student or Early Career Researcher? Need feedback on in-progress research? Can you summarise your research in 5 minutes or less?

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The London Archives @thelondonarchives.bsky.social · 17/12/2025

Just a reminder that we will be closing at 4.30 today for the last Wednesday before Christmas. 🎄

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Anna Aslanyan @anna-aslanyan.bsky.social · 10/12/2025

British Library staff asked for a decent pay. Instead they got ‘a few money-saving present ideas’, such as ‘consider not giving presents this holiday season’. They are on strike this week. I wrote about it for @lrb.co.uk. www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2025/de...

lrb.co.uk

Anna Aslanyan | On the Picket Line

On Monday morning, more than a hundred people formed a picket line outside one of the entrances to the British Library...

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Tabitha Stanmore @magicnotwitches.bsky.social · 03/12/2025

✨ The York Magic and Witchcraft Conference is back for 2026! ✨ Join us in historic York from 24–26 June as we explore the mysteries of Nature and the Supernatural. 🪄🌿 Submit your abstracts by 14 March 2026 to magicwitchcraft2024@gmail.com ☺️

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Amalia S. Levi, PhD @amaliasl.bsky.social · 30/11/2025

Some great books and articles on archives and libraries that came out in 2025. In no specific order. 🧵

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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 07/11/2025

The Worshipful Company of Curriers essay prize on London for early career scholars, in association with The London Journal Trust and the Institute of Historical Research. The author of the winning submission will receive £1,000, and publication, subject to peer review, in The London Journal.

thelondonjournal.org

Curriers' Essay Prize | The London Journal

The author of the winning submission will receive £1,000, and publication, subject to peer review, in The London Journal. Other promising entries may also be considered for publication.

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Cordelia Beattie @cordeliabeattie.bsky.social · 28/10/2025

I've read quite a few married women's wills but never one made during childbirth. Great find! #EarlyModern 🗃️

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