iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

As you would hope, waterman William Dodsley of Lambeth bequeathed his son his all his household furniture, his wearing apparel, his watch, rings, buckles ... and two boats 🛶⛵

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#EarlyModern name of the year - Innocent just popped up in my sample

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Patrick walsh @speakerconolly.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

18thC widow Mary Bennet had done some 'death cleaning' towards the end of her life🧦👗👚🧣🧤👚👗🧦👚👗 'I desire and direct that the several parts or parcels into which my Apparel is divided shall honestly and without delay be delivered unto the several persons whose names in my Writing is Ticketed thereon'

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Reposted by Dr Laura Sangha

This excellent on critical thinking and what a history degree can do for you

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‘The man’s a psychopath when it comes to hedgerows’: Derek vs Derek, the unexpectedly heartwarming doc about farmers at war

Felt a little lump in my throat after reading this review: 'They laugh loudest at Banbury’s put-downs of rewilding. But, as Gow says afterwards, “when the film finished, no one was arguing” against the facts of nature loss.' www.theguardian.com/film/2026/se...

theguardian.com

One Devon farmer, called Derek, is committed to rewilding his land. His neighbour, also a Derek, tends cattle and crops. What happened when a film-maker decided to follow the bickering pair?

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Reposted by Dr Laura Sangha

Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Large part of the UK press has been on the wrong side of history, fuelling hatred, social divisions, supporting authoritarianism. Their support for the current Blackshirts has a history (see below) as they continue to support the far-right stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/8672...

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Reposted by Dr Laura Sangha

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

To understand and counter disinformation, language skills, area studies expertise, historical knowledge and a wide range of arts, humanities & social science disciplines are requisite. SHAPE subjects are strategically vital for national interests. Is it strategic to let 'the market' shrink them?

thebritishacademy.ac.uk

Mapping SHAPE provision in UK higher education

This new project from the British Academy maps changing provision of SHAPE subjects in UK higher education institutions. It uses data to visually depict contractions and expansions in provision by a v...

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Agates from Mexico @agatesfrommexico.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Stunning evening. Went out for a peaceful, quiet, contemplative walk. Got buzzed by two of these the entire way 😆

Rolling Devon hills with an ancient church perched near the top. Blue sky with a large army helicopter zooming across it.

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Reposted by Dr Laura Sangha

Fascinating! "Egyptian pebble" likely refers to the silicified limestone/chert nodules from the Eastern Desert. That mottled brown pattern comes from goethite banding — iron hydroxide creating those warm ochre tones. Wonderful that the OED captured the old trade name.

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Reposted by Dr Laura Sangha

Sharon Howard @sharonhoward.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

But possibly my fave Star Chamber name today, which makes several appearances as both plaintiff and defendant, is Pexall Brocas ("a man of very lewd behaviour and disordered course of life")

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There are a lot of humble testators in our 30,000 wills who bequeath flitches of bacon and yearlings and so on, and there are also people like Surrey widow Ann Carter, who leaves her daughter 'the Ivory Bust of her Grandfather Cox'.

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Absolute gold! Pretty certain Odnell Archpitt is a character in a Pratchett-like alternative world

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Adam Chapman @adamchapman.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

How about Bathshua Beckford whose will was 'that a beautiful ring with my hair may be given to Caroline Palmer'. 🫤

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Reposted by Dr Laura Sangha

A market gardener (in Pimlico, not that it matters): Savage Beare.

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It's a high bar. I do have the meticulous Loveday Gostwyck, a testator who bequeathed lots of rings to lots of people, each ring described as being 'enclosed in a paper'.

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18th-century widow Mary Barker bequeathed to her daughter her 'Egiptian Pebble'. What was it? OED: Mineralogy, Egyptian jasper, Egyptian pebble. Obsolete. A brown mottled jasper from Egypt. Visually, like this: (L) 1772 Dutch watercolour, British Museum (R) 18thC jasper & agate egg, The Old Cut

A watercolour of a rough Egyptian pebble, with a likeness of the head of Chaucer. It is a long thin brown stone, with a broken end that shows thin layers and lighter bit that perhaps looks like Chaucer's head. Drawn by Jan van Rymsdyk. British Museum collection.

A shiny brown, mottled jasper and agate 'egg' with a gold band around the middle. The stone has been polished smooth to show off its swirling layers. From website 'The Old Cut, London'.

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A plea for critical thinking humans in our world of extremes

📢NEW MANY-HEADED MONSTER POST📢 There are many many reasons why rich and powerful people misrepresent evidence of all kinds. If only there were approaches and skills that could help us see through the lies ... 🗃️ #Humanities #Arts #SocialSciences manyheadedmonster.com/2026/09/22/a...

manyheadedmonster.com

Laura Sangha A companion piece to: What is history for? Or: Doing history/thinking historically The train to Totnes this weekend was full of late holiday makers heading for Cornwall. They were grat…

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Reposted by Dr Laura Sangha

Iain MacInnes @iainmacinnesuhi.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Once again, no matter what anyone tells you, you should always study the Humanities...

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Forward planning in the 1785 will of Solomon Dayrolle [!]: 'I give unto my Daughter Emily my single keyed Harpsichord or the Piano Forte for which I intend shortly to Exchange the said Harpsicord' 🎵🎹🎶

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Jordan Collver @jordancollver.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

this morning the cat work me up early so we could watch the sunrise together

Dark horizon with the tops of buildings and a tree just emerging from the mist against a strip of yellow dawn sky. It's all very blurry and abstract.

Darks hills with trees along the top against a yellow sky, with a bright patch where the sun is about to come above the hill. A band of cloud hovers at the top of the photo.

Dark outlines of oak trees wrapped in gloomy morning mist.

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Reposted by Dr Laura Sangha

Sharing here so you have more art in your feed, but I encourage you to read it not-on-BlueSky via the link.

"Unruly Women & Failed Patriarchs: Paradoxical Patriarchy in Early Modern England" A comic in the style (loosely) of woodblock prints.

"Unruly Women & Failed Patriarchs: Paradoxical Patriarchy in Early Modern England" A comic in the style (loosely) of woodblock prints. A mirrored layout of the previous page showing the double-standard of patriarchy and how it also affected(s) men.

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A London stationer left his friend, an apothecary, a ring or breast buckle 'requesting that he would wear it as long if he pleases. I wish he would always wear it when he goes affishing ...

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This bequest from surgeon Robert Home perhapsgives some insight into his son-in-law's character: 'Item I leave to my Second Daughter Mary, Wife to Mr Robert Myle Architect, Five pounds to buy her a Ring if her Husband will deign to permit her acceptance of it'.

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#EarlyModern name of the day: Crispus Claggett. Given two guineas to purchase a mourning ring by his father Abraham in 1785.

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📢🚨😮 well, what do you know, the search is finally over ...

Handwritten lines that read 'I give unto my said Son Abraham Norden my Library and all my Books and the ark with the Written Laws of Moses'.

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