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Meryl Faiers @merylf.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Sunken Ships, Shakespeare, and Whale Watching open.substack.com/pub/shakespe... An evocative post from Callan Davies on all things watery and Shakespearean, from a Swedish warship to whales in Suffolk.

open.substack.com

Sunken Ships, Shakespeare, and Whale Watching

Maritime Shakespeare, Stockholm's extraordinary Vasa Museum, and whales in early modern East Anglia

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Meryl Faiers @merylf.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

Shakespeare’s colleague John Heminges was apprenticed to grocer James Collins and when Collins died his widow Anne took over as apprentice master/mistress. My latest King’s Women blogpost takes up Anne’s story……….

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Meryl Faiers @merylf.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

My latest post for the Kings Women follows the archival traces of two women in the 1580s who ran their own businesses and took on apprentices, Anne Collins and Annabell Baye, paid up members of the Grocers Company. www.kingswomen.org/post/the-sis... #earlymodern #womenshistory #londonhistory

kingswomen.org

The Sisterhood of Grocers

by Meryl Faiers, 9 June 2026My most recent post (20 April 2026) offered a reconstruction of the life of Rebecca Heminges, the wife of a grocer (and actor - John Heminges). Now I'm looking at two of th...

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Meryl Faiers @merylf.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

kingswomen.org

The Sisterhood of Grocers

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Meryl Faiers @merylf.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

I love maps - historic and modern - so Callan Davies’s latest article is a particular delight. shakespearestage.substack.com/p/navigating...

shakespearestage.substack.com

Navigating Shakespearean History

A meditation on mapping and the surveys of Ralph Treswell

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Meryl Faiers @merylf.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

www.theguardian.com/stage/ng-int... Agree with Michael Billington? Disagree? Either way, an excellent reminder of brilliant productions and performers, many of which shaped my own early theatregoing.

theguardian.com

To see or not to see? Every single Shakespeare play – ranked!

Antony and Cleopatra? Exhausting. Lear? Magnificent but flawed. Hamlet? Limitless. For Shakespeare’s birthday, the Guardian’s former theatre critic ranks all the plays

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Meryl Faiers @merylf.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

My latest blogpost for the Kingswomen introduces Rebecca Edwards: she married star actor William Knell at 14, was widowed at 15, then married Shakespeare’s colleague, John Heminges. www.kingswomen.org/post/rebecca... #earlymodern #womenshistory

kingswomen.org

Rebecca Heminges (1571-1619)

by Meryl Faiers, 20 April 2026Evidence of the lives of non-elite women is often fragmentary and frequently found in administrative records. The first stage of thinking about the experiences of someone...

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Meryl Faiers @merylf.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

kingswomen.org

Rebecca Heminges (1571-1619)

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Meryl Faiers @merylf.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

One of the First Comedy Double Acts? open.substack.com/pub/shakespe... Another great Friday piece from Callan Davies, this time on an Elizabethan husband and wife stand up duo.

open.substack.com

One of the First Comedy Double Acts?

Meet Richard Tarlton, Elizabethan England's biggest celebrity, and his wife Kate in their stand-up venue...

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Callan Davies @callanjd.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

This travelogue post shares some of my new playhouse research, on the back of a very insightful trip to see some 400-year-old Spanish playhouses. It’s helped me understand the Shakespearen theatre scene more keenly. open.substack.com/pub/shakespe...

open.substack.com

A Visit to the Spanish Playhouses

Golden Age Spain's 'corrales de comedias' as a guide to Shakespearean London's playhouses...

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Meryl Faiers @merylf.bsky.social · 13/03/2026

History's Most Prolific English Playwright? open.substack.com/pub/shakespe... Latest post from Callan Davies - an introduction to and appreciation of Thomas Heywood, Shakespeare’s truly prolific contemporary.

open.substack.com

History's Most Prolific Playwright?

On why we don't talk enough about Thomas Heywood...

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Meryl Faiers @merylf.bsky.social · 13/02/2026

Stuck in traffic on your way to work? Here’s an excellent read from Callan Davies. A Shakespearean History of Traffic open.substack.com/pub/shakespe...

open.substack.com

A Shakespearean History of Traffic

Could Shakespeare ride a horse? How did Tudor wine orders get delivered? Did playhouses cause congestion? and other questions

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Callan Davies @callanjd.bsky.social · 30/01/2026

I went in search of “our other Shakespeare” to find some of London’s less obvious theatre history. Meet Thomas Middleton just off the Elephant and Castle… open.substack.com/pub/shakespe...

open.substack.com

Discovering London Through "Our Other Shakespeare"

The lost London homes of the dramatist Thomas Middleton

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Meryl Faiers @merylf.bsky.social · 03/01/2026

I somehow doubt that I’m going to beat this total in 2026: 2025 was such a great reading year. But I’ll aim to at least match the figure.

Screenshot showing two book covers and total books read in 2025

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Meryl Faiers @merylf.bsky.social · 01/10/2025

The hospice which provided so much support in the last few weeks of my husband’s life is losing a major funding source - please consider helping if you can. Any or all of us may need the support of a hospice in the future. www.arhc.org.uk/protectourca...

arhc.org.uk

Protect Our Care - Arthur Rank Hospice Charity

Protect Our Care Devastating funding cuts will close 9 of our 22 Inpatient unit beds at our Hospice in Cambridge, and have huge implications for local people. One chance to get this right The funding...

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Meryl Faiers @merylf.bsky.social · 10/07/2025

No risky footwear for me when mounting steps to the stage to receive my doctorate yesterday. Huge thanks to everyone who’s helped and supported me through the last 9 (yes, 9) years.

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The London Archives @thelondonarchives.bsky.social · 02/07/2025

Excited to be shortlisted for the @araukie.bsky.social Record-Keeping Service of the Year award for 2025! We believe our team is incredible, and if you think so too, we’d love your vote! Click below to support us: 👇 www.archives.org.uk/recordkeepin... #RecordKeeping #ARA

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Meryl Faiers @merylf.bsky.social · 14/06/2025

Excellent first conference yesterday organised by the Revels Office with a fantastic range of speakers (sorry, including me!) and a brilliant keynote by Catherine Richardson. Same time next year??

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Prof Tracey Hill @tracelarkhall.bsky.social · 29/05/2025

We were, of course, toasting a fine paper by @lucyholehouse.bsky.social 🙌

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Meryl Faiers @merylf.bsky.social · 26/05/2025

Everyone’s generosity has already helped me surpass my fundraising target of £1000. Please don’t stop now! Thank you.

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Meryl Faiers @merylf.bsky.social · 22/05/2025

On 21 June I’m joining this walk to raise funds for our local hospice, whose Hospice at Home team provided practical and emotional support so that my husband, David, could remain at home as he wished. Their work is vital - please support it! Thank you. arhc.enthuse.com/pf/meryl-peart

arhc.enthuse.com

Star Shine Night Walk 2025

I'm taking part in the Star Shine Night Walk 2025 to help raise money for the Arthur Rank Hospice Charity and to celebrate the life of my husband of 45 years, David. The Hospice at Home team provided

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Meryl Faiers @merylf.bsky.social · 22/05/2025

arhc.enthuse.com

Star Shine Night Walk 2025

I'm taking part in the Star Shine Night Walk 2025 to help raise money for the Arthur Rank Hospice Charity and to celebrate the life of my husband of 45 years, David. The Hospice at Home team provided

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Rae Radford @raeradford.bsky.social · 13/04/2025

Beautiful mural street painting in the Netherlands, by Jan Is De Man This makes my heart sing ❤️📚 #BookSky

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Lucy Holehouse @lucyholehouse.bsky.social · 08/04/2025

Lecture series!👩‍🏫 'Performing (in) the Early Modern City': join myself, Dr Lydia Valentine, and Prof. Clare McManus Thursdays 29th May-12th June to hear about secret performance, sky-high performance, and the influence of civic performance on race-making in early modern London. 🧵more info below!

Title image of events and exhibitions brochure for Guildhall Library and Archive events, May-August 2025, celebrating the 600th anniversary of Guildhall Library. Highlighted is 'Shakespeare on the Ropes', Thursday 12th June, 6-8pm. Below is an image of a seventeenth century female rope dancer.

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Meryl Faiers @merylf.bsky.social · 07/02/2025

Home now after a hugely enjoyable relaxed viva conversation this afternoon with Drs Callan Davies and Simon Smith. Lots of interesting thoughts to ponder. Thanks to both of them and also to my supervisors Prof Tiffany Stern and Dr Tara Hamling. A joy to have you all there!

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Ellie Ryder @ellieryder.bsky.social · 26/01/2025

I strongly recommend getting to the Medieval Women exhibition at the British Library if you can. There's lots of incredible women, but most interestingly for me lots of nuns using religion to live their own lives. Want a monkey? Become a nun! Want to wear a pretty dress? Become a nun!

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Meryl Faiers @merylf.bsky.social · 04/08/2024

At a local history evening class in 1988 @drsueoosthuizen.bsky.social told me about the Leper Chapel in Cambridge. Today I finally got to see it inside. Thanks, Sue.

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Meryl Faiers @merylf.bsky.social · 14/04/2024

Thanks to Laurie Johnson and Siobhan Keenan for leading a great theatre history seminar at SAA yesterday. My first time as a seminarian and I felt so welcomed and supported. Thanks to all my seminar colleagues, too.

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Meryl Faiers @merylf.bsky.social · 14/02/2024

OTD in 1579 Annys/Agnes Woodward married her late husband’s former apprentice, Philip Henslowe. www.kingswomen.org celebrate her 445th wedding anniversary in today’s blogpost.

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Meryl Faiers @merylf.bsky.social · 29/10/2023

Walked into Cambridge this morning setting off in brilliant sun, ending soaked, to find Laurie Johnson’s new book, Leicester’s Men and their Plays on the shelves at the CUP bookshop.

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Meryl Faiers @merylf.bsky.social · 23/10/2023

On my way home after a few hours in the archives with the 16&17 century vestry minutes of St Mary Aldermanbury. Makes me even more grateful than ever for the superb transcriptions of St Saviour’s Southwark minutes online by Ingram & Nelson.

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