iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Tim Jerrome @timjerrome.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Thanks Tom - really looking forward to seeing the breadth of research into queer rural histories going on (and one day I might even get around to promoting it on my own socials!)

030

Tim Jerrome @timjerrome.bsky.social · 26/03/2026

In my mind's eye, I'm seeing my semen flasks shatter all over again. And now, I'm not so sure that I do...

110

Tim Jerrome @timjerrome.bsky.social · 26/03/2026

I am beyond devastated to hear that @olliedouglas.bsky.social is refusing to play Grade Up to Elite Cow again... my immense respect for him is starting to dissolve

120

Tim Jerrome @timjerrome.bsky.social · 12/03/2026

Could not support this initiative more - the archives of Warner and her partner Valentine Ackland are immensely valuable for the study of queer rural histories. Not to be missed is the story of how Warner ended up in Dorset because of a visitation from her great-aunt's ghost!

dorsetarchivestrust.org

Sylvia Townsend Warner Fundraising Appeal | Dorset Archives Trust

Dorset Archives Trust isleading a fundraising appeal to bring the Archive of writer and LGBTQ+ pioneerSylvia Townsend Warner(1893-1978) into the public domain through the creation of a full catalogue....

01412

Tim Jerrome @timjerrome.bsky.social · 25/02/2026

And it was much easier to mind your own business in a secluded cottage! I've also seen an awful lot of prosecutions of rural people where their neighbours stand up in court to give character witness statements.

020

Tim Jerrome @timjerrome.bsky.social · 25/02/2026

How interesting! The impression I'm getting is that rural and farm communities often stuck together in these sorts of situations, even at times when male homosexuality was illegal.

130

Tim Jerrome @timjerrome.bsky.social · 25/02/2026

As far as I know, farm archives have never really been used to track queer histories before. Given they mostly record the financial ongoings on a given farm, you can understand why. However, my year of research at The MERL has proved their potential. Find out more in this blog:

316764

Tim Jerrome @timjerrome.bsky.social · 24/02/2026

Fantastic to see - Enid is thoroughly deserving of a Wikipedia entry. Thank you for doing this!

010

Tim Jerrome @timjerrome.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

Much of our information on Enid comes from her responses to Mass Observation surveys. When asked her thoughts on the situation in Europe in March 1939, and to gather opinions from others, she replied as below. Enid was nothing if not relatable.

060

Tim Jerrome @timjerrome.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

Amazing blog post from @themerl.bsky.social on Enid Barraud, who identified as homosexual in the 1930s and whose agricultural skills became a core part of her identity. Enid was - to put it in academic terms - a total legend.

46418

Tim Jerrome @timjerrome.bsky.social · 16/01/2026

The British Newspaper Archive is such a brilliant resource for finding queer histories, even if the word recognition software sometimes leads you down the wrong path...

0153

Tim Jerrome @timjerrome.bsky.social · 25/11/2025

These look amazingly helpful; I'll definitely be coming to the session on absence in collections and maybe a couple of others too! 🙂

141

Reposted by Tim Jerrome

The Museum of English Rural Life (MERL) @themerl.bsky.social · 25/11/2025

Are you a PhD student & interested in using museum collections in your teaching or research? We're running a *free* doctoral training programme for students at any institution to learn about working with collections. Find out more: collections.reading.ac.uk/whats-on/

Two students look at objects in the reading room at The Museum of English Rural Life.

5278207

Tim Jerrome @timjerrome.bsky.social · 30/10/2025

Very kind of you - will have to screenshot this and send it to potential publishers when the time comes!

110

Tim Jerrome @timjerrome.bsky.social · 30/10/2025

ie. If a letter indicates a same sex relationship, but does not 100% confirm it, should this be highlighted on the archive catalogue as material related to LGBTQ+ history?

070

Tim Jerrome @timjerrome.bsky.social · 30/10/2025

Genuine pleasure to be an absolute unit once more! Curious to hear listeners’ opinions on the speculatory nature of this research, and how that might clash with archival neutrality.

2252

Tim Jerrome @timjerrome.bsky.social · 29/10/2025

Could I ask why? My focus is on the other side of their lives - their rurality - and I've found Grant's letters to be a great source of rural reflections. Is it just that they've occupied too much of the narrative when it comes to queer histories of London?

100

Tim Jerrome @timjerrome.bsky.social · 29/10/2025

Not qualified to speak about the worlds of fashion and decoration, but I know that we still have a lot to learn from Bloomsbury. I've been going through the archives of Bell and Grant and they have so much to tell us about English queer history!

121

Tim Jerrome @timjerrome.bsky.social · 17/10/2025

Absolutely! Let me know when you are next coming to MERL and I'll see if I can be there 🙂

110

Tim Jerrome @timjerrome.bsky.social · 17/10/2025

That's lovely to hear - a major inspiration for doing this research is so that LGBTQ people living in rural areas today know that there is, and always has been, a place for them in the countryside

040

Tim Jerrome @timjerrome.bsky.social · 17/10/2025

Never before has a comment on Bluesky caught my attention so quickly... the search for the queer lumberjack has defined my life for far too long now! Curious to see what you can find.

110

Tim Jerrome @timjerrome.bsky.social · 16/10/2025

That's very kind of you to say - most of it is just patience and perseverance (but an appetite for finding gossip also helps!)

050

Tim Jerrome @timjerrome.bsky.social · 16/10/2025

Thank you to the eternally wonderful Joe and Ollie for guiding me through my first time on a podcast - if intense ramblings about finding queer snippets in rural archives is your thing, give it a listen! @themerl.bsky.social

27915

Tim Jerrome @timjerrome.bsky.social · 14/10/2025

If there's one thing I've learned it's that marriage to someone of the opposite sex does not preclude queerness in this time period! There must be a reason why he shares a headstone with Morris rather than his wife.

210

Tim Jerrome @timjerrome.bsky.social · 13/10/2025

Wow, thank you, what a marvelous find. I shall have to do some digging on Ancestry to try and find out more about them. I'm no expert on gravestones but I expect it's very rare to see two men named together in this time period

100

Tim Jerrome @timjerrome.bsky.social · 12/08/2025

Given that this was written in 1930, it's the earliest instance I've seen in archives of two men being described as "boyfriends". I wonder if anyone has seen anything earlier than this? Bonus points if it's rural! (Archive ref for this diary is TGA 8317.7.2.4)

060

Tim Jerrome @timjerrome.bsky.social · 12/08/2025

Earlier this year, I visited Tate Britain to explore the archive of the artists Cedric Morris and Arthur Lett-Haines, a same-sex couple who lived in rural Suffolk from the 1930s onwards. In Lett's diaries I found this entry which describes two friends of theirs, Oswald and Jack, as "boyfriends".

A page from Arthur Lett-Haines's diary, dated 29th March 1930. It states "To Oswald Balfour's for tea". In the bottom corner it also reads "Oswald, Jack Webb, Boyfriend".

2100

Tim Jerrome @timjerrome.bsky.social · 12/08/2025

Thanks for the recommendation and glad you enjoyed the talk - hopefully there's some decent gossip... I mean historical findings in there! (Sorry for taking so long to reply!)

010

Tim Jerrome @timjerrome.bsky.social · 27/05/2025

I'm giving a talk on queer histories of rural England in July! If you're in the Berwick area and want to find out more about how I'm using archives to explore this under-researched topic, please do sign up and/or share with anyone else who may be interested www.maltingsberwick.co.uk/whats-on/ced...

maltingsberwick.co.uk

Cedric, Lett and queer histories of the English countryside with Tim Jerrome. – The Maltings

140

Tim Jerrome @timjerrome.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

Amazed that the cloaking device still works after all these years - looks like a classic example! (I assume, I've never actually seen one)

120

Tim Jerrome @timjerrome.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

You deserve the credit for the photo of the Flying Fordson... by legitimately finding it in the archives of course

010

Tim Jerrome @timjerrome.bsky.social · 27/03/2025

Can highly recommend this as something to listen to whilst sat in a reading room, going through countless ledgers on mine administration, seeing the word "boring" on every page

030

Tim Jerrome @timjerrome.bsky.social · 25/02/2025

I'm pretty sure I'm still the undisputed MERL Grade Up to Elite Cow champion, which is definitely because I'm unbeatable, and not because no one wants to play it with me (including my mum)

160

Tim Jerrome @timjerrome.bsky.social · 25/02/2025

Thank you Warhorse, Tom McKay and of course @lukedale.bsky.social

000

Tim Jerrome @timjerrome.bsky.social · 25/02/2025

I wouldn't normally post about this sort of thing, but just had to say that the romance scene in Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 between Henry and Hans is one of the sweetest things I have ever seen in a video game. Beautifully acted as well. Will no doubt stay with me for a long time.

110

Tim Jerrome @timjerrome.bsky.social · 11/02/2025

My first time being threatened by the author of a 19th century farm diary... I hope Aylesbury Gaol has good Wifi! (Found at @themerl.bsky.social under archive reference FR BER 40/1/1)

Poem written by the author of this farm diary, warning people against reading it. It is dated January 1st 1868, and reads:
Touch not this book for fear of shame,
For here you see the owner's name,
And if he catch you by the tail,
You may be sure of Aylesbury Goal

091

Tim Jerrome @timjerrome.bsky.social · 06/02/2025

Hello! Thanks for your interest in the article and appreciate the repost 🙂

100

Tim Jerrome @timjerrome.bsky.social · 06/02/2025

Sounds like a presentation I would want to see! I'm looking at sources from 1800 onwards, so would be really interested to know how the availability of sources differs for an earlier time period

110

Tim Jerrome @timjerrome.bsky.social · 06/02/2025

It does make you wonder, doesn't it. For every person we find evidence for in the archives, there are hundreds more who didn't leave a trace. Thank you for the good wishes!

010

Tim Jerrome @timjerrome.bsky.social · 05/02/2025

Thank you so much, it felt like a very lucky find and I've been so excited to share it with the world!

020

Tim Jerrome @timjerrome.bsky.social · 05/02/2025

If you have any interest in queer histories of the English countryside, be sure to check out the first publication of my PhD - an article for the amazing folks over at The MERL:

518657

Tim Jerrome @timjerrome.bsky.social · 04/02/2025

This sounds fascinating! Could you let me know the respondent number and the month of the directive so I can investigate further?

100

Tim Jerrome @timjerrome.bsky.social · 30/01/2025

Good point! If I find any love letters between the Warden and Godrick the Grafted, I'll be sure to update

120

Tim Jerrome @timjerrome.bsky.social · 30/01/2025

The first published finding of my PhD, and it has nothing whatsoever to do with queer history

1682

Tim Jerrome @timjerrome.bsky.social · 22/12/2024

I'm starting to think that 19th century farm diarists didn't have queer research in mind when they were writing... why is it always "a heron flew over the corn field today" and never "the new farmhand has the dreamiest eyes" Haven't found a single name with hearts around it either!

070

Reposted by Tim Jerrome

Museums Association @museumsassociation.org · 05/12/2024

The new Esmée Fairbairn Communities and Collections Fund is now open for applications 🥳 We're supporting projects using museum collections to improve inclusion and equitable working with community partners, and the new name better represents our dual focus on collections and inclusion.

Students standing with outdated tech at the Centre for Computing History. The graphic reads: Esmée Fairbairn Communities and Collections Fund. Apply now

12311

Tim Jerrome @timjerrome.bsky.social · 03/12/2024

Things that farmer George Cannell wrote about in his 1882 diary: Carting muck Carting mould Carting manure Things that farmer George Cannell did not write about in his 1882 diary: Anything gay

161

Tim Jerrome @timjerrome.bsky.social · 03/12/2024

Anyone have advice on how to stay sane while ploughing through page after page of squirrelly 19th century handwriting?

020