Louvain Rees ⚰️
@hellohistoria.bsky.social
BBC award-winning Social Historian ✍️
Death, Wales & Psychiatry 💀
Glamorgan County Lunatic Asylum 🧠
Workhouses | Poor Law | Lunacy 🧠
🥇BBC History Extra '30 under 30' 📚
📍Cardiff | views are my own • she/her
🔗 www.linktr.ee/louvainrees
Death, Wales & Psychiatry 💀
Glamorgan County Lunatic Asylum 🧠
Workhouses | Poor Law | Lunacy 🧠
🥇BBC History Extra '30 under 30' 📚
📍Cardiff | views are my own • she/her
🔗 www.linktr.ee/louvainrees
Pinned
PSA 📢
A lot of my research is centred around death, psychiatry, and mental health history.
Please be aware that some of my posts may be upsetting or uncomfortable to read.
Please keep this in mind when reading my posts
✨️
A lot of my research is centred around death, psychiatry, and mental health history.
Please be aware that some of my posts may be upsetting or uncomfortable to read.
Please keep this in mind when reading my posts
✨️
December 7, 2025 at 4:16 PM
A lovely day in Bath yesterday. We went on a bus trip to raise money for Marie Curie.
The crowds for the Christmas Market were wild though 🎄
#Christmas #Bath
The crowds for the Christmas Market were wild though 🎄
#Christmas #Bath
December 7, 2025 at 4:10 PM
A lovely day in Bath yesterday. We went on a bus trip to raise money for Marie Curie.
The crowds for the Christmas Market were wild though 🎄
#Christmas #Bath
The crowds for the Christmas Market were wild though 🎄
#Christmas #Bath
Reposted by Louvain Rees ⚰️
Gather round for a tale of Bloody Awful Men, my friends. For there was indeed Gross Perjury Somewhere.
Anyway, it's basically soft porn, and this is what you must remember when you think of the buttoned-up Victorians.
December 3, 2025 at 11:51 AM
Gather round for a tale of Bloody Awful Men, my friends. For there was indeed Gross Perjury Somewhere.
I've been told twice today that I sound like Nessa.
a man in a suit is talking to an elderly woman in a living room .
ALT: a man in a suit is talking to an elderly woman in a living room .
media.tenor.com
December 6, 2025 at 8:12 PM
I've been told twice today that I sound like Nessa.
Reposted by Louvain Rees ⚰️
In The Observer, I’ve reviewed Songs Of Seven Dials: @tricksterprince.bsky.social’s fascinating, detailed history of the changing streets of Covent Garden through the early c20th. From race to jingoistic media to gentrification, a book full of resonances today
observer.co.uk/culture/book...
observer.co.uk/culture/book...
Lament for a lost London | The Observer
observer.co.uk
December 6, 2025 at 9:11 AM
In The Observer, I’ve reviewed Songs Of Seven Dials: @tricksterprince.bsky.social’s fascinating, detailed history of the changing streets of Covent Garden through the early c20th. From race to jingoistic media to gentrification, a book full of resonances today
observer.co.uk/culture/book...
observer.co.uk/culture/book...
Reposted by Louvain Rees ⚰️
#ChurchMonuments Poor Kenelm lost his life in a shipwreck in the Indian Ocean #TewkesburyAbbey
December 6, 2025 at 4:44 PM
#ChurchMonuments Poor Kenelm lost his life in a shipwreck in the Indian Ocean #TewkesburyAbbey
Reposted by Louvain Rees ⚰️
Any old floating sheet makes a convincing ghost if you’re in the mood to be haunted
December 6, 2025 at 12:27 AM
Any old floating sheet makes a convincing ghost if you’re in the mood to be haunted
just remembered Stuart Little exists
December 5, 2025 at 11:40 PM
just remembered Stuart Little exists
Reposted by Louvain Rees ⚰️
Myfanwy, cân serch hardda Cymru (ar ôl Bugeilio'r Gwenith Gwyn) yn Neuadd y Dref Maesteg y bore 'ma.
Officially one of the poorest valleys in Wales, but one where you can hear Myfanwy snag as beautifully as this on a Friday morning.
Officially one of the poorest valleys in Wales, but one where you can hear Myfanwy snag as beautifully as this on a Friday morning.
December 5, 2025 at 11:29 AM
Myfanwy, cân serch hardda Cymru (ar ôl Bugeilio'r Gwenith Gwyn) yn Neuadd y Dref Maesteg y bore 'ma.
Officially one of the poorest valleys in Wales, but one where you can hear Myfanwy snag as beautifully as this on a Friday morning.
Officially one of the poorest valleys in Wales, but one where you can hear Myfanwy snag as beautifully as this on a Friday morning.
Reposted by Louvain Rees ⚰️
Some of the photos and stories from my recent visit to the tent encampment behind the Adelphi building, a luxury office complex occupied by billionaire-owned businesses. Two contrasting faces of England in 2025.
https://www.bigissue.com/news/housing/tent-village-london-strand-homeless-encampment/
https://www.bigissue.com/news/housing/tent-village-london-strand-homeless-encampment/
What a row over a tent village in London says about the homelessness crisis
A homeless tent village on London's Strand is to be demolished. Photographer Marc Davenant captured the stories of the people who live there.
www.bigissue.com
December 5, 2025 at 9:45 AM
Some of the photos and stories from my recent visit to the tent encampment behind the Adelphi building, a luxury office complex occupied by billionaire-owned businesses. Two contrasting faces of England in 2025.
https://www.bigissue.com/news/housing/tent-village-london-strand-homeless-encampment/
https://www.bigissue.com/news/housing/tent-village-london-strand-homeless-encampment/
Reposted by Louvain Rees ⚰️
Repairing a 1930s Roman Catholic church.
Rachel Morley, our Director, speaks to Contracts Manager Martin Nee from Messenger Construction about the repairs at St Mary of the Angels', Brownshill, Gloucestershire.
Rachel Morley, our Director, speaks to Contracts Manager Martin Nee from Messenger Construction about the repairs at St Mary of the Angels', Brownshill, Gloucestershire.
December 5, 2025 at 12:03 PM
Repairing a 1930s Roman Catholic church.
Rachel Morley, our Director, speaks to Contracts Manager Martin Nee from Messenger Construction about the repairs at St Mary of the Angels', Brownshill, Gloucestershire.
Rachel Morley, our Director, speaks to Contracts Manager Martin Nee from Messenger Construction about the repairs at St Mary of the Angels', Brownshill, Gloucestershire.
Reposted by Louvain Rees ⚰️
I do not write much but there is not a day goes by that I do not think of you.
December 3, 2025 at 10:09 PM
I do not write much but there is not a day goes by that I do not think of you.
Reposted by Louvain Rees ⚰️
This is such a sad story! An important collection that had been sent for digitisation (though why from Kent to Scotland, I'm not sure) 📜 www.bbc.com/news/article...
Museum staff 'devastated' after drawings worth £500,000 destroyed
About 1,700 military drawings from the Royal Engineers Museum were destroyed in the theft last month.
www.bbc.com
December 3, 2025 at 10:01 PM
This is such a sad story! An important collection that had been sent for digitisation (though why from Kent to Scotland, I'm not sure) 📜 www.bbc.com/news/article...
Reposted by Louvain Rees ⚰️
My talk on 18th century histories of disability and resistance at the Institute of Historical Research is now available as a podcast
www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...
www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...
Histories of Resistance: Disability, Agency and Embodiment in the Long Eighteenth Century
British History in the Long 18th Century Semianr
www.history.ac.uk
July 22, 2025 at 3:56 PM
My talk on 18th century histories of disability and resistance at the Institute of Historical Research is now available as a podcast
www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...
www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...
Reposted by Louvain Rees ⚰️
Planning to start your Christmas shopping this weekend?
I've got you covered with over 100 links to charities, museums and small businesses selling interesting things which will bring joy not landfill.
#GoodGifts
I've got you covered with over 100 links to charities, museums and small businesses selling interesting things which will bring joy not landfill.
#GoodGifts
Good Gifts 2025
Use your Secret Santa or present giving to support charities, museums and small businesses.
madlinblog.wordpress.com
November 21, 2025 at 1:49 PM
Planning to start your Christmas shopping this weekend?
I've got you covered with over 100 links to charities, museums and small businesses selling interesting things which will bring joy not landfill.
#GoodGifts
I've got you covered with over 100 links to charities, museums and small businesses selling interesting things which will bring joy not landfill.
#GoodGifts
Christmas shopping 😭😭😭 send help 😭😭
December 3, 2025 at 12:50 PM
Christmas shopping 😭😭😭 send help 😭😭
Reposted by Louvain Rees ⚰️
17thc medical diagnosis by astrology. Watch out under Capricorn for diseases of the knees and hams. And beware of scabs and fractures
December 1, 2025 at 12:15 PM
17thc medical diagnosis by astrology. Watch out under Capricorn for diseases of the knees and hams. And beware of scabs and fractures
Reposted by Louvain Rees ⚰️
17th century birthing stool, with handgrips for the mother to grasp during contractions and a 'cloth round the ring to keep out the aire'. Similar stools can be found described in the Bible and in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs
November 12, 2025 at 5:01 PM
17th century birthing stool, with handgrips for the mother to grasp during contractions and a 'cloth round the ring to keep out the aire'. Similar stools can be found described in the Bible and in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs
Reposted by Louvain Rees ⚰️
Suffering from the sniffles? Here's a recipe to make a "fine tablet for the cough and coold" from our 18th century herbal notebook.
November 25, 2025 at 12:01 PM
Suffering from the sniffles? Here's a recipe to make a "fine tablet for the cough and coold" from our 18th century herbal notebook.
Reposted by Louvain Rees ⚰️
Amputation knife (c.1800) of William Beatty, surgeon on HMS Victory at the Battle of Trafalgar. The curved blade was a popular style in the late 1700s/early 1800s. These were replaced by straighter blades in the mid-1800s to ensure more accurate incisions
November 27, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Amputation knife (c.1800) of William Beatty, surgeon on HMS Victory at the Battle of Trafalgar. The curved blade was a popular style in the late 1700s/early 1800s. These were replaced by straighter blades in the mid-1800s to ensure more accurate incisions
Reposted by Louvain Rees ⚰️
It's #FestiveLights for today's #ArchiveAdventCalendar.
Our Vapo-Cresoline Spirit Lamp (c.1900) has a very Christmassy feel to it! The lamp would light you to bed but its claim to cure respiratory diseases, by producing a cleansing gas, was definitely fake news.
Our Vapo-Cresoline Spirit Lamp (c.1900) has a very Christmassy feel to it! The lamp would light you to bed but its claim to cure respiratory diseases, by producing a cleansing gas, was definitely fake news.
December 2, 2025 at 12:11 PM
It's #FestiveLights for today's #ArchiveAdventCalendar.
Our Vapo-Cresoline Spirit Lamp (c.1900) has a very Christmassy feel to it! The lamp would light you to bed but its claim to cure respiratory diseases, by producing a cleansing gas, was definitely fake news.
Our Vapo-Cresoline Spirit Lamp (c.1900) has a very Christmassy feel to it! The lamp would light you to bed but its claim to cure respiratory diseases, by producing a cleansing gas, was definitely fake news.
Reposted by Louvain Rees ⚰️
This painting by Charles Bell is an amalgam of 3 soldiers he had treated with gunshot fractures of the skull which led to them developing opisthotonos. You can read more about the history of the painting in this blog from our Humans Remains Conservator: bit.ly/3vDWO5D
November 14, 2025 at 12:02 PM
This painting by Charles Bell is an amalgam of 3 soldiers he had treated with gunshot fractures of the skull which led to them developing opisthotonos. You can read more about the history of the painting in this blog from our Humans Remains Conservator: bit.ly/3vDWO5D
Reposted by Louvain Rees ⚰️
A History of sex work in Merthyr 🍻
"This area was already notorious as a sex work and brothel area since the 1820s, and it was where prostitutes and their bullies (pimps) congregated."
upsetvictorians.blogspot.com/2018/10/the-...
#Wales #History
"This area was already notorious as a sex work and brothel area since the 1820s, and it was where prostitutes and their bullies (pimps) congregated."
upsetvictorians.blogspot.com/2018/10/the-...
#Wales #History
The True Origin of the 'China' nickname for Merthyr's Prostitute District.
China in Merthyr Tydfil was the most notorious area of prostitution and criminality in Victorian Wales. The problem is no-one knows why i...
upsetvictorians.blogspot.com
December 2, 2025 at 3:13 PM
A History of sex work in Merthyr 🍻
"This area was already notorious as a sex work and brothel area since the 1820s, and it was where prostitutes and their bullies (pimps) congregated."
upsetvictorians.blogspot.com/2018/10/the-...
#Wales #History
"This area was already notorious as a sex work and brothel area since the 1820s, and it was where prostitutes and their bullies (pimps) congregated."
upsetvictorians.blogspot.com/2018/10/the-...
#Wales #History
Reposted by Louvain Rees ⚰️
The story of 'Mary the Cripple' ✍️🏻
"Despite being a disabled woman living in the early Victorian period, she managed to carve out for herself a forty-year career as the head of a small criminal empire."
upsetvictorians.blogspot.com/2017/06/mary...
#Wales #History
"Despite being a disabled woman living in the early Victorian period, she managed to carve out for herself a forty-year career as the head of a small criminal empire."
upsetvictorians.blogspot.com/2017/06/mary...
#Wales #History
Mary The Cripple: Victorian Badass
Mary The Cripple: Victorian Badass 'Lost the use of her legs walks on her hands, not read, labourer.' So reads the description of Ma...
upsetvictorians.blogspot.com
December 2, 2025 at 3:09 PM
The story of 'Mary the Cripple' ✍️🏻
"Despite being a disabled woman living in the early Victorian period, she managed to carve out for herself a forty-year career as the head of a small criminal empire."
upsetvictorians.blogspot.com/2017/06/mary...
#Wales #History
"Despite being a disabled woman living in the early Victorian period, she managed to carve out for herself a forty-year career as the head of a small criminal empire."
upsetvictorians.blogspot.com/2017/06/mary...
#Wales #History
Reposted by Louvain Rees ⚰️
"You seem happier"
Thanks, I deleted all my emails and went to look at birds instead.
Thanks, I deleted all my emails and went to look at birds instead.
November 28, 2025 at 9:34 AM
"You seem happier"
Thanks, I deleted all my emails and went to look at birds instead.
Thanks, I deleted all my emails and went to look at birds instead.