Joe Saunders
@joesaunders1.bsky.social
Freelance Historian | Part-time PhD English print trade networks 1600-50 📚 Vice-Chair, British Association for Local History 📜 Tutor, Pharos Tutors. Co-editor How-to History. www.joesaundershistory.co.uk
Pinned
Reposted by Joe Saunders
The Really Useful Podcast is back for our fifth series! We have gathered many great guests to discuss a wide range of topics. All six new episodes are available on the Federation’s websites and through the major podcast providers. #FamilyHistory #Genealogy www.exploreyourgenealogy.co.uk/podcast
December 3, 2025 at 8:15 AM
The Really Useful Podcast is back for our fifth series! We have gathered many great guests to discuss a wide range of topics. All six new episodes are available on the Federation’s websites and through the major podcast providers. #FamilyHistory #Genealogy www.exploreyourgenealogy.co.uk/podcast
Reposted by Joe Saunders
Join us next week for our Annual Dymond Lecture. This year's speaker is Dr Mike Esbester, who will be exploring the hidden human stories behind Britain's railways.
Find out more: www.balh.org.uk/dymond2025
#WeAreLocalHistory #LocalHistoryForAll
Find out more: www.balh.org.uk/dymond2025
#WeAreLocalHistory #LocalHistoryForAll
December 4, 2025 at 7:01 AM
Join us next week for our Annual Dymond Lecture. This year's speaker is Dr Mike Esbester, who will be exploring the hidden human stories behind Britain's railways.
Find out more: www.balh.org.uk/dymond2025
#WeAreLocalHistory #LocalHistoryForAll
Find out more: www.balh.org.uk/dymond2025
#WeAreLocalHistory #LocalHistoryForAll
Reposted by Joe Saunders
"Having looked at some deaths of MPs involving vegetables ..." is an unimprovable line
Death by turnip remains one of the History's most bizarre reasons for carrying off a member of Parliament.
T in our #1832AtoZ is for Turnip and also for Tiger, both of which had fatal consequences in incidents involving our Victorian MPs. Find out more here: victoriancommons.wordpress.com/2019/12/19/b...
December 5, 2025 at 12:19 PM
"Having looked at some deaths of MPs involving vegetables ..." is an unimprovable line
Reposted by Joe Saunders
Cleaning up after the IDF www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
'Like first aid for manuscripts': Recovery work begins at Gaza's war-damaged heritage sites
Palestinians are clearing rubble from archaeological sites, but restoration is hampered by Israeli restrictions on building materials.
www.bbc.co.uk
December 5, 2025 at 9:02 AM
Cleaning up after the IDF www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by Joe Saunders
"Of the 991 history exam questions set in 2023, 357 featured a named individual, but only 31 were women – and nine of those were references to Elizabeth I or her reign."
Dr Natasha R. Hodgson of Nottingham Trent University writes this week in The Conversation bit.ly/49ZqTiq
Dr Natasha R. Hodgson of Nottingham Trent University writes this week in The Conversation bit.ly/49ZqTiq
Women are still absent from how history is taught and assessed in England
Over a third of GCSE, AS and A-level exam papers in 2023 made no mention of women at all.
bit.ly
December 5, 2025 at 7:22 AM
"Of the 991 history exam questions set in 2023, 357 featured a named individual, but only 31 were women – and nine of those were references to Elizabeth I or her reign."
Dr Natasha R. Hodgson of Nottingham Trent University writes this week in The Conversation bit.ly/49ZqTiq
Dr Natasha R. Hodgson of Nottingham Trent University writes this week in The Conversation bit.ly/49ZqTiq
Reposted by Joe Saunders
🚨TWO WEEKS TO GO!🚨
Railway Work, Life & Death project co-lead Mike is privileged to give the 2025 @balhnews.bsky.social Dymond Lecture!
‘Heads – you lose!’ Working for the railways in Britain before 1939
Thursday 11 December 2025, 7pm, online
#LocalHistory #Railway200
www.balh.org.uk/dymond2025
Railway Work, Life & Death project co-lead Mike is privileged to give the 2025 @balhnews.bsky.social Dymond Lecture!
‘Heads – you lose!’ Working for the railways in Britain before 1939
Thursday 11 December 2025, 7pm, online
#LocalHistory #Railway200
www.balh.org.uk/dymond2025
November 27, 2025 at 7:08 PM
🚨TWO WEEKS TO GO!🚨
Railway Work, Life & Death project co-lead Mike is privileged to give the 2025 @balhnews.bsky.social Dymond Lecture!
‘Heads – you lose!’ Working for the railways in Britain before 1939
Thursday 11 December 2025, 7pm, online
#LocalHistory #Railway200
www.balh.org.uk/dymond2025
Railway Work, Life & Death project co-lead Mike is privileged to give the 2025 @balhnews.bsky.social Dymond Lecture!
‘Heads – you lose!’ Working for the railways in Britain before 1939
Thursday 11 December 2025, 7pm, online
#LocalHistory #Railway200
www.balh.org.uk/dymond2025
Reposted by Joe Saunders
Looking for new learning experiences, enrichment and inspiration? Try our new IHR Discovery Courses : Historic Maps, Townscape and Architecture, and Archaeology for Local History. www.history.ac.uk/news-events/... www.history.ac.uk/news-events/... www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...
Historic Maps: Interpreting Stories of Place
Discovery Course 1
www.history.ac.uk
December 2, 2025 at 12:03 PM
Looking for new learning experiences, enrichment and inspiration? Try our new IHR Discovery Courses : Historic Maps, Townscape and Architecture, and Archaeology for Local History. www.history.ac.uk/news-events/... www.history.ac.uk/news-events/... www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...
Reposted by Joe Saunders
What's particularly exciting about our suite of new @ihr.bsky.social 'Discovery Courses' is the '2+1' model: two days of expert teaching, including guest lecture & fieldtrip, plus a free optional add-on day of guided research in the @ihrlibrary.bsky.social, with bespoke advice & support. #training
December 2, 2025 at 4:48 PM
What's particularly exciting about our suite of new @ihr.bsky.social 'Discovery Courses' is the '2+1' model: two days of expert teaching, including guest lecture & fieldtrip, plus a free optional add-on day of guided research in the @ihrlibrary.bsky.social, with bespoke advice & support. #training
Wonderful to see the latest series of podcasts from the Family History Federation released today. I had some fantastic conversations with some excellent guests. 🗃️
The Really Useful Podcast is back for our fifth series! We have gathered many great guests to discuss a wide range of topics. All six new episodes are available on the Federation’s websites and through the major podcast providers. #FamilyHistory #Genealogy www.exploreyourgenealogy.co.uk/podcast
December 3, 2025 at 8:38 AM
Wonderful to see the latest series of podcasts from the Family History Federation released today. I had some fantastic conversations with some excellent guests. 🗃️
Reposted by Joe Saunders
Interested in old maps? My new @ihr.bsky.social 'Discovery' Short Course will introduce the history of cartography, how to find and work with old maps online, and even how to georeference historical maps! We'll also get hands-on with map collections, plus lecture from @kparkerhistorian.bsky.social
Announcing IHR Discovery Courses: Historic Maps, Townscape & Architecture, and Archaeology for Historians. Suitable for historians working in all contexts, or anyone looking for new learning experiences, and inspiration. www.history.ac.uk/study-traini...
December 1, 2025 at 5:59 PM
Interested in old maps? My new @ihr.bsky.social 'Discovery' Short Course will introduce the history of cartography, how to find and work with old maps online, and even how to georeference historical maps! We'll also get hands-on with map collections, plus lecture from @kparkerhistorian.bsky.social
Always a joy to work with Morgan's map of London (1682), especially the wonderful drawings of ships. 🗃️ www.layersoflondon.org/map/overlays...
November 29, 2025 at 9:31 PM
Always a joy to work with Morgan's map of London (1682), especially the wonderful drawings of ships. 🗃️ www.layersoflondon.org/map/overlays...
Reposted by Joe Saunders
*small embarrassed voice*
A little plug for my article on Devon book sales c. 1700, which has gone online open access. tl;dr book auctions weren't just a London/Oxbridge thing: a flourishing second-hand book market centred on Exeter included auctions from the 1680s.
doi.org/10.1093/libr...
A little plug for my article on Devon book sales c. 1700, which has gone online open access. tl;dr book auctions weren't just a London/Oxbridge thing: a flourishing second-hand book market centred on Exeter included auctions from the 1680s.
doi.org/10.1093/libr...
A Provincial Market in Second-Hand Books: Book Sales in Devon, 1688–1725
Abstract. Comparatively little is known about England’s early book-auction trade outside of London and the university towns, with few catalogues surviving
doi.org
November 27, 2025 at 9:31 AM
*small embarrassed voice*
A little plug for my article on Devon book sales c. 1700, which has gone online open access. tl;dr book auctions weren't just a London/Oxbridge thing: a flourishing second-hand book market centred on Exeter included auctions from the 1680s.
doi.org/10.1093/libr...
A little plug for my article on Devon book sales c. 1700, which has gone online open access. tl;dr book auctions weren't just a London/Oxbridge thing: a flourishing second-hand book market centred on Exeter included auctions from the 1680s.
doi.org/10.1093/libr...
Myself and others teach a range of historical research short-courses through Pharos Tutors who are having a 15% off sale this weekend. @pharostutors.bsky.social
#LocalHistory #FamilyHistory 🗃️ www.pharostutors.com/black-friday...
#LocalHistory #FamilyHistory 🗃️ www.pharostutors.com/black-friday...
November 29, 2025 at 11:24 AM
Myself and others teach a range of historical research short-courses through Pharos Tutors who are having a 15% off sale this weekend. @pharostutors.bsky.social
#LocalHistory #FamilyHistory 🗃️ www.pharostutors.com/black-friday...
#LocalHistory #FamilyHistory 🗃️ www.pharostutors.com/black-friday...
Reposted by Joe Saunders
Our YouTube channel has beefed up for the winter! You can now watch lots of brilliant talks about mapmaking and the history of Britain's towns and cities. Please subscribe here: www.youtube.com/@hist_towns
Historic Towns Trust
An educational charity working to map the urban histories of Great Britain.
www.youtube.com
November 4, 2025 at 6:56 PM
Our YouTube channel has beefed up for the winter! You can now watch lots of brilliant talks about mapmaking and the history of Britain's towns and cities. Please subscribe here: www.youtube.com/@hist_towns
Reposted by Joe Saunders
Black Friday sale! We are offering 15% off ALL of our courses from now until the end of 1st December. Use code FRIDAY15 at checkout. Terms and conditions here: www.pharostutors.com/black-friday...
Please spread the word!
#Genealogy #FamilyHistory #Ancestry #OnlineCourses #BlackFriday2025
Please spread the word!
#Genealogy #FamilyHistory #Ancestry #OnlineCourses #BlackFriday2025
November 21, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Black Friday sale! We are offering 15% off ALL of our courses from now until the end of 1st December. Use code FRIDAY15 at checkout. Terms and conditions here: www.pharostutors.com/black-friday...
Please spread the word!
#Genealogy #FamilyHistory #Ancestry #OnlineCourses #BlackFriday2025
Please spread the word!
#Genealogy #FamilyHistory #Ancestry #OnlineCourses #BlackFriday2025
Reposted by Joe Saunders
As is now traditional at this time of year, we are pleased to announce our special Black Friday offer: One year’s membership of the the Society for #OnePlaceStudies, with all of its brilliant benefits, for the same bargain price that it has been ever since we launched – just £10! #OnePlaceWednesday
November 26, 2025 at 5:03 PM
As is now traditional at this time of year, we are pleased to announce our special Black Friday offer: One year’s membership of the the Society for #OnePlaceStudies, with all of its brilliant benefits, for the same bargain price that it has been ever since we launched – just £10! #OnePlaceWednesday
Reposted by Joe Saunders
🚨 Call for Papers! 🚨
📣Join us @lancasteruni.bsky.social 1-3 July 2026 as we return to our original home to celebrate our 50th anniversary!
We welcome proposals from historians at all career stages across 8 thematic strands.
📅 CfP deadline: 16/01/26
🔗 socialhistory.org.uk/events/confe...
#CFP 🗃️
📣Join us @lancasteruni.bsky.social 1-3 July 2026 as we return to our original home to celebrate our 50th anniversary!
We welcome proposals from historians at all career stages across 8 thematic strands.
📅 CfP deadline: 16/01/26
🔗 socialhistory.org.uk/events/confe...
#CFP 🗃️
SHS Annual Conference 2026
Our 50th anniversary conference will be held at Lancaster University, the academic home of the Social History Society. A Significant Milestone The Social History Society was founded at Lancaster Un…
socialhistory.org.uk
November 27, 2025 at 10:42 AM
🚨 Call for Papers! 🚨
📣Join us @lancasteruni.bsky.social 1-3 July 2026 as we return to our original home to celebrate our 50th anniversary!
We welcome proposals from historians at all career stages across 8 thematic strands.
📅 CfP deadline: 16/01/26
🔗 socialhistory.org.uk/events/confe...
#CFP 🗃️
📣Join us @lancasteruni.bsky.social 1-3 July 2026 as we return to our original home to celebrate our 50th anniversary!
We welcome proposals from historians at all career stages across 8 thematic strands.
📅 CfP deadline: 16/01/26
🔗 socialhistory.org.uk/events/confe...
#CFP 🗃️
Reposted by Joe Saunders
📅 Save the Date!
🎉 To mark 50 years of the Social History Society, we’re hosting a Social History Festival with @ihr.bsky.social!
🗓️ Fri 24 April 2026
📍 Senate House, University of London
Panels, a keynote + hands-on activities!
💡 Want to contribute? 👉[email protected]
More info coming soon!
🎉 To mark 50 years of the Social History Society, we’re hosting a Social History Festival with @ihr.bsky.social!
🗓️ Fri 24 April 2026
📍 Senate House, University of London
Panels, a keynote + hands-on activities!
💡 Want to contribute? 👉[email protected]
More info coming soon!
October 22, 2025 at 8:27 AM
📅 Save the Date!
🎉 To mark 50 years of the Social History Society, we’re hosting a Social History Festival with @ihr.bsky.social!
🗓️ Fri 24 April 2026
📍 Senate House, University of London
Panels, a keynote + hands-on activities!
💡 Want to contribute? 👉[email protected]
More info coming soon!
🎉 To mark 50 years of the Social History Society, we’re hosting a Social History Festival with @ihr.bsky.social!
🗓️ Fri 24 April 2026
📍 Senate House, University of London
Panels, a keynote + hands-on activities!
💡 Want to contribute? 👉[email protected]
More info coming soon!
Reposted by Joe Saunders
Did Oliver Cromwell Really Ban Christmas? by Anna Cusack. In a word, no… there was a ban, but it was Parliament that introduced it. Cromwell’s involvement was limited at best.https://how-to-history.com/2025/11/26/did-oliver-cromwell-really-ban-christmas/
November 26, 2025 at 8:01 AM
Did Oliver Cromwell Really Ban Christmas? by Anna Cusack. In a word, no… there was a ban, but it was Parliament that introduced it. Cromwell’s involvement was limited at best.https://how-to-history.com/2025/11/26/did-oliver-cromwell-really-ban-christmas/
Do come along to listen to Dr Mike Esbester of the Railway Work, Life & Death project giving our BALH annual Dymond Lecture. #LocalHistory 🗃️
#ICYMI: Join us on 11 December at 7pm for our Annual Dymond Lecture. This year's speaker is Dr Mike Esbester, who will be exploring the hidden human stories behind Britain's railways.
Find out more: www.balh.org.uk/dymond2025
#WeAreLocalHistory #LocalHistoryForAll
Find out more: www.balh.org.uk/dymond2025
#WeAreLocalHistory #LocalHistoryForAll
November 23, 2025 at 3:55 PM
Do come along to listen to Dr Mike Esbester of the Railway Work, Life & Death project giving our BALH annual Dymond Lecture. #LocalHistory 🗃️
Reposted by Joe Saunders
🚨ONE MONTH'S TIME!🚨
Railway Work, Life & Death project co-lead Mike is privileged to give the 2025 @balhnews.bsky.social Dymond Lecture!
‘Heads – you lose!’ Working for the railways in Britain before 1939
Thursday 11 December 2025, 7pm, online
#LocalHistory #Railway200
www.balh.org.uk/dymond2025
Railway Work, Life & Death project co-lead Mike is privileged to give the 2025 @balhnews.bsky.social Dymond Lecture!
‘Heads – you lose!’ Working for the railways in Britain before 1939
Thursday 11 December 2025, 7pm, online
#LocalHistory #Railway200
www.balh.org.uk/dymond2025
November 11, 2025 at 7:08 PM
🚨ONE MONTH'S TIME!🚨
Railway Work, Life & Death project co-lead Mike is privileged to give the 2025 @balhnews.bsky.social Dymond Lecture!
‘Heads – you lose!’ Working for the railways in Britain before 1939
Thursday 11 December 2025, 7pm, online
#LocalHistory #Railway200
www.balh.org.uk/dymond2025
Railway Work, Life & Death project co-lead Mike is privileged to give the 2025 @balhnews.bsky.social Dymond Lecture!
‘Heads – you lose!’ Working for the railways in Britain before 1939
Thursday 11 December 2025, 7pm, online
#LocalHistory #Railway200
www.balh.org.uk/dymond2025
Reposted by Joe Saunders
#ICYMI: Join us on 11 December at 7pm for our Annual Dymond Lecture. This year's speaker is Dr Mike Esbester, who will be exploring the hidden human stories behind Britain's railways.
Find out more: www.balh.org.uk/dymond2025
#WeAreLocalHistory #LocalHistoryForAll
Find out more: www.balh.org.uk/dymond2025
#WeAreLocalHistory #LocalHistoryForAll
November 20, 2025 at 7:01 AM
#ICYMI: Join us on 11 December at 7pm for our Annual Dymond Lecture. This year's speaker is Dr Mike Esbester, who will be exploring the hidden human stories behind Britain's railways.
Find out more: www.balh.org.uk/dymond2025
#WeAreLocalHistory #LocalHistoryForAll
Find out more: www.balh.org.uk/dymond2025
#WeAreLocalHistory #LocalHistoryForAll
Reposted by Joe Saunders
Take your dragon out for a fly.
This is an #earlymodern advice (from Athanasius Kircher), on how to and when to use your private #dragon to make an impression. The image is part of Kircher's 1678 "Mundus Subterraneus" (access: www.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/view/bsb1... ), and ...
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This is an #earlymodern advice (from Athanasius Kircher), on how to and when to use your private #dragon to make an impression. The image is part of Kircher's 1678 "Mundus Subterraneus" (access: www.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/view/bsb1... ), and ...
1/2
November 18, 2024 at 7:16 AM
Take your dragon out for a fly.
This is an #earlymodern advice (from Athanasius Kircher), on how to and when to use your private #dragon to make an impression. The image is part of Kircher's 1678 "Mundus Subterraneus" (access: www.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/view/bsb1... ), and ...
1/2
This is an #earlymodern advice (from Athanasius Kircher), on how to and when to use your private #dragon to make an impression. The image is part of Kircher's 1678 "Mundus Subterraneus" (access: www.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/view/bsb1... ), and ...
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Excellent research trip to Cardiff and Hereford last week including visits to the Mappa Mundi and chained library at Hereford Cathedral, and to Cardiff Castle and markets. 🗃️
November 12, 2025 at 12:08 PM
Excellent research trip to Cardiff and Hereford last week including visits to the Mappa Mundi and chained library at Hereford Cathedral, and to Cardiff Castle and markets. 🗃️
Reposted by Joe Saunders
We’re launching our new catalogue on Monday 8 December.
To keep our collections safe while we do this, access and ordering will be suspended for a week before launch and all requests for 8 December onwards must be made on the new system when it launches.
Find out more: bit.ly/CollectionSu...
To keep our collections safe while we do this, access and ordering will be suspended for a week before launch and all requests for 8 December onwards must be made on the new system when it launches.
Find out more: bit.ly/CollectionSu...
November 11, 2025 at 12:54 PM
We’re launching our new catalogue on Monday 8 December.
To keep our collections safe while we do this, access and ordering will be suspended for a week before launch and all requests for 8 December onwards must be made on the new system when it launches.
Find out more: bit.ly/CollectionSu...
To keep our collections safe while we do this, access and ordering will be suspended for a week before launch and all requests for 8 December onwards must be made on the new system when it launches.
Find out more: bit.ly/CollectionSu...