Lesley A Hall
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erinacean.bsky.social
Lesley A Hall
@erinacean.bsky.social
12K followers 460 following 3.6K posts

Archivist, historian, reader, Londoner, feminist
@erinacean
@[email protected]
www.lesleyahall.net
https://lesleyahall.blogspot.com/

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History 49%
Political science 20%
Posts Replies Media Videos

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall

diane.dianeduane.com
Diane Duane @diane.dianeduane.com · 7h
Meanwhile: Just a reminder that I need to buy a hearing aid, and just dropped half a month's rent for a necessary MRI. Want to help out (if you're not UK-based, as Brexit's in the way)? Bundles are on sale at #Ebooks Direct, at discount prices! 🙂! ebooks.direct/collections/... (1/2)
Our helpful sales staff regard our available offerings. Sorry, no Zabar's items are part of this offer.

Reposted by Charles West, Lesley A. Hall, Fredrik Albritton Jonsson

earlymodjustice.bsky.social
Holly Brewer @earlymodjustice.bsky.social · 9h
An open letter to @theguardian.com about their article last week about the Crown’s Silence, requesting that the Black scholar of Caribbean heritage who did the years of archival research behind this claim, and published it in 1979, Roger Norman Buckley, be acknowledged as the source of this reveal:
OPEN LETTER TO THE GUARDIAN Dear Editors, We write in reference to a recent article published in the UK online edition of The Guardian on Friday, 23 January 2026, which carried the following misleading headline: "British crown was world's largest buyer of enslaved people by 1807, book reveals." The article in question, by Chris Osuh, showcases a new book by Dr. Brooke Newman, The Crown's Silence: The Hidden History of Slavery and the British Monarchy (Harper Collins, 2026). But Newman's book is not the original source of that claim. That claim derives from earlier scholarship, the painstaking archival work of a Black historian of Caribbean heritage: the late Roger Norman Buckley. It is unfortunate that the silencing of his original scholarship appears in the profiling of a book advertised as uncovering silences. While it is great to see public attention brought to the history of the Crown's involvement in slavery through the new book and its profiling in The Guardian, the headline compromises The Guardian's efforts to address the legacies of slavery generally and its own institutional links when it extracts and reframes earlier work by a Black scholar as a revelation new to this book. The relevant passage in The Crown's Silence draws on original scholarship by Roger Norman Buckley in Slaves in Red Coats: The British West India Regiments, 1795-1815 (1979). Dr. Brooke Newman repeats Buckley's figures, which she cites (referencing page 55 of Buckley's book, see attached) while changing his "British government" to "Crown." She then converts his careful "perhaps the largest individual buyer" to a more conclusive claim, changing his "British government" to "king" but without citing Buckley for that claim which is on page 56 of his book (see attached) and which, uncited in Newman's book, is the Guardian headline. There is room for popular histories that rely largely on the secondary scholarship of other historians. But other historians have not been silent. Page from Buckley’s 1979 book 2nd page from Buckley’s 1979 book

erinacean.bsky.social
Lesley A Hall @erinacean.bsky.social · 18h
'What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.'
allpoetry.com/poem/8494373...

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall

justinepick.bsky.social
Justine Pick @justinepick.bsky.social · 18h
🎉My first peer reviewed article just published in Urban History as FirstView!
Following on from my thesis, it covers privy pails & ashpits, the fly problem, public health, mortality & sanitation investment

A smooth & stress free publishing experience @urbanhistory.bsky.social
#OpenAccess #histmed
Perilous privies and public health: the nature and impact of ‘dry’ municipal conservancy systems in urban England, 1870s–1920s | Urban History | Cambridge Core
Perilous privies and public health: the nature and impact of ‘dry’ municipal conservancy systems in urban England, 1870s–1920s
www.cambridge.org

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall

ninabake2.bsky.social
Nina Baker @ninabake2.bsky.social · 19h
I saw this piece of land advertised for sale in yesterday's @financialtimes.com and was horrified that it wasnt already in public ownership. So I really hope that the Friends group gets it.
friendsofthecommons.uk/sale-faqs/

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Locals aim to bring Tunbridge Wells Commons into public ownership
Local charity aims to to bring Tunbridge Wells Commons into public ownership for first time
www.bbc.co.uk

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall, Kris Inwood, Margot C. Finn , and 1 more

kyamamoto.bsky.social
Koji Yamamoto @kyamamoto.bsky.social · 19h
Looking for a postdoc opportunity outside the UK/US? I'm happy to support up to two JSPS postdoc applicants for the coming round for two-year posts starting from Sep./Oct. 2026 onwards at UTokyo. The application to be submitted before the end of March. 1/n

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall

anna-r-hughes.bsky.social
Anna Hughes @anna-r-hughes.bsky.social · 19h
There are TEN bursaries available for #UKSG2026

If you're thinking of applying, head over to the @uksg.bsky.social website to find out more!

👉 www.uksg.org/news/2026/01...
www.uksg.org

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall

jujuliagrace.bsky.social
Dr Julia Grace Patterson @jujuliagrace.bsky.social · 19h
This important petition about proportional representation has been sent to me - please consider signing your name!

petition.parliament.uk/petitions/73...
Petition: Government to support the Elections (Proportional Representation) Bill
We call on the UK Government to support the progression of the Elections (Proportional Representation) Bill, ensuring time for a Second Reading in the Commons. Even if a vote were to fail, this is an ...
petition.parliament.uk

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall

eicathomefinn.bsky.social
Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 19h
'A metadata-only version of the British Library’s sorely missed PhD thesis repository will be a pale imitation of the service that disappeared more than two years ago after a cyberattack, experts have warned.' 1/2
‘Give PhD archive attention it deserves,’ British Library urged
Scholars criticise lack of progress on restoring repository of 600,000 PhD theses more than two years after it was felled by cyberattack
www.timeshighereducation.com

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall

suewilkesauthor.bsky.social
Sue Wilkes @suewilkesauthor.bsky.social · 19h
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... #manchester
Trams set to run through Manchester's Heaton Park again in 2026
Manchester City Council invests £480,000 to upgrade safety systems and bring the trams back online.
www.bbc.co.uk

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall

araukie.bsky.social
Archives and Records Association UK and Ireland @araukie.bsky.social · 19h
UK archives: Last chance to contribute to @uknatarcsector.bsky.social 2025 Accessions to Repositories Survey. To take part, please read the guidance on their website: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/archives-sec... and complete survey by Mon 2nd Feb
Taking part in the survey - Archives sector
The Accessions to Repositories 2025 survey is now open. Each year we contact archives across the UK to invite them to take part; if you are interested in contributing for the first time in this year’s...
www.nationalarchives.gov.uk

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall

eicathomefinn.bsky.social
Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 19h
'Step inside the British Library: here is paradise.'

Well, before it was hacked, yes.
Reading the rooms: London’s British Library decoded
Novelist Charlotte Mendelson explores an institution that holds the history of humanity — and, on any given day, a curious cross-section of the capital itself
www.ft.com

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall

maudannebracke.bsky.social
Maud Anne Bracke @maudannebracke.bsky.social · 20h
The first (I think) review of my book is out, by Caroline Rusterholz (Fribourg/Geneva) in Women's History Reivew. Many thanks Caroline!

eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com?url=https%3A...
Reproductive rights in modern France: feminism, contraception and abortion, 1950–1980
Published in Women's History Review (Ahead of Print, 2026)
eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall

petraboynton.bsky.social
Petra Boynton @petraboynton.bsky.social · 20h
Yes, this is all stupid.

Note 'marry early'. Your 9-9-6 day plus gym, running, specialist diet and other activities require support to achieve. A wife in such cases is very helpful. It's more overt here but remains an integral part of much contemporary straight men's lifestyle advice.

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall

bucksarchives.bsky.social
Buckinghamshire Archives @bucksarchives.bsky.social · 20h
Want to help preserve the county's history? We're recruiting an Archives and Local Studies Senior Officer to our team!

Head to the link below for more information.

jobs.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/job_detail/3...
'We're Hiring! Archives and Local Studies Senior Officer' over an image of leatherbound Records of Buckinghamshire on a shelf.

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall, Pauline Stafford

timbale.bsky.social
Tim Bale @timbale.bsky.social · 21h
Refreshing to see a rhetorical device often used by anti-migration politicians flipped by @alanbeattie.bsky.social "More people attend English League Two football matches to watch the likes of Accrington Stanley and Crawley Town in an average week than arrived by small boat in the whole of 2025."
The abandonment of Labour’s moral crusade
The UK is taking a cynical but fruitless turn to the reactionary and insular on aid, immigration and trade
www.ft.com

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall

dohertyta.bsky.social
Teresa Doherty @dohertyta.bsky.social · 21h
Great to hear Jill Craigie will have a blue plaque this year.

Her film ‘To be a Woman’ supported the Equal Pay Campaign petition way back in 1951
1/

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jill_Cr...

#womensHistory @womenshistnet.bsky.social
Jill Craigie - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall

detig.bsky.social
Pedro Telles @detig.bsky.social · 22h
A bargain 😳
The UK paid £4.1 million for a bookmarks site
Or, as they like to call it, the 'AI Skills Hub'. Which was built by PwC because of course it was
mahadk.com

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall

mirror.co.uk
The Mirror @mirror.co.uk · 1d
A 25,000-tonne mountain of illegally dumped waste sits on land partially owned by the King, it has been claimed.
'Worst illegal dump' with 25,000 tonnes of rubbish on land partly owned by King
www.mirror.co.uk

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall, Jack Stilgoe

darksatanicmills.bsky.social
Pervis Purves @darksatanicmills.bsky.social · 1d
Maths and physics are objective and humanities is subjective.

That's the difference.

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall

keithbeard.bsky.social
K M Flett @keithbeard.bsky.social · 1d
wp.me/p15p2Q-g1D
Times letter writers on ICE & Minneapolis. A which side are you on question
The late socialist historian E P Thompson in his collection Sir, Writing By Candlelight, regarded letter writers to The Times as representative of rather reactionary and provincial perspectives (Th…
wp.me

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall

julialaite.bsky.social
Julia Laite @julialaite.bsky.social · 1d
Kid the Younger has now gotten his heart surgery date, coming up in three weeks time.

If you could send us happy and funny and brave surgery stories, a worried little kid would love to hear them.

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall

timbale.bsky.social
Tim Bale @timbale.bsky.social · 1d
Sorry to sound so grumpy but this has the same vibe as people moaning about the state of public services at the same time as not wanting to pay more in tax. What's any government (right or left) supposed to do when people don't go shopping or to pubs as much as they used to - and never will again?
Labour risks election wipeout unless it improves Britain’s high streets, study finds
Decay of town centres a top issue among voters especially Reform UK supporters and is fuelling resentment against Westminster
www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall, Els Torreele

brandyzadrozny.bsky.social
Brandy Zadrozny @brandyzadrozny.bsky.social · 1d
When I think about measles I think about the number 1,000. Thats the number that epidemiologists use to explain harm from measles in children. With 1,000 cases, about 200 children will require hospitalization, 50 will develop pneumonia, and one to three will die.

South Carolina is at 789.

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall, Helen Kara

kolektiv.xyncro.com
Andrew Cherry @kolektiv.xyncro.com · 1d
How? How do you double-check the accuracy, if you're not already an expert? Ask a different GenAI? Or do you, you know... Have to go and do the research you would have done anyway, pre-AI? Because I'm buggered if I can think of how you do that in a way where the GenAI saved you time.

Reposted by Ben H. Ansell, Peter Thorne, Lesley A. Hall , and 7 more

kolektiv.xyncro.com
Andrew Cherry @kolektiv.xyncro.com · 1d
I think I might take one of these "under 20 minutes" AI skills courses the UK Govt. seems very keen on everyone doing and live-post it here... Maybe we can all learn something together! The press release sends me to aiskillshub.org.uk/aiskillsboost/ - let's go and see!
AI Skills Boost - AI Skills Hub
aiskillshub.org.uk

erinacean.bsky.social
Lesley A Hall @erinacean.bsky.social · 1d
'I can listen no longer in silence.' ??

erinacean.bsky.social
Lesley A Hall @erinacean.bsky.social · 1d
Just the latest allotrope of 'mansplainy delusional confidence', though? (I'm sure one could find historical parallels without having to look exceptionally hard or even delve deeply into archives....) (Am old and cynical.)

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall

jackdashby.bsky.social
Jack Ashby @jackdashby.bsky.social · 1d
The glorious realm where #wombats reign.

#WombatWednesday #Tasmania #MammalWatching #WildOz #wombat

erinacean.bsky.social
Lesley A Hall @erinacean.bsky.social · 1d
Will they be funding courses in how to turn the damn things off and obliterate them from our computers? (except for certain very specialised professional cases, which I doubt are covered here.)
peterstefanovic.bsky.social Peter Stefanovic @peterstefanovic.bsky.social · 1d
BREAKING: Free AI training will be offered to every adult in the UK, with short courses to teach people how to use simple AI tools effectively in the workplace.

Technology Secretary Liz Kendall tells #BBCBreakfast about the scheme