Lesley A Hall
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erinacean.bsky.social
Lesley A Hall
@erinacean.bsky.social
12K followers 450 following 3.4K posts

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

Videos
History 49%
Political science 20%
Posts Replies Media Videos

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall

stephanieoffer.bsky.social
Stephanie @stephanieoffer.bsky.social · 3h
I would like to have words with Lord Viscount Stormant&the Earl of Hillsborough. They denied Henry Laurens the use of ink when he was in the Tower of London 1780-2, meaning his diary is written in pencil. Did their Lordships not consider how difficult this would be for historians to read?

erinacean.bsky.social
Lesley A Hall @erinacean.bsky.social · 5h
*And that is given an archive without some idiosyncracy, like, you can only look at this with advance permission from [family member/donating body] or when a particular staff member is on hand....

erinacean.bsky.social
Lesley A Hall @erinacean.bsky.social · 5h
People should always contact the archive in advance (sigh): in case they're closed that day; or document, if it actually exists, is in conservation/currently being digitised/on loan for exhibition and cannot be produced.* This is just basic good research practice.

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall, Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò

pervocracy.bsky.social
Cliff Pervocracy @pervocracy.bsky.social · 6h
The older I get, the more my politics mature from childish, naïve beliefs like "the world is complicated and leaders have to make hard decisions" to more serious, adult principles like "hurting people is bad and helping people is good."

erinacean.bsky.social
Lesley A Hall @erinacean.bsky.social · 6h
I am always chuffed to hear about people working on Laurence Housman!

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall, Fredrik Albritton Jonsson

brodiewaddell.bsky.social
Brodie Waddell @brodiewaddell.bsky.social · 7h
Hooray! The British Library has just released a beta version of its rebuilt Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue: searcharchives.bl.uk

2,619 hits for 'petition' in Western Manuscripts, texts in English, in case you're curious. 🗃️
Screenshot of search for 'petition' on the BL's Archives and Manuscript catalogue

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall

drjenniferaston.bsky.social
Jennifer Aston @drjenniferaston.bsky.social · 8h
I am really looking forward to running this event in January. It is a bit of a departure from the usual academic conference format and I hope will feature plenty of conversation and new opportunities for future collaboration. Join in, either in person or online: www.northumbria.ac.uk/about-us/new...

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall

michgreig.bsky.social
Michelle Gwynn @michgreig.bsky.social · 9h
Anyone got or know people working at council or more granular level on London crime statistics 1970s 1980s? #economichistorians #urbanhistorians #numbersgeeks #generalgeeks #skyhistorians

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall, Richard Waite, Richard Pettigrew

iucounu.bsky.social
iucounu @iucounu.bsky.social · 9h
—I’ve been asked to baptise the King of Spain’s daughter
—Infanta?
—No, holy water as usual. Weird thing to ask honestly

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall

rebeccajanemorgan.bsky.social
Rebecca Jane Morgan @rebeccajanemorgan.bsky.social · 10h
My next book, Deviants and Trailblazers: A History of Trans Activism in Britain, is now live and available for pre-order through the publisher, Pluto Press!

www.plutobooks.com/product/devi...
Deviants and Trailblazers - Pluto Press
A landmark history of trans activism in Britain, and a map for the road ahead
www.plutobooks.com

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall

effjayem.bsky.social
Farah Mendlesohn @effjayem.bsky.social · 10h
I have been reading books about the teaching of history, from 1929 to the 1990s (for my book on Geoffrey Trease). Honestly chaps, before you start arguing for radical change, go make sure that the radical change you are arguing for, isn't the one implemented in 1929, 1935, 1952, 1977, 1984, 1996 etc

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall, Annette Yoshiko Reed

eicathomefinn.bsky.social
Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 10h
'For humanities departments to continue to matter, they must challenge the modern world rather than accommodate it. Indeed, the most useful lesson the humanities have to offer today is a profoundly countercultural one: Difficulty is good, an end in its own right.' 2/2

Reposted by Rosemary A. Joyce, Lesley A. Hall, Annette Yoshiko Reed

eicathomefinn.bsky.social
Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 10h
'As a humanities professor myself, the biggest danger I see to the discipline is the growing perception, fueled by the ubiquity of large language models, that knowledge is cheap—a resource whose procurement ought to be easy and frictionless.' 1/2
Stop Trying to Make the Humanities ‘Relevant’
For humanities departments to continue to matter, they must challenge the modern world rather than accommodate it.
www.theatlantic.com

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall, Margot C. Finn

fierengraw.bsky.social
Dr Corrina Readioff @fierengraw.bsky.social · 10h
The British Library have a searchable interim Archives & Manuscripts Catalogues up & running: searcharchives.bl.uk
(posting for all the folks who, like me, had somehow managed to miss this important development)
British Library Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue
searcharchives.bl.uk

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall

uclspeccoll.bsky.social
UCL Special Collections @uclspeccoll.bsky.social · 11h
Current Special Collections Visiting Fellow Michelle Reynolds (@lovelymydear.bsky.social) is researching the role of Laurence Housman (1865-1959) in the women's suffrage movement.

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall

dalegothic96.bsky.social
Dale Townshend @dalegothic96.bsky.social · 11h
Do any Gothic people have access to a digital copy of the following text? Anon, _Phantoms of the cloister, or, The mysterious manuscript : a novel : in three volumes_, 1795. I'd be so grateful if anyone had this, and could email digital copies of the volumes to me.

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall

sas-news.bsky.social
School of Advanced Study, University of London @sas-news.bsky.social · 11h
The Centre for Public Engagement Practice in Arts and Humanities is inviting academic researchers in the arts, humanities & social sciences to collaborate with community groups as part of a new community-led grant. The pilot will run from January to May 2026. Info here: www.sas.ac.uk/news-events/...
Researchers invited to express their interest for the Community Connections Grant
The Centre for Public Engagement Practice in Arts and Humanities (CPEP) is piloting a new community-focused grant between January and May 2026.
www.sas.ac.uk

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall

politicshome.bsky.social
PoliticsHome @politicshome.bsky.social · 11h
A huge mass of waste dumped in Oxfordshire triggered widespread fury and put the issue of illegal dumping in the headlines

However, it's far from confined to this case. There are believed to be 8,000 illegal waste sites in the UK, and the criminal enterprise is becoming increasingly sophisticated
Illegal Waste Dumping Is Becoming More Sophisticated. Can It Be Stopped?
Illegal waste dumping is a growing criminal enterprise in the UK. Sophie Church explores what government can do to combat it
www.politicshome.com

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall

keithbeard.bsky.social
K M Flett @keithbeard.bsky.social · 11h
progress in history. Successfully logged on to the new British Library catalogue (finally launched today) & ordered a book...

erinacean.bsky.social
Lesley A Hall @erinacean.bsky.social · 11h
With whom, many many years ago, I had a classic politely snarky exchange in TLS letters to editor!

erinacean.bsky.social
Lesley A Hall @erinacean.bsky.social · 12h
Yes, but do you get solicited by dodgy journals/conferences on the basis of your 'fine work', which is actually your review of somebody else's book on the subject?

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall

drfrancisyoung.bsky.social
Dr Francis Young @drfrancisyoung.bsky.social · 12h
I am encountering M. R. James's handwriting for the first time, and until now I didn't know the true meaning of horror 😱

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall

deanstpress.bsky.social
Dean Street Press @deanstpress.bsky.social · 12h
"Mrs. Threader sat alone on Christmas night, sipping ginger
wine. Everything demanded by Christmas was there; cards, paper decorations, mistletoe, holly."
From The Woods in Winter (1970) by Stella Gibbons.
New introduction by Elizabeth Crawford.
#deanstreetdecember #furrowedmiddlebrow #booksky
The Woods in Winter by Stella Gibbons featuring a wintry scene of trees beside a house, with a rabbit scurrying across the road.

erinacean.bsky.social
Lesley A Hall @erinacean.bsky.social · 12h
I mourn that Grayshott Spa closed in 2020! it was much, much nicer than that, and there were lovely walks in the surrounding countryside.

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall

suewilkesauthor.bsky.social
Sue Wilkes @suewilkesauthor.bsky.social · 12h
Very sad. www.museumofrichmond.com/support/silv... #museums
Silver Theft | Museum of Richmond
The Museum of Richmond can confirm that the theft of nine artefacts from its collection took place on 6th December, 2025. The historic pieces were on loan from St Mary Magdalene Church (part of Richmo...
www.museumofrichmond.com

Reposted by Shannon Vallor, Dorothy Bishop, Will Jennings , and 7 more

paulgcornish.bsky.social
Paul Cornish @paulgcornish.bsky.social · 12h
"Bluesky is an echo chamber."
"Bluesky doesn't have enough reach"
"Liberals must return to X to challenge the far right"

I'm not a tech bro or a journalist. Your priorities are not my priorities. Stop telling me I need to do anything other than chat about comics & telly with people who seem nice.

Reposted by Henning Melber, Lesley A. Hall

davidandress.bsky.social
Dave Andress @davidandress.bsky.social · 12h
Bondi hero is Syrian Muslim from the city of Idlib, lived in Australia since 2006, only recently able to bring his parents to join him...

www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall

drjoepajak.bsky.social
@DrJoePajak CSci CChem FRSC @drjoepajak.bsky.social · 13h
'Evidence points to a genuine rise in distress linked to poverty, insecure housing, austerity and the pandemic - and NO evidence that mental health problems were being over-diagnosed.' @danwjoyce.bsky.social Oladayo Bifarin @uk.theconversation.com #MentalHealth
theconversation.com/what-looks-l...
What looks like ‘overdiagnosis’ is really a system struggling to provide continuous care
Diagnosis rates are rising because the NHS pathway is overwhelmed and fragmented, not because distress is being exaggerated.
theconversation.com

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall

downham.bsky.social
Clare Downham @downham.bsky.social · 13h
#wales #cymru #hanes #history I have lots of Welsh history journals looking for a new home. These cost £11.50 to post 20kg to anywhere in the UK but willing to post free to an eligible charity or community group (there are many boxes of different Welsh interest journals all in lovely condition)

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall

chppc.bsky.social
Centre for the History of People, Place & Community @chppc.bsky.social · 13h
Join us in 2026 for our new @ihr.bsky.social Discovery Courses!
- Historic Maps: Interpreting Stories of Place
- Townscape & Architecture in History
- Archaeology for (Local) History
Each 2 days + optional free extra day of guided research @ihrlibrary.bsky.social.
www.history.ac.uk/study-traini...
https://www.history.ac.uk/study-training/research-training-short-courses