Oliver Betts
@drolibetts.bsky.social
National Railway Museum Research Lead. Historian of industrial working-class worlds 1850-1950. Passionate about connecting museums and universities.
Would anyone be interested in being part of a roundtable on Working-Class Victorians in heritage/fiction/public imagination today at next year's BAVS conference?
Let me know if you're keen 😁
Let me know if you're keen 😁
November 27, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Would anyone be interested in being part of a roundtable on Working-Class Victorians in heritage/fiction/public imagination today at next year's BAVS conference?
Let me know if you're keen 😁
Let me know if you're keen 😁
Please enjoy this project we've been working on with the lovely team at Google Arts and Culture:
artsandculture.google.com/project/nati...
Its so exciting to make so much of our collection accessible this anniversary year for the railways from models and artwork to tools and vehicles!
artsandculture.google.com/project/nati...
Its so exciting to make so much of our collection accessible this anniversary year for the railways from models and artwork to tools and vehicles!
National Railway Museum - Google Arts & Culture
Journey through the untold story of the railways
artsandculture.google.com
November 27, 2025 at 9:58 AM
Please enjoy this project we've been working on with the lovely team at Google Arts and Culture:
artsandculture.google.com/project/nati...
Its so exciting to make so much of our collection accessible this anniversary year for the railways from models and artwork to tools and vehicles!
artsandculture.google.com/project/nati...
Its so exciting to make so much of our collection accessible this anniversary year for the railways from models and artwork to tools and vehicles!
Does anyone have any recent reading recommendations on how people (particularly working-class people) adjusted to technological change in the long c19th?
By reading list feels a little dated...
Thanks!
By reading list feels a little dated...
Thanks!
November 14, 2025 at 10:30 AM
Does anyone have any recent reading recommendations on how people (particularly working-class people) adjusted to technological change in the long c19th?
By reading list feels a little dated...
Thanks!
By reading list feels a little dated...
Thanks!
I really enjoyed Death by Lightning on Netflix - a really interesting interweaving of the tragedy of James Garfield and Charles Guiteau with some amazing acting.
I thought quite a good portrayal of late c19th society too...
I thought quite a good portrayal of late c19th society too...
November 14, 2025 at 9:27 AM
I really enjoyed Death by Lightning on Netflix - a really interesting interweaving of the tragedy of James Garfield and Charles Guiteau with some amazing acting.
I thought quite a good portrayal of late c19th society too...
I thought quite a good portrayal of late c19th society too...
Reposted by Oliver Betts
Day 9: Map. For my book project I’m mapping museums in the UK which have ancient Cypriot collections. There are more than you might think! #Museum30
November 9, 2025 at 12:29 PM
Day 9: Map. For my book project I’m mapping museums in the UK which have ancient Cypriot collections. There are more than you might think! #Museum30
I thought I'd seen competitive sports parents aplenty having taken my eldest to football for years, but I'm here watching him at a interschool chess tournament and oh boy! 😬
November 9, 2025 at 12:19 PM
I thought I'd seen competitive sports parents aplenty having taken my eldest to football for years, but I'm here watching him at a interschool chess tournament and oh boy! 😬
Hello, if you've got a spare fifteen minutes we've put together a video on the emergence of the railway poster as a visual medium from the 1840s-1930s that you might enjoy!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5is...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5is...
The Lost Art of Railway Posters: A Journey Through Time | Off the Rails
YouTube video by National Railway Museum
www.youtube.com
October 31, 2025 at 11:12 AM
Hello, if you've got a spare fifteen minutes we've put together a video on the emergence of the railway poster as a visual medium from the 1840s-1930s that you might enjoy!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5is...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5is...
Reposted by Oliver Betts
CfP: Tourism, Memory and Heritage Conference (2026),
Amsterdam and Wageningen, The Netherlands.
Full details: lnkd.in/ebPHRqgM
Amsterdam and Wageningen, The Netherlands.
Full details: lnkd.in/ebPHRqgM
October 26, 2025 at 10:22 AM
CfP: Tourism, Memory and Heritage Conference (2026),
Amsterdam and Wageningen, The Netherlands.
Full details: lnkd.in/ebPHRqgM
Amsterdam and Wageningen, The Netherlands.
Full details: lnkd.in/ebPHRqgM
In one of those "quite how did I end up in this line of work" I'm sitting in the banquet hall of an c18th mayoral mansion, waiting to judge a cooking competition of c19th mince pies, listening to someone outside sing Edelweiss....
October 20, 2025 at 10:38 AM
In one of those "quite how did I end up in this line of work" I'm sitting in the banquet hall of an c18th mayoral mansion, waiting to judge a cooking competition of c19th mince pies, listening to someone outside sing Edelweiss....
Reposted by Oliver Betts
CfP: The British General Strike of 1926: New Directions of Research, 7-8 May 2026 @newcastleuni.bsky.social
Deadline: 6 February 2026
More details:
@sslh.bsky.social
sslh.org.uk/2025/10/13/c...
sslh.org.uk/wp-content/u...
Kindly supported by @leverhulme.ac.uk
#GeneralStrike1926 #GeneralStrike100
Deadline: 6 February 2026
More details:
@sslh.bsky.social
sslh.org.uk/2025/10/13/c...
sslh.org.uk/wp-content/u...
Kindly supported by @leverhulme.ac.uk
#GeneralStrike1926 #GeneralStrike100
CfP: The British General Strike of 1926: New Directions of Research
To commemorate the centenary of the British General Strike and miners’ lock-out, Newcastle University’s Labour & Society Research Group (LSRG) is organising a conference that revisits the…
sslh.org.uk
October 14, 2025 at 11:57 AM
CfP: The British General Strike of 1926: New Directions of Research, 7-8 May 2026 @newcastleuni.bsky.social
Deadline: 6 February 2026
More details:
@sslh.bsky.social
sslh.org.uk/2025/10/13/c...
sslh.org.uk/wp-content/u...
Kindly supported by @leverhulme.ac.uk
#GeneralStrike1926 #GeneralStrike100
Deadline: 6 February 2026
More details:
@sslh.bsky.social
sslh.org.uk/2025/10/13/c...
sslh.org.uk/wp-content/u...
Kindly supported by @leverhulme.ac.uk
#GeneralStrike1926 #GeneralStrike100
Reposted by Oliver Betts
If #Railway200 has sparked or rekindled your interest in #RailwayHistory, and you fancy study at Masters or PhD level - then come & study with Dr Mike Esbester at the University of Portsmouth!
An expert in railway, transport & mobility history:
www.port.ac.uk/about-us/str...
An expert in railway, transport & mobility history:
www.port.ac.uk/about-us/str...
Mike Esbester
www.port.ac.uk
September 27, 2025 at 8:29 AM
If #Railway200 has sparked or rekindled your interest in #RailwayHistory, and you fancy study at Masters or PhD level - then come & study with Dr Mike Esbester at the University of Portsmouth!
An expert in railway, transport & mobility history:
www.port.ac.uk/about-us/str...
An expert in railway, transport & mobility history:
www.port.ac.uk/about-us/str...
Reposted by Oliver Betts
🚨What's that?🚨
You want FREE access to 17 brilliant #RailwayHistory articles from the @jtransporthist.bsky.social?
All yours!
For #Railway200 the JTH has put together a virtual collection of articles, & until 15 October they're free!
Download & read now: journals.sagepub.com/topic/collec...
You want FREE access to 17 brilliant #RailwayHistory articles from the @jtransporthist.bsky.social?
All yours!
For #Railway200 the JTH has put together a virtual collection of articles, & until 15 October they're free!
Download & read now: journals.sagepub.com/topic/collec...
September 26, 2025 at 11:30 AM
🚨What's that?🚨
You want FREE access to 17 brilliant #RailwayHistory articles from the @jtransporthist.bsky.social?
All yours!
For #Railway200 the JTH has put together a virtual collection of articles, & until 15 October they're free!
Download & read now: journals.sagepub.com/topic/collec...
You want FREE access to 17 brilliant #RailwayHistory articles from the @jtransporthist.bsky.social?
All yours!
For #Railway200 the JTH has put together a virtual collection of articles, & until 15 October they're free!
Download & read now: journals.sagepub.com/topic/collec...
Just a little memory nudge for kids of a certain age...
🎶See, I reckon you're about an eight or a nine
Maybe even nine and a half in four beers' time🎶
🎶See, I reckon you're about an eight or a nine
Maybe even nine and a half in four beers' time🎶
September 16, 2025 at 9:09 AM
Just a little memory nudge for kids of a certain age...
🎶See, I reckon you're about an eight or a nine
Maybe even nine and a half in four beers' time🎶
🎶See, I reckon you're about an eight or a nine
Maybe even nine and a half in four beers' time🎶
Reposted by Oliver Betts
Hi everyone!
I am beginning my search for prospective PhD supervisors for a September 2026 start. If you specialise in Caribbean slavery and/or the East India Company, and are interested in supervising my doctoral research, I would be delighted to hear from you! #Skystorians #AcademicSky
I am beginning my search for prospective PhD supervisors for a September 2026 start. If you specialise in Caribbean slavery and/or the East India Company, and are interested in supervising my doctoral research, I would be delighted to hear from you! #Skystorians #AcademicSky
August 28, 2025 at 1:56 PM
Hi everyone!
I am beginning my search for prospective PhD supervisors for a September 2026 start. If you specialise in Caribbean slavery and/or the East India Company, and are interested in supervising my doctoral research, I would be delighted to hear from you! #Skystorians #AcademicSky
I am beginning my search for prospective PhD supervisors for a September 2026 start. If you specialise in Caribbean slavery and/or the East India Company, and are interested in supervising my doctoral research, I would be delighted to hear from you! #Skystorians #AcademicSky
Reposted by Oliver Betts
Please forgive the shameless self-publicity, but a collection of essays on transnational working-class literature which I helped to co-edit (and also contributed to) has been published today! See the link below for details & ask your library to order a copy!
link.springer.com/book/10.1007...
link.springer.com/book/10.1007...
Transnational Working-Class Literatures
This book addresses an urgent need for a study which brings together the national, transnational and international dimensions of working-class literatures.
link.springer.com
August 28, 2025 at 7:54 AM
Please forgive the shameless self-publicity, but a collection of essays on transnational working-class literature which I helped to co-edit (and also contributed to) has been published today! See the link below for details & ask your library to order a copy!
link.springer.com/book/10.1007...
link.springer.com/book/10.1007...
Reposted by Oliver Betts
As we commemorate the bicentenary of modern railways in 2025, what narratives are we leaving out? 🚂
1/6
1/6
August 27, 2025 at 3:00 PM
As we commemorate the bicentenary of modern railways in 2025, what narratives are we leaving out? 🚂
1/6
1/6
Reposted by Oliver Betts
You've heard about Rail200 this year, but what about Braille200?
Our amazing WROCAH placement student @tillyguthrie.bsky.social explains the dual history of Braille and the Railways in Britain:
blog.railwaymuseum.org.uk/braille-200/
Our amazing WROCAH placement student @tillyguthrie.bsky.social explains the dual history of Braille and the Railways in Britain:
blog.railwaymuseum.org.uk/braille-200/
Braille 200 - National Railway Museum blog
PhD researcher Tilly Guthrie highlights that this year marks not only 200 years of the railways, but also of the invention of Braille.
blog.railwaymuseum.org.uk
August 8, 2025 at 1:05 PM
You've heard about Rail200 this year, but what about Braille200?
Our amazing WROCAH placement student @tillyguthrie.bsky.social explains the dual history of Braille and the Railways in Britain:
blog.railwaymuseum.org.uk/braille-200/
Our amazing WROCAH placement student @tillyguthrie.bsky.social explains the dual history of Braille and the Railways in Britain:
blog.railwaymuseum.org.uk/braille-200/
You've heard about Rail200 this year, but what about Braille200?
Our amazing WROCAH placement student @tillyguthrie.bsky.social explains the dual history of Braille and the Railways in Britain:
blog.railwaymuseum.org.uk/braille-200/
Our amazing WROCAH placement student @tillyguthrie.bsky.social explains the dual history of Braille and the Railways in Britain:
blog.railwaymuseum.org.uk/braille-200/
Braille 200 - National Railway Museum blog
PhD researcher Tilly Guthrie highlights that this year marks not only 200 years of the railways, but also of the invention of Braille.
blog.railwaymuseum.org.uk
August 8, 2025 at 1:05 PM
You've heard about Rail200 this year, but what about Braille200?
Our amazing WROCAH placement student @tillyguthrie.bsky.social explains the dual history of Braille and the Railways in Britain:
blog.railwaymuseum.org.uk/braille-200/
Our amazing WROCAH placement student @tillyguthrie.bsky.social explains the dual history of Braille and the Railways in Britain:
blog.railwaymuseum.org.uk/braille-200/
Reposted by Oliver Betts
Do I, or any of you, know anybody who has worked or is working on the household of Juana of Castile (1479-1555)?
August 7, 2025 at 1:11 PM
Do I, or any of you, know anybody who has worked or is working on the household of Juana of Castile (1479-1555)?
Wasn't sure we were allowed to do that as historians... 🤣
From Frank Pick's Oxford DNB page
From Frank Pick's Oxford DNB page
August 6, 2025 at 2:40 PM
Wasn't sure we were allowed to do that as historians... 🤣
From Frank Pick's Oxford DNB page
From Frank Pick's Oxford DNB page
A historiography day...
August 6, 2025 at 11:57 AM
A historiography day...
Introduced my children to Willow over the weekend and glad to report its held up 100% (at least for me!)
Its on ITV player right now if you fancy a catch up.
Its on ITV player right now if you fancy a catch up.
August 4, 2025 at 1:29 PM
Introduced my children to Willow over the weekend and glad to report its held up 100% (at least for me!)
Its on ITV player right now if you fancy a catch up.
Its on ITV player right now if you fancy a catch up.
Reposted by Oliver Betts
Do you have any traveller ancestors? We have a handy guide to researching people from travelling communities in Derbyshire: recordoffice.wordpress.com/2023/06/01/t...
Travelling Communities Research Guide
For centuries, nomadic people and family groups have travelled through Derbyshire. These groups include Irish Travellers, Romany Gypsies, showpeople (travelling with fairgrounds and circuses) and c…
recordoffice.wordpress.com
June 19, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Do you have any traveller ancestors? We have a handy guide to researching people from travelling communities in Derbyshire: recordoffice.wordpress.com/2023/06/01/t...
I thought you'd like to know that the crowd to see Manchester's funeral wreath arrangement for Queen Victoria was so big it blocked traffic for hours.
Officials told the crowd it would be moved to the Town Hall, and a huge group pushed inside looking for it even though it hadn't yet been moved.
Officials told the crowd it would be moved to the Town Hall, and a huge group pushed inside looking for it even though it hadn't yet been moved.
July 22, 2025 at 9:18 AM
I thought you'd like to know that the crowd to see Manchester's funeral wreath arrangement for Queen Victoria was so big it blocked traffic for hours.
Officials told the crowd it would be moved to the Town Hall, and a huge group pushed inside looking for it even though it hadn't yet been moved.
Officials told the crowd it would be moved to the Town Hall, and a huge group pushed inside looking for it even though it hadn't yet been moved.