Oh this can just fuck off An AI-'written' complete copy of my own book is now on Amazon; same title, more-or-less the same blurb, and exactly the same impetus. Reviewers of Amazon, I urge you to absolutely dive-bomb this plagiaristic piece of shit: www.amazon.co.uk/FORGOTTEN-VI...

Excited to be attending, and speaking at, the Devon Family History anniversary conference this weekend. Looking forward to a great time with many great #FamilyHistory conversations with old friends and new.

Pharos Tutors@pharostutors.bsky.social · 4d ago

Pharos are proud to be one of the sponsors of the Devon Family History 50th Anniversary Conference this weekend. Wishing everyone an excellent time! www.devonfhs.org.uk/devon-fhs-co...

1/x Two of the best-known coats on any high street began as working kit for sailors on cold decks. Both carry names from my little corner of the North Sea: Duffel, a small town near Antwerp, and the Dutch word "pij". The story of the duffel coat and the peacoat. #maritimehistory

🚨 NEW: Poorer students have the most to gain from university, but they’re the least likely to go. Our brand-new best practice guide argues universities should redouble efforts to support disadvantaged students 🧵

Welcome to #OnePlaceWednesday – and to Day 1 of All About That Place #AATP26 which has just started! We’ll be posting about #OnePlaceStudies, a fabulous fusion of #FamilyHistory and #LocalHistory, and we invite you to join in, sharing OPS news, views, pics, links, questions & chat, with the hashtag.

It’s #OnePlaceWednesday! Coming up from us today: ❖ 4 new #OnePlaceStudies ❖ Our OPS blogging & social media prompt for October ❖ The September issue of our journal Destinations ❖ New blog posts from 3 one-place studies ❖ And more! Share your OPS news, views, pics, links and chat with the hashtag!

Mulberries, by Joe Saunders. Perhaps the most notable chapter in the history of the British mulberry relates to King James VI & I who sought to establish a home-grown silk industry to rival that of Italy and France. how-to-history.com/2026/09/30/m...

Mulberries

Joe Saunders Mulberries are wonderful trees bearing lovely fruit. Despite their distinctiveness these trees ‘are often overlooked and even at the height of their fruit season they can remain unnoti…

how-to-history.com

Oct 1st, Save the date! Rosamund Oates will be talking about ‘Silent Histories: Deafness in Early Modern England' at @ihrscb.bsky.social in-person @ihr.bsky.social & online. #EarlyModern 🗃️ Booking details will soon be on: www.history.ac.uk/news-events/ihr-seminars/society-culture-belief-1500-1800

For anyone without access via university affiliation then membership to the British Association for Local History @balhnews.bsky.social entitles you to a discounted subscription of this fantastic database of published historical research. www.history.ac.uk/resources/on...

Institute of Historical Research@ihr.bsky.social · 3w ago

Join us and @brepols.net next week for the free webinar about BBIH’s key features so you can make the most of this valuable resource! Date: October 2, 2026 Time: 14:00 (London, UK) / 09:00 AM (Eastern Time, USA) / 15:00 (Brussels) Duration: 15-20 minutes Register today: buff.ly/QwhXi5R

Many more headlines thus am breezing past historical scholarship of decades — and Hemings family history — to trumpet a new DNA study that simply confirms what we knew. My bar is low but even I’m depressed by how science always has to be “news” and journalism has so much trouble reporting history.

Karin Wulf@kawulf.bsky.social · 3w ago

Family history and genealogy, media juicing up controversy and fawning over science while failing to get that yes the historical analysis was conclusive. I couldn't not write about this! Shorter: just read @agordonreed.bsky.social. karinwulf.com/trove/the-fa...

Just a PSA: the RNLI website has some great Christmas items up... cards, decorations, gifts, etc. 100% of the profits from these items go towards supporting RNLI lifeboat crews and their search and rescue services.

Working on a small piece of research/writing at the moment which is critical of AI in history/humanities research/writing/teaching. Keen to hear of any experience/knowledge which might feed in and of any place where the output might be welcomed. 🗃️

'the archive creates possibilities extending beyond Britain and the Caribbean.Migration and the forced movement of people under enslavement mean descendants can be found across the African diaspora, including in the US and Latin America.' Ancestry account required www.theguardian.com/news/2026/se...

Nearly 4m records of enslaved people in 20 former British colonies now searchable online

Exclusive: Collection’s 300,000 pages record lives of enslaved people in countries including the Bahamas, Barbados, Jamaica, Mauritius, South Africa and Trinidad

theguardian.com

What did the Victorians (and the Luftwaffe) ever do for us? Mapping Cripplegate area for our London on the Eve of the Great Fire project. Largely escaped in 1666 but subject to massive change in the 19th century and destruction during the Second World War. Bearing almost no resemblance today.

#ICYMI: Join us on 3 December for our annual Dymond lecture! Dr Joan Heggie will be sharing how the Register of Deeds can evidence women's capital investment in 19th century Yorkshire. Find out more: www.balh.org.uk/dymond2026 #WeAreLocalHistory #LocalHistoryForAll

Join us next month for our one-day conference about rebellion, protest and popular resistance in Somerset. Find out more: www.balh.org.uk/dorset26 #WeAreLocalHistory #LocalHistoryForAll

Exciting news (well we think so)! We are looking for new people to regularly contribute to our archive! We accept applications from anyone based in the UK who has an interest in sending us their thoughts and opinions about life in the UK. #Skystorians massobs.org.uk/write-for-th...

Write for the archive - Mass Observation Archive

Writing for Mass Observation You can apply to write for the archive here. Current Observers If you are one of our current Observers you may find our handbook for new Observers helpful. This has all th...

massobs.org.uk

Surely time for all people who use our minds, for work or leisure, to boycott the whole AI enterprise. Received a second solicitation to pay an AI bot to carry out, paid, historical research work for me.

Joe Saunders@joesaunders1.bsky.social · 4w ago

Following a growing number of unsolicited AI-related emails asking me to help train AI models to do research and masquerade as popular historians I now have a bot asking to work for me for money. Hard to see how AI can ever be ethical from a historical research perspective, let alone wider issues. 🗃️

Fellow #OnePlaceStudies researchers beware – AI agents / bots / nuisances are targeting us! If you are able to tweak your email spam settings, it may be worth adding ‘ilands’ as a word to identify spam.

Vivienne Dunstan@vivdunstan.bsky.social · 4w ago

Ars Technica: AI bots “Timmy,” “Ren,” and “Jackie” are flooding social media with slop. I got one of these yesterday, from "Rocks", about my Melrose one-place study website. arstechnica.com/ai/2026/09/a...

Following a growing number of unsolicited AI-related emails asking me to help train AI models to do research and masquerade as popular historians I now have a bot asking to work for me for money. Hard to see how AI can ever be ethical from a historical research perspective, let alone wider issues. 🗃️

We're on the lookout for some PhD students who would like to give a Lightning Talk at our seminar on 12 November! Open to early modernists working on any geography, talks are 3-5 minutes! Get in touch via BlueSky or email tmt29@cam.ac.uk with a short summary of PhD and bio by 12 October! ✨🥳

This is a very interesting new resource, The Register of British Slave-Traders. 'The Register focusses on the individuals who sought to profit from the enslavement of over 3 million African men, women, and children, whose identity was – for the most part – erased from the historical record.' 🗃️

The Register of British Slave-Traders

The Register of British Slave-traders compiles and presents information on all known slave-traders in Britain who invested in the trafficking of captive Africans from 1563 to 1807.

britishslavetraders.org

Nov 12th - PhD Lighting Talks at @ihrscb.bsky.social! A chance to introduce your PhD project in 3-5 minutes on any aspect of society, culture or belief, 1500-1800. Organised by @teaphaine.bsky.social and @annajpravdica.bsky.social. Email abstract to tmt29@cam.ac.uk by Oct 12th. #EarlyModern 🗃️

The @ihr.bsky.social, @senatehouselib.bsky.social and SAS are excited to announce that bookings are now open for History Day 2026! 🥳 Save the date for Wednesday 18 November and join us in Senate House for this celebration of all things history. Book your free place: https://bit.ly/4yw4zWt

I personally will not be happy until the British have ranked all their invasions in order of goodness. Is the "Glorious Revolution" still our favourite? Does anybody remember Fishguard? (Cofiwch Fishguard) Did the Beaker People come in peace, and were the beakers worth it?

YouGov@yougov.co.uk · last mo.

As the Bayeux Tapestry opens to the public at the British Museum, what impact do Britons think the Norman Conquest had on British history? Positive: 25% Neither: 25% Negative: 6% Don't know: 44% yougov.com/en-gb/daily-...

“Many of the major questions that AI raises are old questions in new clothing. How do labour markets absorb technological change? How do we govern how institutions make decisions about people?”

Hetan Shah@hetanshah.bsky.social · last mo.

'Humanities & social sciences research is central to ask questions about how and in whose interests technology is being developed, how it can be adopted, deployed & governed and how to create a world where AI can benefit the many, not the few' My blog for @ukri.org ukri.substack.com/p/why-ai-wil...

*Many hands of every sort* I've got a 10-page feature in the latest @historytoday.com on the emergence of mass petitioning in late Tudor & early Stuart England. Tons of people adding their 'hands' to complaints and requests for the first time! #EarlyModern 🗃️ www.historytoday.com/archive/feat...

At St Magnus the Martyr, London Bridge last night for a fantastic event to talk about work with Historic Towns Trust @historictownstrust.bsky.social on mapping London on the Eve of the Great Fire. www.historictownstrust.uk/post/mapping... 🗃️

Webinar week: Joe Saunders, Becoming a local historian. Book here: www.pharostutors.com/webinars

A helpful thing I heard recently abt student AI use is that a big reason it's become so naturalized is that students think it keeps them competitive w/ peers who are using it. So I started the semester by clueing them in: it's just the opposite - students using it produce some of the poorest work.