Amidst the excellent #histmed panels at #SSHM2026, I was excited to organise a #maritimehistory panel on naval healthcare and welfare featuring new research from myself, @eliskabujokova.bsky.social and @catsbeck.bsky.social, chaired by Erica Charters. Another great @sshmedicine.bsky.social event!

Today is #NationalNumeracyDay As @jamesafox.bsky.social argues in our latest article, the UK's present-day numeracy crisis has seventeenth-century roots. Understanding them might help us make better sense of today's issues. Read the article here: scilicet.org.uk/the-uks-nume... #skystorians

How were sailors were declared ‘unfit for service’ in the British navy? I’ll be giving a free online talk about this and more on June 2nd at 5.15pm GMT for the Maritime History and Culture Seminar hosted by Royal Museums Greenwich: www.rmg.co.uk/whats-on/onl... #navalhistory #maritimehistory

Unfit for service: disability and old age in the British Navy during the French Wars

Join us for a free online talk by Dr Manon C. Williams

rmg.co.uk

⚓️ Naval medicine at sea 🔓️ In our newest issue of the BJHS, Manon Williams explores post-mortem practices in the Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars—showing how surgeons contributed to medical research onboard. More in the latest BJHS:

Latest issue | The British Journal for the History of Science | Cambridge Core

The British Journal for the History of Science

cambridge.org

My article about post-mortem examinations on naval ships has been published in the newest issue of the British Journal for the History of Science! Available Open Access from @universitypress.cambridge.org and @bshsnews.bsky.social here: doi.org/10.1017/S000... #navalhistory #histmed #histsci

In the article, we explain how we built the visualisation of historical student records - and what we discovered about colonial connections (to the Atlantic world, and especially to British India) when we did so: doi.org/10.1080/0046...

Visualising Historical University Records to Explore the Colonial Connections of the Students and Alumni of the University of St Andrews, 1700–1897

This paper uses the historical student records of the University of St Andrews to demonstrate how an exploration of the student community can contribute to our understanding of the ways UK universi...

doi.org

📣Bookings now open! 👉Celebrating 50 years of the Social History Society with our 'Festival of Social History' @ihr.bsky.social Panels, zine-making stall, tours, lunch, a roundtable, & keynote by Naomi Tadmor 📅 24 Apr 2026 💷 from £10 for members All welcome! socialhistory.org.uk/events/festi...

Festival of Social History

To celebrate 50 years of the Social History Society, we’ve teamed up with the Institute of Historical Research to host a Social History Festival! The festival will feature two expert discussion pan…

socialhistory.org.uk

wp.me/p9nqgh-3ly Thank you to Richard DeGrijs for his latest Health and Sea/Maritime Medicine article.

Bound Bowels at Sea: Obstipation and the Limits of Maritime Medicine - Global Maritime History

Last month, we talked about shipboard lavatories as part of our regular “Health at Sea in the Age of Sail” features. This month, we continue that theme by considering a very common affliction that cau...

wp.me

An interesting read about how historians tend to think about projects as ‘books’. I’ve recently been wondering how we can forefront impact or public engagement outputs as project goals, rather than monographs (…though admittedly less helpful on the job market).

Aileen Fyfe@aileenfyfe.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Does thinking about research in book-sized chunks constrain the ways we do historical research? It's something I have been wondering about... @standrewshist.bsky.social See: online.ucpress.edu/hsns/article...

👀Funding available for #Humanities research and engagement.

Being Human Festival@beinghumanfest.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Two grant schemes from the School of Advanced Study are now open for applications: Being Human Festival 2026 and the Centre for Public Engagement Practice in Arts and Humanities’ new Collaboration and Innovation Grant. Go to bit.ly/3ZoolUq for details on how to apply

The Battle of Corunna took place #OTD in 1809. Civilian surgeon Charles Bell volunteered to treat wounded soldiers returning to Britain. He later created these artworks which he used for teaching. Some of these artworks can be seen in our Wohl Pathology Museum.

Come hear me talk about my beloved naval surgeons on 29 January at KCL’s Maritime History Seminar! I’ll be speaking about my PhD research along with some important updates, newly-discovered from the archives during my Caird Fellowship at Royal Museums Greenwich. www.kcl.ac.uk/events/naval...

‘Men of the most splendid talents and professional respectability’: Naval surgeons, professional identity, and collective bargaining (1793–1815) | King's College London

In this seminar, Dr Manon C Williams explores how naval surgeons during the French Wars collectively pushed for reforms to improve their status and professional identity.

kcl.ac.uk

If your work engages with naval and maritime history, art, and culture, do consider applying. Next year’s application is open now until 18 January 2026: www.rmg.co.uk/collections/.... Feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions about my research or the fellowship.

Fellowships at Royal Museums Greenwich

Apply for funding to support research at Royal Museums Greenwich through our Caird Research Fellowships

rmg.co.uk

Manon C Williams@manoncwilliams.bsky.social · 8mo ago

This year, as a Caird Research Fellow at Royal Museums Greenwich, I developed a new research project on occupational health, disability, and welfare in the British Royal Navy during the French Wars (1793–1815). Read some of my preliminary findings here: www.rmg.co.uk/stories/mari....

This year, as a Caird Research Fellow at Royal Museums Greenwich, I developed a new research project on occupational health, disability, and welfare in the British Royal Navy during the French Wars (1793–1815). Read some of my preliminary findings here: www.rmg.co.uk/stories/mari....

Unfit for service: healthcare and welfare in Nelson's Navy

Hidden in the seemingly mundane bureaucratic letters of the Royal Navy lie some fascinating insights into the role of the British state in providing healthcare and welfare to ill and injured seamen.

rmg.co.uk

This year, as a Caird Research Fellow at Royal Museums Greenwich, I developed a new research project on occupational health, disability, and welfare in the British Royal Navy during the French Wars (1793–1815). Read some of my preliminary findings here: www.rmg.co.uk/stories/mari....

Unfit for service: healthcare and welfare in Nelson's Navy

Hidden in the seemingly mundane bureaucratic letters of the Royal Navy lie some fascinating insights into the role of the British state in providing healthcare and welfare to ill and injured seamen.

rmg.co.uk

20 November to 20 December is UK Disability History Month. Here at the IHR we have been relaunching our collection guides including our Disability History guide: buff.ly/zXSqTKe

📢 CALL FOR PAPERS: Marginal Militaries: Navigating Historical Boundaries, Differences, and Experiences at the Military Periphery Conference date: 22-23 October, 2026 Location: @forsvarshogskolan.bsky.social Stockholm, Sweden (hybrid participation tbc) Cfp Deadline: 28 February, 2026

New blog from IHR Director @clairelanghamer@bsky.social reflecting on how historians can advocate for history through our practice, and defend the important historical work that goes on within universities as well as beyond them. blog.history.ac.uk/2025/11/advo...

Advocating for History by Doing History - On History

This blog was written by Claire Langhamer, Director of the IHR Historians are very good at crafting arguments and in recent times very many people have advanced very many arguments about why history…

blog.history.ac.uk

Two #histmed CFPs with deadline for abstracts Jan 2026! Life Histories in Mind: Mental Ill Health and Learning Disability in Context (Manchester) & Blood is the price of coal: Coal communities, health and welfare in Britain and beyond from the 19th century to the present (Warwick) For more details 👇

History of Medicine CFPs

If you wish to share your CFPs on the SSHM website please contact the Exec Sec, Dr Justine Pick admin@sshm.org Life Histories in Mind: Mental Ill Health and Learning Disability in Context Location:…

sshm.org

Who else is watching the fantastic #Empire series by @davidolusoga.bsky.social? It was a pleasure to be involved in this - dangerous and disease-ridden #prisonhulks were used in England for 80 years from 1776, propping up the rotten system of convict transportation. Check out episode 2 for more!

A new installation on ‘Medical alumni in history’ has been unveiled at the School of Medicine. It was designed and installed by our recent PhD graduate – and historian of medicine – @manoncwilliams.bsky.social, and features notable alumni from 19th and 20th century St Andrews. (1/3)

I was thrilled to travel to Scotland this week to open an installation I’ve been working on for the School of Medicine @uniofstandrews.bsky.social. The installation showcases diverse alumni from St Andrews’ past to inspire incoming students to the #MBChB. #histmed #medsky #medhums #skystorians

Think about the way that the current scientific publishing system is draining resources out of the research ecosystem... That drain is most obvious in terms of money (and this is so despite #openaccess), but there's also an erosion of time, trust and control [1/n]

If you’re in London and want to learn more about how aged and disabled sailors were declared ‘unfit for service’ and invalided from the Navy, join me on 26 November. I’ll be giving a public talk in Greenwich based on my Caird Research Fellowship. More info here: www.rmg.co.uk/whats-on/que...

Salons in the Queen's House: Unfit for Service

In this free lunchtime talk, historian Dr Manon Williams will explore how the Royal Navy treated sailors who were judged ‘unfit for service’ due to injury, illness, or old age

rmg.co.uk

"Friedrich Engels ‘took creative liberties’ with descriptions of class divides in Manchester" www.theguardian.com/education/20... Article itself is #OpenAccess: www.cambridge.org/core/journal... #History 🗃️

Friedrich Engels ‘took creative liberties’ with descriptions of class divides in Manchester

Cambridge historian Emily Chung finds philosopher’s blistering depictions of segregation may have been exaggerated

theguardian.com

In 1837, James McCune Smith became the first Black doctor to graduate from a UK university. You can use the Bibliography of British and Irish History (BBIH) to learn about the many Black individuals who have contributed to the development of medicine and medical communities in the UK and Ireland

The Battle of Trafalgar took place #OnThisDay in 1805 ⚓ Discover an Eyewitness Account of the battle by the Assistant-Surgeon of H.M.S Swiftsure – in The Navy Records Society's online magazine: buff.ly/iGWYEvn #Navyrecords #navalhistory #OTD #Trafalgar #nelson #Admiralty #historic

Trafalgar Eyewitness Account by the Assistant-Surgeon of H.M.S Swiftsure – The Navy Records Society

This letter by Robert Hilton appears to be a collaborative account of the engagements of Trafalgar, as a surgeon’s mate would have been below deck during the battle.  Each of the surviving letters…

navyrecords.org.uk

We're excited to announce the call for papers for #MBS26, the next Modern British Studies conference, at Birmingham in June 2026. We'll be launching the #MBS Association at this event, to support further regular conferences in Modern British Studies. www.birmingham.ac.uk/events/moder...

This week we have a special article in which we share our thoughts about the History of Knowledge and what it means to us. It was great fun to write and we hope you will find it thought provoking! #skystorians #historyofknowledge scilicet.org.uk/what-is-the-...

What is the history of knowledge? | Scilicet

Scilicet is a blog dedicated to the history of knowledge. In the broadest terms, we’re interested in what people in the past knew, what it meant to know things, and what we as historians can learn abo...

scilicet.org.uk

The 2026 SSHM Conference will be @universityofleeds.bsky.social. The theme will be In/Out and we are inviting papers that consider experiences of being in and/or out of health or health care in any period or geographical location. #HistMed #HistSTM sshm.org/sshm-2026/

SSHM 2026: In/Out

Location: University of Leeds Dates: 30 June to 3 July 2026 Submission Deadline: 5.00pm (GMT) 11th January 2026 Conference Co-Convenors: Dr Alexia Moncrieff & Dr Katherine Rawling Conference Co…

sshm.org