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Speakers |
Speakers this year will cover topics related to our theme, Researching the Disadvantaged of England and Wales: early poor relief methods, the Poor Law, mental institutions and the Workhouse, showing how affected individuals and their society faced these predicaments.
*Speakers confirmed to date
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Denise Bates has a degree in Modern History, with a focus on British history ca. 1800 – 1951. As a child, she collected information from her grandparents about their families, but her research in the records began about 20 years ago. Her particular interest is how an individual’s life story fits into the wider fabric of the past. Denise has written three full-length books, the most recent being Historical Research using British Newspapers, as well as contributing to several family history publications and to television and radio programs. |
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Website: www.denisebates.co.uk |
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Dr. Angela Buckley, an associate lecturer at Oxford Brookes University and a former chair of the Society of Genealogists, is a historian specializing in crime and policing. Her doctoral research was on the evolution of Victorian and Edwardian detective practice. Angela’s life in crime began with her own family – whilst researching her family tree, in her home city of Manchester, she uncovered all sorts of shady ancestors, which led to a complete change in career. She has since published five books, and her work on crime and detective history has been featured in many national magazines and newspapers, on radio and on TV. She is also a regular contributor to the Who Do You Think You Are? magazine and family history podcasts. |
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Since 2002, family history research has been Dr. Mark Carroll’s main hobby and passion, while he taught medical and dental students as a career. He has studied his maternal genealogy back to a marriage in Suffolk in 1597 and has written a book on the subject: Our Orriss Family. His background in biochemistry motivated him to use DNA testing to try breaking down brick walls in his own family tree, and this approach has been particularly fruitful with his paternal Indian heritage. He has written extensively on aspects of family history, including online biographical profiles on Wikitree. His talks in this area incorporate relevant material from his own findings and have a practical emphasis. |
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Nathan Dylan Goodwin is a writer, genealogist and educator. A member of the Society of Authors, he has completed several local history books about Hastings, his birthplace, as well as several works of fiction, including the acclaimed Forensic Genealogist series, the Mrs McDougall Investigates series and the Venator Cold Case series. He is a qualified teacher, a member of the Guild of One-Name Studies and the Society of Genealogists, as well as being a member of the Sussex Family History Group, the Norfolk Family History Society and the Kent Family History Society. |
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Website: https://www.nathandylangoodwin.com/ |
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Peter Higginbotham has written many books on the subject of workhouses, including The Workhouse Encyclopedia, Voices From The Workhouse, A Grim Almanac of the Workhouse and a number of regional surveys. He is the creator of the website The Workhouse (workhouses.org.uk) and has appeared on a number of TV programs, such as Who Do You Think You Are? and Heir Hunters. His historical work has also extended to establishing other websites: Children’s Homes (childrenshomes.org.uk) and The Prison (theprison.org.uk), as well as publishing the books Children’s Homes and The Prison Cookbook. |
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Website: https://www.workhouses.org.uk |
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Historian Dr. Judith Hill is a former University of Surrey history lecturer, a member of the Royal Historical Society and now a freelance lecturer and researcher. She lectures in the UK, has undertaken work in Canada, USA and Sri Lanka, and has written many articles for academic historical journals. Her research has dealt with emigration to Canada, 19th century cholera in Britain, and the plight of the 19th century British poor. |
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Clare is a professional genealogist, archive researcher and qualified tutor with over 10 years professional experience. She has an MSc in Genealogical, Palaeographic and Heraldic studies from the University of Strathclyde and is a member of the Register of Qualified Genealogists and an associate member of AGRA. Clare provides clients with assistance in breaking down brick walls, tracing surname lines to at least the 1841 England and Wales Census, and full family research. |
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Website: https://herefordshiregenealogy.com/ |
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Gloria Tubman has always enjoyed a good mystery. She has willingly spent over 35 years with genealogical and family history research and still has a number of brick walls. Her areas of expertise include British home children, Quebec, the Ottawa Valley, and the families of Pontiac County. She has done research for several TV episodes of Who Do You Think You Are? She is a member of the Ontario Ancestors Ottawa Branch Council and of BIFHSGO, and she volunteers at the weekly Genealogy Drop-In with the Ottawa Branch of Ontario Ancestors. Two books Gloria wrote on home children have been published by Global Genealogy (https://globalgenealogy.ca). |
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Sarah Wise is an English journalist, academic guest lecturer, tutor, and author of books on 19th-century social history. Using a broad range of archival holdings, she has pieced together lives that were irrevocably changed by the devastating 1913 Mental Deficiency Act, under which the British government put an estimated 50,000 people into “mental deficiency” institutions and forgot about them. Their “crimes” were various: women with children born outside marriage; rebellious teenagers caught shoplifting; people with epilepsy, hearing impairments or chronic illnesses who had struggled in school; and many who were simply “different’’. Sarah will explain how this highly illiberal piece of legislation came to be passed in a nation that prided itself on libertarianism, and how and why it impacted on the poorer sections of society. |
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Website: www.misssarahwise.co.uk |
