Author: Robert James

  • Using Personal Sources: Charlotte Brontë’s letters

    Using Personal Sources: Charlotte Brontë’s letters

    Rachel Savage, a second year History student at the University of Portsmouth, has written the following blog entry on letters sent between author Charlotte Brontë and her friend Ellen Nussey, for the Introduction to Historical Research module. Rachel reveals how personal sources like this can be used to gain insight into the emotions of women living in the 19th century Britain. The module is co-ordinated by Dr Maria Cannon, Lecturer in Early Modern History at Portsmouth.

    Charlotte Brontё was born in 1816 and grew up in a society which compelled her to conceal her gender with the pseudonym Currer Bell in order to initiate her successful writing career. [1] The suppressive lives women experienced in the Victorian period led Charlotte to form a close relationship with Ellen Nussey. [2] It is the closeness of this relationship that will be explored in this blog, as some historians, such as Rebecca Jennings, believe their relationship to have been a romantic one. [3] The primary sources used to debate this question are two letters that Charlotte wrote to Ellen in 1836 and 1837. [4] The analysis of these letters is crucial to this question and the extent to which these letters are useful as a piece of historical research will also be discussed. 

    Copyright:The Morgan Library & Museum

    It is evident from these letters that Charlotte cared greatly for Ellen as there is an abundance of emotive language which expresses Charlotte’s honest feelings, for example,  “what shall I do without you?”, and  “I long to be with you.” [5] Rachel Fuchs and Victoria Thompson argue that these expressions are not evidence of a romantic relationship, as in this time period women would form very close bonds and their letters would contain the topics of “their joys, their loves and their bodies.” [6] Therefore, the intimate nature of these letters may be evidence of how two friends felt they could truly be honest with each other rather than being evidence of a romantic relationship. However, it is interesting to consider that Charlotte herself was concerned that her letters to Ellen were too passionate and might be condemned. [7] This suggests that their relationship was a romantic one. Arguably one of the most passionate sentences in the 1837 letter – “we are in danger of loving each other too well” – could suggest that Charlotte and Ellen were on the brink of a romantic relationship and were in fear of that relationship developing. Because Victorian women were expected to have no sexual desires, the idea that two women could be having a romantic relationship was completely unacceptable to society. [8] Thus, Charlotte and Ellen may have feared the consequences of a romantic relationship developing. 

    These letters further highlight the context of Victorian society in which men were perceived to be superior. This limited the possibility of Ellen and Charlotte ever living together, most clearly captured in the lines, “Ellen I wish I could live with you always”, and “we might live and love on till Death without being dependent on any third person for happiness.” [9] Here Charlotte refers to a third person being a man, as in Victorian society women were completely dependent on men economically as they were the sole earners and therefore for women in a same-sex romantic relationship they faced economic barriers when it came to establishing a home together. [10] Consequently, for “novelist Charlotte Brontё and her lifelong romantic friend, Ellen Nussey, a joint home remained an unattainable dream.” [11] The fact that Charlotte and Ellen desired to live with one another suggests a romantic nature to their relationship. This is further emphasised when Ellen’s brother Henry proposed to Charlotte in 1839; Charlotte considered accepting in order to live with Ellen, but ultimately she could not accept the proposal. [12] The mere fact that Charlotte considered the proposal suggests her immense desire to live with Ellen, although as she writes in her 1836 letter that she wanted to live with Ellen without the dependence of a third person. Subsequently, this may have led her to decline the proposal. [13] As well as this, Jennings suggests women feared “that marriage would limit their independence further and restrict their access to their female friends.” [14] This was certainly the case for Charlotte when she married Arthur Bell Nicholls in 1854, as he prevented Charlotte and Ellen meeting on occasions and he read all of Charlotte’s letters before she sent them to Ellen. [15] Furthermore, the significance of Charlotte rejecting Henry’s proposal in 1839 suggests that the desire to live with Ellen in 1836 was still a dream to which Charlotte clung.

    It is also important to illuminate the positives and limitations of using these letters to gain a true historical representation of Charlotte Brontё. The use of letters for historical research is helpful because, as Miriam Dobson suggests, they offer a true representation of the authors feelings. [16] It is unlikely that Charlotte would have been dishonest with Ellen especially as they had such a close relationship, whether it be romantic or not. However, Alistair Thomson argues that “every source is constructed and [a] selective representation of experience.” [17] Subsequently, although Charlotte is likely to be honest within this source she would also have been selective in what she wrote. This is especially significant to these letters. If Charlotte did have a romantic relationship with Ellen, she had to be careful how explicitly she expressed her love for her, for if someone other than Ellen had read these letters they could both face social exclusion from society. It is this selectivity that causes historians such as Jennings, Fuchs and Thompson to debate whether Charlotte and Ellen actually had a romantic relationship. Although, these letters offer a clear insight into the personal life of Charlotte Brontё and her thoughts and feelings, it is also important to remember that letters are a response to a previous interaction. [18] Consequently, these letters cannot be considered in isolation, as Ellen’s responses are also important to the creation of Charlotte’s image and presentation of herself. 

    In summary, by considering these letters historians can gain a deeper insight into the personal relations that Charlotte had and how she constructed her self-image to Ellen with the influence and constraints placed on her in society in which she could not openly express her love for Ellen. It is certainly clear that Charlotte would be honest and express her deepest thoughts and desires with Ellen. The question of Charlotte’s lesbianism is in no way conclusive, as more letters would need to be analysed especially those by Ellen. However, it is likely they may have desired a lesbian relationship, but the social constraints were too restricting to do so.

    Notes

    [1] Dinah Birch, “Charlotte Brontë”, in The Brontёs in Context ed. Marianne Thormählen. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012), 65.

    [2] Eugene Charlton Black, “Sexual Roles: Victorian Progress?”, in Victorian Culture and Society ed. Eugene Charlton Black. (London: Macmillan, 1973), 385.

    [3] Rebecca Jennings, A Lesbian History of Britain: Love and Sex between Women Since 1500 (Oxford: Greenwood World, 2007), 51.

    [4] Charlotte Brontё, “C.Brontё letters to Ellen Nussey, 1836”Alison Oram and Annmarie Turnbull, The Lesbian History Sourcebook: Love and Sex Between Women in Britain from 1780-1970 (New York: Routledge, 2001), 60-61.

    [5] Brontë, “C. Brontë”, 61.

    [6] Rachel G. Fuchs and Victoria E. Thompson, Women in Nineteenth-Century Europe (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005), 38.

    [7] Jennings, Lesbian, 53.

    [8] Fuchs and Thompson, Women, 40-41.

    [9] Brontë, “C. Brontë”, 61.

    [10] Jennings, Lesbian, 51.

    [11] Jennings, Lesbian, 51-52.

    [12] Jennings, Lesbian, 53.

    [13] Brontë, “C. Brontë”, 61.

    [14] Jennings, Lesbian, 53.

    [15] Jennings, Lesbian, 53-54.

    [16] Miriam Dobson, “Letters”, in Reading Primary Sources: The Interpretation of Texts from Nineteenth and Twentieth Century History ed. Miriam Dobson and Benjamin Ziemann. (New York: Routledge, 2009), 60.

    [17] Alistair Thomson, “Life Stories and Historical Analysis”, in Research Methods for History ed. Lucy Faire and Simon Gunn. (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2012), 102.

    [18] Dobson, “Letters”, 69

  • Using Personal Sources: Understanding women’s work in the First World War

    Using Personal Sources: Understanding women’s work in the First World War

    Rhea Nana, a second year History student at the University of Portsmouth, has written the following blog entry on a letter sent by Marie Martin, a nurse in the First World War, for the Introduction to Historical Research module. Rhea reveals how personal sources such as letters can be one of the only places to find certain insights into the emotions of those experiencing the war. The module is co-ordinated by Dr Maria Cannon, Lecturer in Early Modern History at Portsmouth.

    When analysing wars, immediate connotations come with it, such as suffering, separation and bad conditions. These connotations are expressed in the letters written from Marie Martin, the daughter of an Irish family. Marie had been sent away in 1915 to perform her duties of being a nurse in Malta during the First World War.  This blog will concentrate on a specific letter sent by Marie, explaining her life on a daily basis and also how letters, though selective, provide an insight of events and emotions. Ross F. Collins’ views on women in the First World War was that ‘they were needed in war work and many were employed, thousands as nurses’; this immediately highlights that women were a great asset to the war. [1] However, women rarely had the chance to speak out about how they were feeling when working in the war, unless it was in private, otherwise they would end up ‘in jail or receive great condemnation’. [2] This letter does have its limitations into reaching a full insight into the world of working war women, but the blog essentially exposes how women in the war managed to balance their duties and prove a great asset in the First World War.

    Letter from Marie Martin to her mother http://letters1916.maynoothuniversity.ie/item/5726

    This letter not only presents the struggles of a young woman carrying out her daily job as a nurse; it also illustrates how she tried to keep in contact with her mother. Her first few lines claim that ‘My last letter was the maddest letter I have ever written. I started it so often’. [3] This underlines that working women take on a lot of responsibility and perhaps do not have time for themselves. Susan R. Grayzel reinforces this argument as she claims that ‘nursing exposed many relatively sheltered young women to some of the war’s most visceral horrors, and in doing so, changed their lives’. [4] By describing the war as life changing it implies that possibly Marie did not know what she was getting herself into as she now had to sacrifice her own personal time to even write a simple letter to her mother.

    Therefore, this reveals that Marie could have been in a rush when writing the letter and so potentially selective about what she wrote, henceforth being a clear limitation too. Also, the fact that Grayzel uses the noun ‘horror’ to refer to the war could give the impression that she only wants to write about the positive aspects about being a nurse in the war.  Historians in turn can use this primary source by analysing the relationship between mothers and daughters in general. Barbara Caine finds that due ‘to a turn in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, young women were open to more opportunities resulting in daughters being more knowledgeable and established’. [5] Thus, this personal source instantly highlights that letters are able to provide information on the relationship between family members as well as an insight to how war duties were critical.

    The conditions in the war were constantly fluctuating and even though Marie was not serving on the front lines, she also had to experience the change in weather and the bloodied patients who were rushed in.  Marie was no longer in a state of relative stability; her life in Ireland was a complete contrast to her ‘ankles deep in water from the storm’ and ‘only a tent to eat our meals in’. [6] This stresses the idea that women in the war had to adapt and endure the conditions as much as men did, which in turn allows historians to recognise how women were taking on more responsibilities. This is reinforced by Gail Braybon who finds that it ‘revolutionised men’s minds and their conception of the sort of work of which the ordinary everyday women were capable’. [7] Consequently, women were illustrating that they were progressing in the war effort and almost seen as an equal by men.

    Furthermore, historians can focus on the usefulness of personal sources, especially when it comes to letters. As Miriam Dobson and Benjamin Ziemann recognise, ‘letters are praised for the human dimension they bring to history, allowing people to capture raw experiences of the past’. [8] This displays that Marie’s description of her time as a nurse was genuine and because this can be classed as a private letter, she is able to expose more detail. Additionally, in the past women ‘would only send letters to boost morale for men’ but during the world war ‘it was used for upholding social networks and keeping relations.’ [9] Thus, Margaretta Jolly demonstrates that women were able to use letters effectively, which not only showed that they were advancing in the war, but that letters were used for a social purpose too.

    The small details within this letter written by Marie only disclose a miniscule amount of true emotion and how effective a letter can be.  The analysis of the letter essentially offers an insight into the deeper meaning of what it meant to be a working woman in the war and the responsibility that they had to take on. The letter allows historians to find alternative conclusions to how women were treated in the war and the impact of disclosed information between family members. Overall, this work has presented that letters are a gateway to discovering more information than intended, and that emotions in letters do come across as genuine, especially in Marie’s case. Letters from women can be compared in order to validate their shared experiences of the war and are thus a great asset.

    Notes

    [1] Ross F. Collins, World War 1: Primary documents on events from 1914-1919 (ABC-CLIO, LLC, 2007), 285.

    [2] Collins, World War 1, 284.

    [3] Letters 1916-1923. ‘Letter from Marie Martin to her mother, Mary Martin, (November’) 1915. http://letters1916.maynoothuniversity.ie/item/5726

    [4] Susan R. Grayzel, Women and The First World War (Routledge, Taylor and Francis, 2002), 37.

    [5] Barbara Caine, ‘Letters between Mothers and Daughters’, Women’s History Review, no 233 (2015): 6.

    [6] Letters 1916-1923. ‘Letter from Marie Martin to her mother’.

    [7] Gail Braybon, Women Workers in the First World War (Routledge, 2012), 157.

    [8] Miriam Dobson and Benjamin Ziemann, Reading Primary Sources : The Interpretation of Texts from Nineteenth and Twentieth Century History ( Routledge, 2008), 61.

    [9] Margaretta Jolly, In Love and Struggle: Letters in Contemporary Feminism (Columbia University Press, 2008), 36.

  • Using Personal Sources: Bonds of friendship in the women’s suffrage campaign

    Using Personal Sources: Bonds of friendship in the women’s suffrage campaign

    Hannah Moase, a second year History student at the University of Portsmouth, has written the following blog entry on a letter sent by women’s suffrage campaigner Carrie Chapman Catt for the Introduction to Historical Research module. Hannah reveals how the letter provides us with an insight into the important bonds of friendship that existed between the suffrage campaigners of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The module is co-ordinated by Dr Maria Cannon, Lecturer in Early Modern History at Portsmouth.

    Carrie Chapman Catt is well known for the huge part she played in the women’s suffrage movement in America and other parts of the world due to her being one of the founders and the first president of the International Woman Suffrage Alliance. [1] This blog will focus on a letter sent by Catt to Dr Marion Edwards Park regarding the recent death of Dr Martha Carey Thomas, who was a fellow leading member of the National American Woman Suffrage Association along with Catt. This blog post shows how personal letters like this can give historians an insight into the more emotional, private thoughts and relationships of well-known, important figures such as Catt.

    Carrie Chapman Catt. Image taken from Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrie_Chapman_Catt

    Mariam Dobson argues that personal letters allow historians to have an insight into the “raw experiences and emotions of actors in the past” and this can be seen with Catt’s letter. [2] This letter is written to Dr Marion Park who succeeded Dr Thomas as the president of Bryn Mawr College. In the letter Carrie mentions how she is “unacquainted with the family of Dr Thomas” and that is why she is writing to Park regarding her passing, as she considers her a close colleague to Dr Thomas with her being the successor to the presidency. [3] Although Catt’s letter is written in a formal tone there are feelings of sadness and admiration towards Dr Thomas running throughout it. This can be seen at the beginning of the letter when Catt explains she is writing it because she “wants to express to someone” her “sincere regret at her passing” and she mentions the “admiration” she had for Dr Thomas’ work. [4] The word “someone” suggests that she was not wholly concerned with who the recipient of the letter was, she just wanted the opportunity to express her feelings regarding Dr Thomas and she felt a letter to one of her colleagues was a good platform to express these emotions. [5] This further supports Dobson’s argument that letters were used as a platform for people to express their emotions. [6] This shows how letters can be useful to historians, as they allow them a window into the emotions and private thoughts of the person being studied.

    There is also a feeling of regret from Catt in this letter because she did not get to express these feelings of admiration to Dr Thomas herself before she died. At the end of the letter Catt explains how “several times” she meant to write to Dr Thomas and “express her own personal appreciation”. [7] However, she never got around to it before her death because of how busy she was writing letters to strangers who would ask her for “information, advice or favours”. [8] This gives historians an insight into how busy Catt was in her everyday life and to the other types of correspondence she was constantly writing. This shows how a personal letter like this can be useful to historians. As Lindsey Dodd argues, letters give us an understanding of the everyday lives and work of “exceptional people who led exceptional lives”. [9] This letter shows historians the extent of the impact that Catt had on people. Catt is writing this letter in 1935, fifteen years after suffrage has been granted to the women of America. [10] Catt was still receiving countless letters from strangers many years later seeking her guidance and this can be used as evidence to show just how much of an impact she had as a lead figure in the fight for women’s suffrage. [11] Kevin Amidon and Leila Rupp explain Catt’s involvement in international women’s political activity. [12] Amidon shows that after 1920 Catt continued to support women’s suffrage internationally. [13] Catt’s important role in international women’s movements would explain why she still was receiving so many letters after 1920.

    This letter also gives historians a contemporary view of the types of suffrage work that took place in America and its impacts. In the letter, Catt says how she feels Dr Thomas’ work as a leader of the Collegiate Equal Suffrage League made “it into a great, strong movement”. [14] She also explains how the “profitable results” from her work were not felt until “years later”. [15] This gives historians evidence that for leaders of suffrage movements, seeing results and the impact of their work was often a slow process. Katherine Adams and Michael Kenne explain that the women fighting for suffrage often had a lot of setbacks in achieving their goals and they argue that during this period the women’s suffrage campaign was seen as an example that political rights cannot be achieved without “insistent efforts to obtain it”. [16] Margaretta Jolley reveals how letters can be seen as  “a staple of any political movement,” and this demonstrates that even though this source is of a personal nature, historians can still pull information from it regarding the political movement and learn contemporary views of the campaign from a figure who played a key role. [17]

    It must be mentioned there are limitations to using personal letters as primary sources. For example, they only give us a one-sided view of an event, topic or person. The intended audience can also be an issue when looking at personal letters. Dobson argues that sometimes a “letter’s apparently personal nature can be rather deceptive” and this can be seen with Catt’s letter. [18] Although it is a personal letter in which Catt reveals her emotions of sadness and regret, as well as her opinion regarding Dr Thomas, at the end of the letter she says, “I wish to express to Bryn Mawr, through you”. [19] This suggests that although the letter was sent to Dr Park, it was not just aimed at her and Catt wants to express her thoughts to the whole college. This should be considered by historians looking at this source as the intended audience of this letter could be argued to affect how true the emotions and views expressed in the letter are.

    This blog has shown that there are very useful pieces of information that historians can pull out of personal letters. Catt’s letter is an example of how a personal letter can allow historians an insight into the private thoughts, emotions and everyday life of the author, and that this information can be used by historians to gain a broader picture of contemporary views of an event, period or person. If used alongside other sources, personal letters allow historians to get a more comprehensive view of the topic being studied and their usefulness should not be underrated.

    Notes

    [1] Trisha Franzen, Anna Howard Shaw: The Work of Woman Suffrage (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2014), 89.

    [2] Miriam Dobson, “Letters”, in Reading Primary Sources: The Interpretation of Texts from Nineteenth and Twentieth Century History ed. Miriam Dobson and Benjamin Ziemann. (Oxfordshire: Routledge, 2009), 60.

    [3] “Carrie Chapman Catt’s letter to Marion Edwards Park regarding the death of Dr. Thomas” (December 9, 1935) http://www.genderidentityandsocialchange.amdigital.co.uk/Documents/SearchDetails/BMC_M15_CattCarrieChapman_07, last accessed 2 November 2018.

    [4] Ibid.

    [5] Ibid.

    [6] Dobson, Reading, 60.

    [7] “Catt’s letter”.

    [8] Ibid.

    [9] Lindsey Dodd, ”Small fish, big pond: using a single oral history narrative to reveal broader social change”, in Memory and History: Understanding Memory as Source and Subject ed. Joan Tumblety. (Oxfordshire: Routledge, 2013), 39.

    [10] Susan Goodier and Karen Pastorello, Women Will Vote: Winning Suffrage in New York State (New York: Cornell University Press, 2017), 13.

    [11] Franzens, Anna, 90.

    [12] Kevin S. Amidon, ”Carrie Chapman Catt and the Evolutionary Politics of Sex and Race, 1885-1940,” Journal of the History of Ideas 68, no. 2 (2007): 307; Leila J. Rupp, “Constructing Internationalism: The Case of Transnational Women’s organizations, 1888-1945,” The American Historical Review 99, no. 5 (1994): 1576.

    [13] Amidon, Carrie, 307.

    [14] “Catt’s letter”.

    [15] Ibid.

    [16] Katherine H. Adams and Michael L. Keene, Alice Paul and the American Suffrage Campaign (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2008), 154.

    [17] Margaretta Jolley, In Love and Struggle: Letters in Contemporary Feminism (New York: Columbia University Press, 2008), 2.

    [18] Dobson, Reading, 57. [19] “Catt’s letter”.

  • Using Personal Sources: Lost London; the memoirs of an East End detective

    Using Personal Sources: Lost London; the memoirs of an East End detective

    Emily Burgess, a second year History student at the University of Portsmouth, has written the following blog entry on the memoirs of an East End detective, Sergeant B. Leeson, for the Introduction to Historical Research module. Emily discusses how we can use personal sources such as this to understand more about social anxieties at the time of their writing. The module is co-ordinated by Dr Maria Cannon, Lecturer in Early Modern History at Portsmouth.

    Crime in the Victorian period has become significant through such cases as the Whitechapel murders. With the use of personal sources, those involved in the investigations into these murders can provide historians with an individual and somewhat hidden insight into the criminality of late nineteenth century Britain. This blog will focus on the memoirs of Detective Sergeant B. Leeson and his recollection of the East End of London between 1890 and 1891. [1]

    Leeson’s memoir was interestingly written and published 43 years after the horrific murder of Frances Coles. Her murder was bound up with further concerns over the return of Jack the Ripper whose last recorded victim was found two years prior. When analysing this personal source, it is important to recognise the space between the recorded event and the source’s creation as it can present issues for historians over the accuracy of the document. It has been identified that the memory of a single event can change dramatically with age, and even though Leeson was a witness to the event and a notable one due to his position as a police officer, his depiction of the murder 43 years later could be significantly faulty due to his own memory. [2] Equally, any distortions to his interpretation could be a result of outside influences. An example from the late Victorian period would be the press who were quick to perpetuate any murders associated with Jack the Ripper to a public audience. This is supported by Alistair Thompson who emphasises the importance of identifying different factors that shape a source, and that these factors can be a result of wider social aspects. [3] Therefore, it is important to be careful when analysing personal sources as although they may seem personal, they could have been influenced by outside elements.

    When looking at the historiography surrounding this time period (1890-91), there is heavy emphasis placed on rising social panic due to high crime rates; and particularly the fear of serial killer Jack the Ripper who was never caught. This is evident with the mounting public panic within the period, and is reflected within the source as “hundreds of police and civilians took part in the search” for the murderer. [4] It can be identified from this statement that the investigation was vast and was aided by many different people from the area, proving it to be a joint effort from a mainly working-class community that had been affected by the Whitechapel murders. In correlation to this, the time of publishing, 1934, was also a period of increasing social unrest due to high unemployment rates. These increasing rates of unemployment led to significant anxiety during the ‘hungry 30s’ due to the fear of crime and social conflict. [5] Subsequently, historians can benefit from personal documents such as this one as they allow an “understanding of social and cultural conditions.” [6] Personal sources such as Leeson’s can even reflect social issues surrounding the time of publishing, evident with the correlating social crisis surrounding the working class. They can also provide information that was not necessarily intended. Within this text, Leeson speaks of the belief that the “Ripper crimes were not the work of any human agency.” [7] Due to this statement, topics such as belief in the supernatural are brought up. Even though this was not the intention of the source, it can be useful in analysing Victorian superstition which is known to be prevalent within British culture at this time. This is supported by J. Jeffrey Franklin who identified the widespread emergence of spirituality and occultism within the Victorian period. [8]

    Recognising the purpose of this source is also essential in understanding why the material, that being the murder, is presented in a certain way. Even though it is considered a personal document, the intended audience of this text is vast. The source was made for public consumption and as a result need to be addressed with caution. It is therefore important to recognise the motive of the publisher. The publisher of this specific source, Stanley Paul and Co is also of interest as they were a London based company and published this memoir which heavily focused on the East End of London. This suggests that they wanted to perpetuate the history of this specific area. Questions have to be asked such as whether the source has been exaggerated or dramatized to entice further public interest. This is evident as the crime scene is graphically detailed and speaks of how the “woman laid with her head nearly severed from her body.” [9] Kaspar von Greyerz addresses how authors consciously alter their reminiscence in a certain direction for the benefit of themselves or the audience. [10] In light of this, the account provided by Leeson is still valuable as he saw it happen even if the motivation of the piece was to sell to the public. Historians also need to be cautious when dealing with personal sources concerning disturbing events as the perception of the author could have been altered due to trauma. Leeson himself states his “inexperience” and how he witnessed the body when he was only a young police constable, bringing into question his mental state and whether the shock could have affected his recollection of the murder. [11] As a result, it is important to compare and contrast different documents in order to gain a clearer picture of the circumstance in question.

    This blog focused on Detective Sergeant B. Leeson’s recollection of the murder of Frances Coles as well as historical debates surrounding personal sources. The intended purpose of this source was to document and present this murder to a public audience. In recognising this, ideas surrounding the publisher and author’s motives had to be considered. This source also reflected themes such as social anxiety, which linked both the time of publishing and the event itself proving to be a valuable tool for historians in understanding contemporary issues. In addition to this, the text brought up various limitations surrounding personal sources. These limitations were highlighted within Leeson’s memoir due to time, trauma, and his own memory which could affect the accuracy of his depiction.

    NOTES

    [1] Benjamin Leeson. “Lost London; the memoirs of an East End detective” (Stanley Paul and Co. LTD. 1934) 41-42.

    [2] Michael Roper. “Re-remembering the Soldier Hero: The Psychic and Social Construction of Memory in Personal Narratives of the Great War” History Workshop Journal, 2000, no. 50, 1 (2000) 199.

    [3] Alistair Thompson. “Life stories and historical analysis” in Research Methods for History ed. Simon Gunn, Lucy Faire. (Edinburgh University Press, 2011) 102.

    [4] L. Curtis. Jack the Ripper and the London Press (Yale University Press, 2002) 245; Leeson. “Lost London”.

    [5] John Stevenson and Chris Cook. The Slump: Britain in the Great Depression (Routledge, 2009) 99.

    [6] David Carlson. “Autobiography” in Reading Primary Sources: The Interpretation of Texts from Nineteenth and Twentieth Century History ed. Miriam Dobson, and Benjamin Ziemann. (Routledge, 2008) 177.

    [7] Leeson. “Lost London”.

    [8] J. Jeffrey Franklin. Spirit Matters: Occult Beliefs, Alternative Religions, and the Crisis of Faith in Victorian Britain (Cornell University Press, 2018) 185.

    [9] Leeson. “Lost London”.

    [10] Kaspar von Greyerz. “Ego-Documents: The Last Word?” German History 28, no. 3 (2010) 281.

    [11] Leeson. “Lost London”.

  • History Research Seminars Winter/Spring 2019

    History Research Seminars Winter/Spring 2019

    Every year, the History team at Portsmouth organise a series of research seminars that take place across the autumn, winter and spring terms. Historians are invited from a range of institutions, both in Britain and abroad, to talk about their latest research projects. The subjects presented cover a broad historical timespan and offer insight into a diverse range of topics. In this winter and spring terms there will be talks on children’s writing in 1930s Britain, relationships in early modern England, immigration in Tudor Southampton, the Royal Marines’ institutional legacy, and the health of British seamen while travelling overseas. All are welcome to attend.

    All talks take place in Milldam Building, Room LE1.04.

     

    Wednesday 16th January, 3:30-5:00pm

    Children, class and the search for security: Writing the future in 1930s Britain

    Hester Barron (University of Sussex

    ______________________________________________________________________________

    Wednesday 13th February, 3:00-4:30pm

    Queen Catherine Howard: Space, place, and promiscuity pre- and post-marriage, 1536-41

    Nikki Clark (University of Chichester)
    ______________________________________________________________________________

    Wednesday 13th March, 3:00-4:30pm

    Desiring to be fruitful in early modern England

    Leah Astbury (University of Cambridge)

    ______________________________________________________________________________

    Wednesday 3rd April, 3:00-4:30pm

    Responses to, and unexpected consequences of, immigration in Tudor Southampton

    Cheryl Butler (Southampton Tourist Guides Association)

    ______________________________________________________________________________

    Wednesday 8th May, 3:00-4:30pm

    The Graspan Memorial: The Royal Marines and the institutional legacy of the South African War

    John Bolt (University of Portsmouth)

    ______________________________________________________________________________

    Wednesday 12th June, 3:00-4:30pm

    Adrift in medical transit: Distressed British seamen abroad

    Jen Kain (University of Newcastle)

    ______________________________________________________________________________

  • ‘Have faith in your abilities’: Researching and writing the dissertation

    ‘Have faith in your abilities’: Researching and writing the dissertation

    In this blog Dr Rob James, senior lecturer in history, throws light on the process of researching and writing an undergraduate dissertation. Rob specialises in researching people’s leisure practices, and teaches a number of units that focus on one of the most popular leisure pursuits of the first half of the twentieth century, going to the cinema. He would be happy to supervise students with dissertation topics that cover a broad range of topics located broadly in twentieth-century Britain.

    Mentioning the word ‘dissertation’ can send a ripple of terror across many a student cohort. It is like one of the characters in the Harry Potter books and films mentioning Lord Voldemort. It’s the thing ‘that-must-not-be-named’. For students in their first year of study, it’s along way off, of course, something quite easily put to the back of the mind, but mention the word and a look or horror usually appears. For second years, it still seems like a distant task to tackle, but there is a growing fear that it is something that needs to be thought about, particularly as the year progresses. For final year students, it’s something that’s at the forefront of every student’s mind. Have a look at the blogs on this site by previous Level 6 students and they will all mention the dissertation as something that’s ever-present in their minds in the final year.

    Drawing on another fantasy book and film series for a metaphorical flourish, it’s like the character Gollum in The Lord of the Rings. In the first year, as in the first film in Peter Jackson’s trilogy The Fellowship of the Ring, only mentioned a few times. In the second year, as in The Two Towers, always lurking in the background and becoming an increasing concern. For final year students, like Gollum in The Return of the King, on every student’s mind and deemed essential for overall success! However, there’s no need to worry. Writing a dissertation is a do-able task. Millions of students have written one before you, and millions more will continue to do so. It’s achievable, and the sense of satisfaction you’ll feel once it’s done is second to none.

    Okay, the thought of writing 10,000 words on a topic does seem daunting. I remember when I was an undergraduate (here at Portsmouth) that the thought of writing that many words seemed like an impossible task. But do not fear. You will be surprised at how easy it is to begin to build up that word count. Working on a topic that you are passionate about – one that you have chosen and set the agenda on – makes the task so much easier. There are also ways to make the task seem less insurmountable. For instance, it helps to break up the dissertation into smaller chunks. Most dissertations consist of an introduction, three chapters, and a conclusion. If you divide that up, that’s roughly 3000 words per chapter and 1000 words for the introduction and conclusion. I am sure that makes it sound more achievable doesn’t it? You’ve got this far by writing lots of longs essays, so this is definitely something you are used to! Setting achievable targets also helps. Fix a set of deadlines across the final year to complete the work. There will be an official deadline for the dissertation draft and final submission, of course, but at the start of the year they will seem a long way off, so start by portioning out your time across the months and organise draft chapter deadlines with your tutor. A slow-but-steady approach is always recommended. Taking a boom-and-bust approach– leaving it to the very end – is always a risky thing to do and usually results in a lot of stress and a less than perfect dissertation.

    In addition, you are not left to do this on your own. Yes, it’s an individual project that requires lots of independent study, but you’ll receive lots of help as you go along the way. There is so much support available to you while you work on your dissertation, and I’d advise you to make the most of it! You will be assigned a dissertation supervisor who will work with you as your project progresses. They will be there to offer advice, caution against being too ambitious, challenge you not to be overcautious, help guide you through the research and writing process, read draft chapters and give feedback – as well as providing feedback on the whole draft. Why not make the most of that opportunity? It can only pay dividends. On top of this, second year students are able to speak with their personal tutor about their ideas and receive advice on them, and later in the year are given the opportunity to speak with a specialist in their research area to get feedback on their ideas. Finally, all second years submit a proposal that will receive feedback and guidance on how to proceed with the dissertation. There are also two sites on the VLE, Moodle, to help you work your way through the various stages of the process. The first – ‘Preparing for your dissertation’ – is a must-go-to destination for all second years, offering advice on planning your research, including what to include in the proposal! The second site – ‘Writing your dissertation’ – is an invaluable resource for all final year students, offering advice on researching, writing and producing the dissertation.

    So, next time you hear mention of ‘the-thing-that-must-not-be-named’, relax. You’ve achieved so much already, and all the skills you have learned and are continuing to learn as you work your way through the degree, are leading to this point. You can do it. Have faith in your abilities. We do!

    With many thanks to Russ Wiiliams, second year History student, who suggested the idea of using the character of Gollum as a metaphor for the dissertation’s increasing relevance as students work their way through the degree. My cultural references would have been somewhat dated and no doubt of little relevance to the majority of you!