About me
In 1999, I graduated from the University of Warwick with a PhD in English and Comparative Literary Studies. For a decade I worked as a writer and editor on a daily national newspaper (Metro), and then in a variety of communications roles for UK universities.
I’m passionate about history. In 2012, I published Lichfield Then & Now with The History Press, a book comprising historic photographs paired with contemporary colour versions of the same views.
Between 2014 and 2020, I wrote a biography of the 18th-century Irish actress Peg Woffington. I’ve presented papers on her at Bath Spa University, the National University of Ireland, Galway, and St Hugh’s College, Oxford. I’ve also given talks to The Johnson Society (Lichfield) and at Bromley House Library.
I’ve published occasional pieces on Peg Woffington for academic audiences, such as “Visual Art as Celebrity Memoir: The Paradox of Peg Woffington’s Sick-bed Portrait” which appeared in the journal Life Writing.
In 2020, an essay I wrote about Peg’s travesty performances won the Society for Theatre Research’s New Scholar’s Prize, and in 2022, my book proposal was shortlisted for The Tony Lothian Prize (awarded by The Biographers’ Club for the best uncommissioned proposal by a first-time biographer).
In my spare time, I’m a Trustee of The Johnson Society (Lichfield) and sit on the editorial board of its annual journal. I’m also an active member of the Women’s Studies Group 1558-1837 and The Biographers’ Club, as well as being an Associate Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.
You can read a list of my publications below.
Bibliography
B.A. Combined Honours in Fine Art and English Literature, University of Chester, 1994
M.A. The Word and the Visual Imagination, University of Wales Trinity Saint David, 1995
Ph.D. English and Comparative Literary Studies, University of Warwick, 1999
BOOKS
Lichfield Then & Now (Stroud: The History Press, 2012). 45 carefully chosen photographs from archives, postcards and private collections with 45 contemporary colour versions of the same views, providing a fascinating visual chronicle of the city’s progress. Visit my books page >>
ARTICLES
“Another Lichfield Actor: William Milward”, The Johnson Society Transactions (2022), 56-60.
Sleeve note on Henry Carey for John Frederick Lampe’s The Dragon of Wantley, conducted by John Andrews (Resonus, released July 4th 2022).
“‘Thus Let Me Wipe Dishonour from my Name’: Peg Woffington as Lothario in The Fair Penitent”, Theatre Notebook, 75 (2021), 76-93. Winner of the The Society for Theatre Research’s New Scholars’ Prize 2020. Download PDF >>
“Visual Art as Celebrity Memoir: The Paradox of Peg Woffington’s Sick-bed Portrait,” Life Writing, 16 (2019), 213-230. Also published in book form in Life Writing and Celebrity: Exploring Intersections, ed. Sandra Mayer and Julia Novak (Routledge, 2020). Access here >>
“‘Lovely Peggy’: David Garrick’s Unsuitable Mistress,” The Johnson Society Transactions (2018), 39-51. Delivered as a lecture to the Society to mark the tercentenary of David Garrick’s birth.
REVIEWS
“Dinner with Joseph Johnson: Books and Friendship in a Revolutionary Age by Daisy Hay”, The Johnson Society Transactions (2023), 79-81.
“Cooper, Susan Margaret. Review of Actresses of the Restoration Period: Mrs Elizabeth Barry and Mrs Anne Bracegirdle”, Women’s Studies Group 1558-1837, 26 Apr 2023. Read it here >>
“The Poet and The Publisher by Pat Rogers, and Alexander Pope in the Making by Joseph Hone”, The Johnson Society Transactions (2022), 89-92.
“David Garrick and the Mediation of Celebrity by Leslie Ritchie”, The Johnson Society Transactions (2021), 83-85. Read it here >>
BLOG
The Lichfield Rambler
Kenneth Branagh’s King Lear
I was excited to finally see Kenneth Branagh in King Lear at Wyndham’s Theatre last night, having booked months ago. I last saw him live in a Shakespeare play (Hamlet) in 1992…
Operatic foundations: A relic of the Haymarket theatre
I had heard there was an important relic of John Vanbrugh’s Italian opera house in the Haymarket to be seen in Bedford Row.
The Hercules Pillars
Last night we went to see Handel’s Jephtha at Covent Garden. On the way, we stopped for a drink at the Hercules Pillars.
Happy Folio Day
Today marks the culmination of the 400th birthday celebrations of the First Folio: one of the most influential books ever to have been published.
Domestic Baroque: Vanbrugh House
As we were in Oxford, we thought we’d have a look at a building on St Michael’s Street, close to the Oxford Union, that always had the reputation of being by Sir John Vanbrugh.
Good vs. Greed: The Merchant of Venice
Following some interesting conversations on Twitter, I thought I should try to put some thoughts down about The Merchant of Venice.
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