VCH London

A half-length coloured portrait of a woman, which in front of a dark brown background, it is a half-length portrait where she is wearing a dark blue dress with a cream lace frilled collar and sleeve cuffs, and is wearing a beaded necklace with many shades of blue. She is wearing a dark red lipstick with very long dark brown hair tied up.

Another figure we want to shed light on this #WomensHistoryMonth is Harriet Grote.

In a series of articles, Dr Martin Spychal explores how she was able to establish herself as one of Westminster’s leading radical politicians.
@martinspychal.bsky.social
@victoriancommons.bsky.social

"In Place"--- An Archive of Displaced Headstones in London Parks & Gardens "In Place"  is an archival and research-led visual project documenting displaced headstones embedded within London’s contemporary public landscape. Before the mid-nineteenth century, many of London’s ...

Artist Timothy Yufit’s In Place project uses Layers of London to document displaced headstones embedded within London’s parks and public spaces. These fragmented historical traces remain present within the contemporary urban landscape. www.layersoflondon.org/map/collecti...

Online talk - Dulwich Food and Drink — Bell House Discover Dulwich residents who have been at the forefront of the food and drink industry. £5.60 | Online | Book here

Join Ian McInnes for this online #Dulwich #LocalHistory talk, 8pm, Tuesday 7 April, about the many food and drink entrepreneurs in Dulwich over the past 200 years. including Bovril, Vestey and many others. Tickets £5, proceeds to St Christopher's Hospice. www.bellhouse.co.uk/events/2026/...

Some notes on one of London's early women professional historians, in particular, @ihrlibrary.bsky.social's early Libririan, and contributor to @vch-london.bsky.social, Eliza Jeffries Davis, or 'EJD'. 🗃️ #IWD2026

If it has a cricket club, a hospital, a university, and a VCH publication within the last 10 years, then it must still exist.

The ground floor of the London Canal Museum, with an ice cream bicycle, tractor and narrowboat

Two hands holding an iPhone which is displaying the free digital guide

Community open day - 28th March

As an independent charity that receives no public funding, we rely on our entry fee to keep the doors open. However, we believe that London’s rich waterways history should be accessible to everyone in our community, regardless of circumstance.
🧵1/2

Sophie Campbell | Writer and lecturer My book 'The Season - A Summer Whirl Through the English Social Season' is published by Aurum Press. I also do lectures, workshops and copywriting.

And many Mayfair residents crop up in Sophie's book on the 'season': www.sophiecampbell.london/author/

The area is covered in our VCH Short: uolpress.co.uk/book/the-vic...

We're not always locked up in the archives. Last weekend, VCH London hit the streets with the Lord Mayor of Westminster and local residents to guide a tour of Mayfair with the brilliant blue badge guide Sophie Campbell.

Poster for the 45th West London Local History Conference. Features a picture of a grand-looking staircase in what appears to be a large store selling textiles. Text: Shopping is Never Done: West London streets down the decades. Saturday 11 April 2026. Questors Theatre: Down our High Street. David Shailes: Goddards. James Marshall: Feltham and Hounslow High Streets. Neil Robson: Arding and Hobbs. Carolynne Cotton: Bentalls of Kingston. Val Bott: Shopping in Georgian Brentford. A one-day conference at Duke Street Church, Duke Street, Richmond. Tickets, £15, on sale at www.ticketsource.co.uk/west-london-local-history-conference/ Conference sponsored by the local history societies for Acton, Barnes & Mortlake, Brentford & Chiswick, Fulham & Hammersmith, Richmond, Twickenham and Wandsworth, and the West Middlesex Family History Society.

A #OnePlaceWednesday reminder that Shopping is Never Done, a #LocalHistory conference focused on West London High Streets, takes place on Saturday 11th April at Duke Street Church in Richmond. Tickets £15. Sure to be of interest to #OnePlaceStudies researchers!

The Questioning of Eleanor Rykener Hear about the oldest document in our collection that speaks directly to LGBTQ+ history.

Join us next month for a talk on The Questioning of Eleanor Rykener and hear about the oldest document in our collection that speaks directly to LGBTQ+ history.

📅 Wed 11 March
🕑️ 1pm
📍 The London Archives
🎟️ Tickets via Eventbrite 👇

#LGBTQHistory #MedievalHistory

In 1820, a small group of radicals met in a hayloft on Cato Street, with a plan to assassinate the Prime Minister and his cabinet.

However, as @alfiesteer.bsky.social explores, the Cato Street Conspiracy was doomed to fail from the start.

Student London Students have formed a significant part of London’s population since the foundation of its first university in 1826, and Student London centres their experiences in the city’s history. To tell the 200...

Two new #OpenAccess histories from @uclpress.bsky.social:

Student London
A new history of higher education in the capital

uclpress.co.uk/book/student...

Survey of London:
University College London, The Bloomsbury Campus

uclpress.co.uk/book/univers...

#History #LondonHistory

John the Fox. Joyce Edwards' squatter portraits are now being shown publicly for the first time at Four Corners in Bethnal Green in an exhibition entitled, 'Joyce Edwards: A Story Of Squatters', which opens on 13th February and runs until Saturday 20th March.

If your #OnePlaceStudy Place has an urban setting, this event may be right up your street! A short course focussing on the development of Bloomsbury, from green fields to the present day, and providing insights on how to ‘read’ a townscape. #OnePlaceWednesday

1783 map of London showing Hackney Coach fares. Information in the IHR Library catalogue: https://search.libraries.london.ac.uk/discovery/fulldisplay?docid=alma991009306329709266&context=L&vid=44SHL_INST:IHR&lang=en&search_scope=IHR_ONLY&adaptor=Local%20Search%20Engine&tab=IHR&query=any,contains,hackney%20coach%20fares&offset=10

Detail of the map, listing fares between locations. This map was on display last week at our Discovery Course on 'Historic Maps: Interpreting Stories of Place' - participants enjoyed handling this and other fascinating materials from the IHR collection. If you're interested in exploring upcoming Discovery Courses and training, visit the IHR website! https://www.history.ac.uk/

Catching an Uber, #Bridgerton style? This remarkable 1783 pocket #map of #London, in the collection of @ihrlibrary.bsky.social, shows the Hackney Coach fare between key destinations in the city. A great guide to getting around - and avoiding getting ripped off! More info in AltText.

With the release of #Bridgerton, why not find out what was really going on in Regency #Mayfair? Our short book is a bit less steamy, but much more informative about local government in the area: uolpress.co.uk/book/the-vic...

A map is shown, with the logo of the Historic Towns Trust in the top left corner. The words "Mapping our Past, Shaping our Future" are written in the centre.

Join us tomorrow to learn about how an Atlas of London in 1666 has been researched!

This webinar is in collaboration with the Historic Towns Trust @historictownstrust.bsky.social

Find out more: www.balh.org.uk/event-balh-r...

#WeAreLocalHistory #LocalHistoryForAll

Online talk - Lamps on the Corner: 250 Years of Medicine in Dulwich — Bell House Discover the everyday history of medicine in Dulwich. £5.60 | In-person | Book here

Our next online #LocalHistory talk is Tuesday 3 February, 8pm-9pm. 'Lamps on the Corner: 250 Years of Medicine in Dulwich'. £5, proceeds to St Christopher's Hospice. www.bellhouse.co.uk/events/2026/...

Do you want to be an Art Detective? - Strawberry Hill House & Garden

Check out this fun event from @strawbhillhouse.bsky.social where you can be an Art Detective on 31 January! www.strawberryhillhouse.org.uk/art-detective/

The call for the @londontopsoc.bsky.social Ann Saunders prize is now open. londontopsoc.org/about-us/ann...

Poster for the 45th West London Local History Conference. Features a picture of a grand-looking staircase in what appears to be a large store selling textiles. Text: Shopping is Never Done: West London streets down the decades. Saturday 11 April 2026. Questors Theatre: Down our High Street. David Shailes: Goddards. James Marshall: Feltham and Hounslow High Streets. Neil Robson: Arding and Hobbs. Carolynne Cotton: Bentalls of Kingston. Val Bott: Shopping in Georgian Brentford. A one-day conference at Duke Street Church, Duke Street, Richmond. Tickets, £15, on sale at www.ticketsource.co.uk/west-london-local-history-conference/ Conference sponsored by the local history societies for Acton, Barnes & Mortlake, Brentford & Chiswick, Fulham & Hammersmith, Richmond, Twickenham and Wandsworth, and the West Middlesex Family History Society.

Shopping is Never Done: the 45th West London Local History Conference, on Saturday 11th April 2026, at Duke Street Church in Richmond, is a one-day #LocalHistory conference focussed on West London High Streets. Tickets £15. Sure to be of interest to #OnePlaceStudies researchers too!

engraving of a grand town house behind a tall wall with a lodge looking onto the street. A carriage is driving past.

@britishmuseum.bsky.social opened its doors #OnThisDay 1759.
Based in the former Montagu House, London seat of the dukes of Montagu, the old building was demolished in 1823 and replaced with the current grand structure, designed by Sir Robert Smirke.

Online talk - Lamps on the Corner: 250 Years of Medicine in Dulwich — Bell House Discover the everyday history of medicine in Dulwich. £5.60 | In-person | Book here

Our next online #LocalHistory talk is 'Lamps on the Corner: 250 Years of Medicine in Dulwich'. Ian McInnes explores the everyday history of medicine in Dulwich. £5, proceeds to St Christopher's Hospice. www.bellhouse.co.uk/events/2026/...

Online talk - Not All the Same: Victorian Housing in East Dulwich — Bell House Delve into the typology of the houses in East Dulwich, how they have been lived in, why and how they have survived and what is happening to them in the 2020s. £5.60 | Online | Book here

On Tuesday March 3rd, 8 to 9pm, via Zoom: Not All the Same: Victorian Housing in East Dulwich. This talk looks at the houses in a small area of East #Dulwich, how they have been lived in, why and how they have survived, and what is happening to them now. Tickets £5. #OnePlaceWednesday

Hon. Edward Cornwallis (1713-76)

Died #OTD 1776, Edward Cornwallis.

MP for Eye and Westminster, Cornwallis was a military officer involved in the suppression of the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745. He also served as lieutenant-governor of Nova Scotia and then Gibraltar, from 1762 until his death.

https://www.history.ac.uk/news-events/events/keene-london-lecture-26-black-death-london

The Derek Keene #London #Lecture 2026 is open for (free) booking! Join us on Weds 24 June to hear Thomas Asbridge on the #BlackDeath in London, drawing on his new book. The lecture forms a focal point of our annual @ihr.bsky.social #SummerSchool, this year focused on #London 'Sickness & Health'.

Sharing Hidden Histories: Reflections on ‘Digital Storytelling for Local History’ as part of the Being Human Festival - On History IHR Fellow Maxine Beuret shares the experience of a hands-on ‘Digital Storytelling for Local History’ workshop—a space where stories, history, and memories were brought to life through digital media,…

New #OnHistory blog from IHR Fellow @maxinebeuret.bsky.social reflecting on the Digital Storytelling for Local Historians that she ran as part of @sas-news.bsky.social @beinghumanfest.bsky.social blog.history.ac.uk/2026/01/shar...

Died #OTD 1720, William Ashhurst, Lord Mayor of London 1693-4.

As well as Lord Mayor, Ashhurst was an MP for London on numerous occassions between 1689-1708. He was also supporter of the 'Glorious Revolution':

Windows into past worlds - using maps to find forgotten history - Global Maritime History Amy Walker is a historian specialising in histories of poverty, ‘ordinary people’, and heritage. She completed an Undergraduate degree at the University of Greenwich and a Masters degree at the Instit...

Congratulations to our @ihr.bsky.social MA student Amy Walker @amywalkerhist.bsky.social, who completed the course this autumn, on this blog post - giving an insight into her fascinating research into social history and ordinary lives in #Greenwich.
globalmaritimehistory.com/windows_maps...