Summary

I am a historian and Research Fellow in Public Engagement. I am a member of the Centre for Port Cities and Maritime Cultures (PCMC), serving on the executive committee as the External Collaborations and Public Engagement Officer. I am also on the executive board of the University of Portsmouth Heritage Hub.

My PhD research, ‘The Royal Dockyard Worker in Edwardian England: Culture, Leisure and Empire’ re-examined the concept of a monolithic imperial identity and tracked the nuances of working-class imperialism. My current research expands on my original thesis to explore the affect of empire on those workers who went to work in the Royal Dockyards abroad such as Bermuda, Malta, Gibraltar and Hong Kong.

I am currently Principal Investigator on the Lloyd's Register Foundation-funded 'Lloyd's Register Surveyors in China, 1869-1918' project.

I have worked on a number of WW1 research and public participation projects, including 'Theatre of War' (with the King's Theatre, Southsea), ‘Mapping the National Impact of the Jutland Battle: Civic and Community Responses during the First World War’ (with Portsdown University of the Third Age), and ‘Lest We Forget’ (in partnership with Portsmouth City Museum). I was also an advisor on the Portsmouth Royal Dockyard Historical Trust’s Heritage Lottery Fund ‘Triangle Girls: Portsmouth’s First World War Women Workers' project.

I previously worked in museums and was employed at Portsmouth City Museum and the Royal Naval Museum. Prior to becoming Faculty Research Fellow I was Research Assistant on the AHRC-funded War Widows’ Stories project at Liverpool John Moores University. I am a trustee of Portsmouth Royal Dockyard Historical Trust (PRDHT).

Research interests

• Late 19th/Early 20th Century British Imperialism, Patriotism and Nationalism
• Labour History - especially Royal Dockyard Workers
• Leisure History
• Port Towns
• Naval Pageantry
• War Widows
• Oral History
• First World War Social History 
• Heritage and Museums
• Commemoration and Memory