Manon C Williams
banner
manoncwilliams.bsky.social
Manon C Williams
@manoncwilliams.bsky.social
Historian of health and medicine in the 18th and 19th c. maritime world || Pearsall Early Career Fellow in Naval and Maritime History @ the Institute for Historical Research, London
Pinned
Come hear me talk about my beloved naval surgeons on 29 January at KCL’s Maritime History Seminar!

I’ll be speaking about my PhD research along with some important updates, newly-discovered from the archives during my Caird Fellowship at Royal Museums Greenwich.

www.kcl.ac.uk/events/naval...
‘Men of the most splendid talents and professional respectability’: Naval surgeons, professional identity, and collective bargaining (1793–1815) | King's College London
In this seminar, Dr Manon C Williams explores how naval surgeons during the French Wars collectively pushed for reforms to improve their status and professional identity.
www.kcl.ac.uk
Reposted by Manon C Williams
The Battle of Corunna took place #OTD in 1809. Civilian surgeon Charles Bell volunteered to treat wounded soldiers returning to Britain. He later created these artworks which he used for teaching. Some of these artworks can be seen in our Wohl Pathology Museum.
January 16, 2026 at 12:02 PM
Come hear me talk about my beloved naval surgeons on 29 January at KCL’s Maritime History Seminar!

I’ll be speaking about my PhD research along with some important updates, newly-discovered from the archives during my Caird Fellowship at Royal Museums Greenwich.

www.kcl.ac.uk/events/naval...
‘Men of the most splendid talents and professional respectability’: Naval surgeons, professional identity, and collective bargaining (1793–1815) | King's College London
In this seminar, Dr Manon C Williams explores how naval surgeons during the French Wars collectively pushed for reforms to improve their status and professional identity.
www.kcl.ac.uk
January 6, 2026 at 10:56 AM
If your work engages with naval and maritime history, art, and culture, do consider applying. Next year’s application is open now until 18 January 2026: www.rmg.co.uk/collections/.... Feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions about my research or the fellowship.
December 22, 2025 at 12:41 PM
Reposted by Manon C Williams
This year, as a Caird Research Fellow at Royal Museums Greenwich, I developed a new research project on occupational health, disability, and welfare in the British Royal Navy during the French Wars (1793–1815). Read some of my preliminary findings here: www.rmg.co.uk/stories/mari....
Unfit for service: healthcare and welfare in Nelson's Navy
Hidden in the seemingly mundane bureaucratic letters of the Royal Navy lie some fascinating insights into the role of the British state in providing healthcare and welfare to ill and injured seamen.
www.rmg.co.uk
December 22, 2025 at 12:38 PM
This year, as a Caird Research Fellow at Royal Museums Greenwich, I developed a new research project on occupational health, disability, and welfare in the British Royal Navy during the French Wars (1793–1815). Read some of my preliminary findings here: www.rmg.co.uk/stories/mari....
Unfit for service: healthcare and welfare in Nelson's Navy
Hidden in the seemingly mundane bureaucratic letters of the Royal Navy lie some fascinating insights into the role of the British state in providing healthcare and welfare to ill and injured seamen.
www.rmg.co.uk
December 22, 2025 at 12:38 PM
Reposted by Manon C Williams
20 November to 20 December is UK Disability History Month. Here at the IHR we have been relaunching our collection guides including our Disability History guide: buff.ly/zXSqTKe
December 9, 2025 at 12:13 PM
Reposted by Manon C Williams
📢 CALL FOR PAPERS: Marginal Militaries: Navigating Historical Boundaries, Differences, and Experiences at the Military Periphery

Conference date: 22-23 October, 2026
Location: @forsvarshogskolan.bsky.social Stockholm, Sweden (hybrid participation tbc)
Cfp Deadline: 28 February, 2026
November 28, 2025 at 10:09 AM
Reposted by Manon C Williams
New blog from IHR Director @clairelanghamer@bsky.social reflecting on how historians can advocate for history through our practice, and defend the important historical work that goes on within universities as well as beyond them. blog.history.ac.uk/2025/11/advo...
Advocating for History by Doing History - On History
This blog was written by Claire Langhamer, Director of the IHR Historians are very good at crafting arguments and in recent times very many people have advanced very many arguments about why history…
blog.history.ac.uk
November 26, 2025 at 10:45 AM
Reposted by Manon C Williams
Two #histmed CFPs with deadline for abstracts Jan 2026!
Life Histories in Mind: Mental Ill Health and Learning Disability in Context (Manchester) &
Blood is the price of coal: Coal communities, health and welfare in Britain and beyond from the 19th century to the present (Warwick)
For more details 👇
History of Medicine CFPs
If you wish to share your CFPs on the SSHM website please contact the Exec Sec, Dr Justine Pick admin@sshm.org Life Histories in Mind: Mental Ill Health and Learning Disability in Context Location:…
sshm.org
November 24, 2025 at 12:55 PM
Reposted by Manon C Williams
Who else is watching the fantastic #Empire series by @davidolusoga.bsky.social? It was a pleasure to be involved in this - dangerous and disease-ridden #prisonhulks were used in England for 80 years from 1776, propping up the rotten system of convict transportation. Check out episode 2 for more!
November 20, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Reposted by Manon C Williams
A new installation on ‘Medical alumni in history’ has been unveiled at the School of Medicine. It was designed and installed by our recent PhD graduate – and historian of medicine – @manoncwilliams.bsky.social, and features notable alumni from 19th and 20th century St Andrews. (1/3)
November 18, 2025 at 3:55 PM
I was thrilled to travel to Scotland this week to open an installation I’ve been working on for the School of Medicine @uniofstandrews.bsky.social. The installation showcases diverse alumni from St Andrews’ past to inspire incoming students to the #MBChB. #histmed #medsky #medhums #skystorians
November 14, 2025 at 11:52 AM
Reposted by Manon C Williams
Think about the way that the current scientific publishing system is draining resources out of the research ecosystem... That drain is most obvious in terms of money (and this is so despite #openaccess), but there's also an erosion of time, trust and control [1/n]
November 14, 2025 at 11:19 AM
If you’re in London and want to learn more about how aged and disabled sailors were declared ‘unfit for service’ and invalided from the Navy, join me on 26 November. I’ll be giving a public talk in Greenwich based on my Caird Research Fellowship.

More info here: www.rmg.co.uk/whats-on/que...
Salons in the Queen's House: Unfit for Service
In this free lunchtime talk, historian Dr Manon Williams will explore how the Royal Navy treated sailors who were judged ‘unfit for service’ due to injury, illness, or old age
www.rmg.co.uk
October 31, 2025 at 11:36 AM
Reposted by Manon C Williams
"Friedrich Engels ‘took creative liberties’ with descriptions of class divides in Manchester"

www.theguardian.com/education/20...

Article itself is #OpenAccess:
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

#History 🗃️
Friedrich Engels ‘took creative liberties’ with descriptions of class divides in Manchester
Cambridge historian Emily Chung finds philosopher’s blistering depictions of segregation may have been exaggerated
www.theguardian.com
October 21, 2025 at 6:48 AM
Reposted by Manon C Williams
In 1837, James McCune Smith became the first Black doctor to graduate from a UK university. You can use the Bibliography of British and Irish History (BBIH) to learn about the many Black individuals who have contributed to the development of medicine and medical communities in the UK and Ireland
October 21, 2025 at 1:05 PM
Reposted by Manon C Williams
The Battle of Trafalgar took place #OnThisDay in 1805 ⚓
Discover an Eyewitness Account of the battle by the Assistant-Surgeon of H.M.S Swiftsure – in The Navy Records Society's online magazine: buff.ly/iGWYEvn

#Navyrecords #navalhistory #OTD #Trafalgar #nelson #Admiralty #historic
Trafalgar Eyewitness Account by the Assistant-Surgeon of H.M.S Swiftsure – The Navy Records Society
This letter by Robert Hilton appears to be a collaborative account of the engagements of Trafalgar, as a surgeon’s mate would have been below deck during the battle.  Each of the surviving letters…
www.navyrecords.org.uk
October 21, 2025 at 2:26 PM
Reposted by Manon C Williams
We're excited to announce the call for papers for #MBS26, the next Modern British Studies conference, at Birmingham in June 2026. We'll be launching the #MBS Association at this event, to support further regular conferences in Modern British Studies.

www.birmingham.ac.uk/events/moder...
Modern British Studies Conference 2026 - University of Birmingham
Conference information
www.birmingham.ac.uk
October 16, 2025 at 8:47 PM
Reposted by Manon C Williams
This week we have a special article in which we share our thoughts about the History of Knowledge and what it means to us.
It was great fun to write and we hope you will find it thought provoking!
#skystorians #historyofknowledge
scilicet.org.uk/what-is-the-...
What is the history of knowledge? | Scilicet
Scilicet is a blog dedicated to the history of knowledge. In the broadest terms, we’re interested in what people in the past knew, what it meant to know things, and what we as historians can learn abo...
scilicet.org.uk
October 15, 2025 at 1:43 PM
Reposted by Manon C Williams
The 2026 SSHM Conference will be @universityofleeds.bsky.social. The theme will be In/Out and we are inviting papers that consider experiences of being in and/or out of health or health care in any period or geographical location. #HistMed #HistSTM
sshm.org/sshm-2026/
SSHM 2026: In/Out
Location: University of Leeds Dates: 30 June to 3 July 2026 Submission Deadline: 5.00pm (GMT) 11th January 2026 Conference Co-Convenors: Dr Alexia Moncrieff & Dr Katherine Rawling Conference Co…
sshm.org
October 13, 2025 at 12:15 PM
Very excited that I’ve been elected as an Associate Fellow for the Royal Historical Society — what a wonderful community of historians, academics, curators, archivists, and scholars to be a part of!
We are very pleased to announce the election of 248 new Fellows, Associate Fellows, Members and Postgraduate members to the Royal Historical Society following the latest meeting of the RHS Council bit.ly/4o0xhJV

We warmly welcome all those joining @royalhistsoc.org from today #Skystorians 1/2
Society elects 248 new Fellows, Associate Fellows, Members and Postgraduate Members - RHS
At its latest meeting on 12 September 2025, the RHS Council elected 73 Fellows, 62 Associate Fellows, 50 Members and 63 Postgraduate Members, a total of 248 people newly associated with the Society, f...
bit.ly
October 2, 2025 at 5:16 PM
Reposted by Manon C Williams
📢 New Seminar Series!

We are thrilled to be working alongside @ihr.bsky.social on a brand new seminar series titled Migration and Mobility. We are coming together for a special edition of the seminar to showcase the work of PGRs and ECRs on migration and mobility history (1/3)
September 24, 2025 at 5:14 PM
Reposted by Manon C Williams
What do beekeeping books tell us about changes in early modern science and society? @jamesafox.bsky.social has some suggestions, especially in relation to #17thCentury England scilicet.org.uk/the-hive-tur...
#Skystorians #EarlyModern #Bees #AnimalHistory
September 24, 2025 at 12:35 PM
Reposted by Manon C Williams
Exciting early-career fellowships with UK cultural institutions, funded by #AHRC, www.ukri.org/opportunity/... (look for the spreadsheet with the list of institutions!) Deadline for EoI: 10 December.
Early career fellowships in cultural and heritage institutions: 2025
Apply for funding to conduct research at participating cultural and heritage institutions.
www.ukri.org
September 17, 2025 at 9:18 AM
Reposted by Manon C Williams
The latest issue of Scottish Archives has now been published, featuring work from @mchapelproject.bsky.social @nicolemaceira.bsky.social @ksmcgregor.bsky.social and myself, among others. If anyone would like a PDF of my article, just send me a message!

#bookhistory #scottishhistory #Archives
September 17, 2025 at 2:02 PM