Jennifer Aston
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drjenniferaston.bsky.social
Jennifer Aston
@drjenniferaston.bsky.social
3K followers 1.1K following 220 posts
Legal Historian @Northumbria Law School. PI @divorcehistory.bsky.social
All things business, gender, divorce & bankruptcy in the (very) long 19thC.
York and Newcastle.
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drjenniferaston.bsky.social
I won a prize 🥳 Well, Deserted Wives did 😍 📖
Thank you to The Society of Legal Scholars for a lovely evening and wonderful recognition. I am very grateful (as the cheesy grin shows!)

Deserted Wives currently has 30% off:
www.bloomsbury.com/uk/deserted-...

#19thC #WomensHistory #sls2025
Four people stood in front of a Society of Legal Scholars vertical banner. Three of the people are holding certificates, the other is President of the SLS and has presented the awards. A certificate with black text on a cream background awarding 'Deserted Wives and Economic Divorce' 2nd prize in the 2025 Margaret Brazier Prize for Outstanding Mid-career Scholarship.
September 4, 2025 at 9:41 AM
drjenniferaston.bsky.social
I arrived safely in Lund yesterday for #WEHC2025 and I have taken up residence in an IKEA showroom. I keep expecting someone to come in and ask me if the sofa comes in other colours.
A studio apartment furnished entirely by IKEA.
July 27, 2025 at 5:07 PM
drjenniferaston.bsky.social
What. A. Gig. 🤩
June 22, 2025 at 2:24 PM
drjenniferaston.bsky.social
The first review of Deserted Wives has been published and it's a lovely one 🥳 The full review is here www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... but I've included a snippet below. Thank you so much @chloechallender.bsky.social 🙏
📖 available here: www.bloomsbury.com/uk/deserted-...
Aston’s research and unconventional ‘collaboration’ has resulted in a work with elements of the detective story juxtaposed with two women’s love for their research, alongside a cast of wives the authors ‘met’ along the way. Perhaps the overriding lesson is not to believe conventional wisdom when it comes to women’s history, but to prise open the real story – and to experiment with writing history in new ways. Chloe Challender, University of Warwick
May 23, 2025 at 1:40 PM
drjenniferaston.bsky.social
The Sex, Gender and the Law session has been an amazing way to start LSA2025 in Chicago. Female business ownership, family law, divorce and legal history - just a few of my favourite things 😍
Also worth noting the top logo-ing from #LSAChicago
An off-centre close-up photo of a dark grey tote bag with the Law and Society Association logo and title. The logo is a square grid of 9 different sized images in 3 rows of 3. They are (from top and left to right) a close up of a white grecian column on a maroon background. A pink silhouette of a swallow on a dark lavender background. The Disability Pride Flag with pink, yellow, white, blue and green stripes on a grey background. A close-up of a brown and black eye with a dilated black pupil and dark grey iris. A grey open padlock in a red circle on a grey background with red drops. A brown hand in a manacle and chains reaching up on a purple background. The intersex inclusive pride flag with a series of arrow shapes on yellow, white, blue, brown and black with a blue circle pointing into horizontal stripes of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple and blue. An image of a uterus, fallopian tube, ovary and vagina in white and pale pink on a dark pink background. A close up of half a butterfly with a green body and lavender wings, the top wing is crumbled and broken. The title of the conference is Politics of the Body at the Crossroads.
May 22, 2025 at 2:39 PM
drjenniferaston.bsky.social
I really enjoyed speaking with Editor in Chief Daniel Laqua and Book Reviews Editor Katarzyna Kosior on publishing in @hisjournalha.bsky.social at the @histassoc.bsky.social annual conference. Great questions and discussion from the floor and brilliantly chaired by HA President Alexandra Walsham.
Photograph of Alexandra Walsham, Daniel Laqua, Jennifer Aston and Katarzyna Kosior in front of a screen showing a slide from their session on academic publishing in History: The Journal of the Historical Association.
May 10, 2025 at 3:30 PM
drjenniferaston.bsky.social
I've been to an absolutely brilliant paper on dark tourism and the preoccupation with misery by @gillianobrien.bsky.social in the first @histassoc.bsky.social morning session. It was deeply funny and thought-provoking in equal measure. I am looking forward to reading the book 📖
A picture of Professor Gillian O'brien giving a seminar paper in a darkened function room. There is a large screen with 4 round pictures on it. One is of a stone flagged floor, the second is Oliver Cromwell, the third is the burnt head of a Saint, and the fourth is Prof. O'brien's nana.
May 10, 2025 at 12:00 PM
drjenniferaston.bsky.social
Strong badge game from @royalhistsoc.org at the @histassoc.bsky.social annual conference (and an important message, of course!).
A picture of three round pin badges. All have white text and thr Royal Hisotrical Society crest on them. One is navy blue and says "Trust me, I'm a historian", the second I'd maroon and says "I know the value of history", the third is burnt orange and says "This is what a historian looks like".
May 10, 2025 at 11:53 AM
drjenniferaston.bsky.social
It's a glorious day to be on my way to the @histassoc.bsky.social annual conference to talk about @hisjournalha.bsky.social 🌞 Come & learn about one of the oldest history journals & how it can assist your teaching at 2.30pm in the Executive Lounge. 📖 🖊
A picture taken from a train window of a lush green field on a gentle hill surrounded with trees in full leaf and a bright blue cloudless sky.
May 10, 2025 at 7:49 AM
drjenniferaston.bsky.social
Maybe minced eels will save the day? The image is from a UK government document outlining commodities that are likely to be affected by the tariffs. I have no idea what the 21stC UK-US eel trade amounts to.
An excerpt from a 400+ page report by the UK government listing goods which may be impacted by Trumps new tariffs. Prepared or preserved eels, whole or in pieces are included. Inexplicably, minced eels are excluded.
April 3, 2025 at 3:37 PM
drjenniferaston.bsky.social
I am 90% cheese, 10% sprouts. I don't know what day it is. We've almost certainly missed the weird post-Christmas bin day. The kids have gone feral. Lyra and Tigger have assumed control of the household. #mainecoon #twixmas #kittyoverlords #catsofbluesky
A grey maine coon cat called Lyra and a red cream maine coon cat called Tigger are each sitting on a different level of a tall grey cat stand. They are staring directly at the camera with a slightly scary focus.
December 30, 2024 at 4:55 PM
drjenniferaston.bsky.social
Well, they've definitely been up to something. Exactly what remains to be discovered...
The picture is of two maine coon cats walking down a hallway toward the camera with both their tails upright mid-swish. The cat on the left is a large male red tabby called Tigger and the cat on the right is a smaller black tabby called Lyra.
December 13, 2024 at 7:13 PM
drjenniferaston.bsky.social
This is the final paragraph of the Afterword of my new book 'Deserted Wives and Economic Divorce'. It discusses mid-19thC legislation & the precarious position women faced as a result of the insecurity of men. How little it takes to reverse progress. 🗃 🌳 💙📚 #divorce #law #women #19C
A photograph of the final paragraph of my new book 'Deserted Wives and Economoc Divorce' which reads: "This is a call not just in the pursuit of scholarly knowledge, though that is of course important, but because of the more pressing fact that even though section 21 was a provision that changed the lives of thousands of women between 1858 and the 1890s, it did so through the gift of men. The provision was designed by men, passed into law by men, enacted by men, and – crucially – it could also be removed by men. Moreover, this piece of legislation was only necessary because the majority of male legislators (and those who elected them) were unwilling to yield their economic dominance and allow married women to retain their legal personhood and own property in the same way as their unmarried or widowed counterparts and men of any marital status. Understanding the structural inequalities of the law, as well as the conscious and unconscious cultural, economic, political, and social effects of these inequalities, is absolutely central to creating a genuinely equal society, where everyone has the opportunity to access and experience justice."
November 27, 2024 at 6:35 AM
drjenniferaston.bsky.social
Now, I'm not saying that I am a sucker for impulsive purchases driven by cleverly placed advertising algorithms and nonsense like Black Friday, but Lyra and Tigger do have a new cat stand (which doesn't really fit the alcove because I didn't measure it...).
The picture is of a large four level cat stand with scratch posts, a slightly odd looking hammock, and a length of rope hanging down the left side. It is almost set back into an alcove and a picture of 2 magpies in flight is on the wall behind it. Lyra, a tiny silver and black tabby maine coon cat is curled up on the very top cushion. Tigger, a much bigger red tabby maine coon cat is sitting tall on a lower platform and looking back over his shoulder. The picture is at a slightly odd angle because I took it while twisting round from my desk.
November 18, 2024 at 9:46 AM
drjenniferaston.bsky.social
My photo doesn't do this morning's sunrise justice. It was almost worth the early alarm 🥱 @northumbriauni.bsky.social #goodmorning #Newcastle
A photograph of an orange and lilac sunrise behind Northumbria University's City Campus East buildings which are curved and feature glass and metal.
November 15, 2024 at 7:44 AM
drjenniferaston.bsky.social
And part deux...
A fluffy grey maine coon cat is curled up asleep on a record player (where she absolutely shouldn't be!).
November 13, 2024 at 10:16 AM
drjenniferaston.bsky.social
Oh, to be a cat...
A ginger maine coon cat called Tigger is laid on his back on a grey sofa. His eyes are squeezed shut. His paws are near his face and he has a pink nose and pink toe pads.
November 13, 2024 at 10:11 AM
drjenniferaston.bsky.social
The trains are in chaos, but it's getting close to my favourite time of year - the EHS PhD. Residential Training Course 🤩 If you are a #PhD student or a supervisor with a student working on any aspect of #economic OR #social #history keep an eye out for 2025 👇 🗃
ehs.org.uk/society/stud...
Picture shows a print out on white paper of a document titled 'Economic Hisotry Society, Funded Residential Training Course for PhD Students in Economic and/or Social History. It will be held at the Radcliffe Conference Centre, University of Warwick, 27-30 November. The EHS logo is on the top left corner.
November 12, 2024 at 7:05 PM
drjenniferaston.bsky.social
How amazing has BlueSky become over the past week?! Hello to my lovely new followers 👋🏻 Normal history programming about gender/divorce/business will resume tomorrow but for now here is big baby Tigger hiding from his comparatively tiny but ferocious sister Lyra #cats #mainecoon
A large silver red tabby Maine Coon kitten crouching on a wooden ladder attached to a pale pink wall next to a sage green curtain.
November 10, 2024 at 3:33 PM
drjenniferaston.bsky.social
I've revisited some student scrapbooks from a Legal History project with TNA/ Tyne & Wear Archives today. I was so impressed with their creativity (but remain unsure what Taylor Swift or Young Gru have to do with 19thC murder!) Thanks to @lizzybarchivist.bsky.social for the amazing source material.
The image is a collage of 8 photographs each of a picture from an A4 student scrapbook. Some pictures show mind maps, others show printouts of newspaper articles with important lines highlighted. One page is a photograph of the view from the dock at Newcastle Moot Court and a painting of that image. A front cover is covered in stickers including Taylor Swift and another page has a picture of a young Gru from The Despicable Me films.
November 8, 2024 at 7:36 PM
drjenniferaston.bsky.social
#CFP 'Making, Spending and Saving: Women and Money in Australasia' taking place in Sydney, 18-19 July 2024. Details below!
November 15, 2023 at 7:15 AM
drjenniferaston.bsky.social
First impressions while trying to find my contacts from The Other Place = historians overwhelmingly ❤️ cats.
I'm happy to follow the crowd on this one. Meet Research Assistant Lyra 😻
August 31, 2023 at 8:26 AM