Jon Lawrence
jonhistorian61.bsky.social
Jon Lawrence
@jonhistorian61.bsky.social
Historian of class and politics in Modern Britain - author of Me, Me, Me? The search for community in post-war England @ https://tinyurl.com/463e6tff
Reposted by Jon Lawrence
#Wikidata really needs to be better known - and more widely used - by historians.

#DigitalHistory
Several years ago, we put a whole bunch of data from a project into Wikidata. Now, as a result, some people who we had no more info for aside from a name or could not disambiguate are actually identifiable. LOD FTW.
November 14, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Reposted by Jon Lawrence
We are so proud of this work. Not only is it the first effort to publish & analyze **open-access data** derived from the entire text contents of digitized @britishlibrary.bsky.social newspapers, it presents a metadata-driven approach to understanding bias in big historical data. #dh #skystorians
November 11, 2025 at 5:07 PM
Reposted by Jon Lawrence
Quite a lot of info in this thread - it’s a big and complex piece of work - but the blog aims for a digestible overview:
github.com/Living-with-...
November 12, 2025 at 9:58 AM
Reposted by Jon Lawrence
A reminder that my book on the history of protest is now published. It is superbly produced with a great cover. Buy it now from @reaktionbooks.bsky.social
October 27, 2025 at 8:59 AM
Reposted by Jon Lawrence
Very happy to share our new working paper: cepr.org/publications...
DP19625 What was in a name? Culture, naming practices and literacy in the past
Given names hide crucial information about cultural attitudes and beliefs that sheds light on how parents raised their children and the importance they attached to education and other values. Relying on the 1860 Population census for the province of Zaragoza (Spain; almost 400,000 observations), this article shows that naming practices, captured by whether children bear more or less common names and/or were named after their parents, help predicting their educational outcomes, even after controlling for a host of individual-, household- and community-level confounders. Crucially, these results differ by sex, birth-order, socio-economic status and the urban-rural divide, which allows identifying the mechanisms in place. In particular, bearing a common name is negatively associated with the likelihood of girls attending school and being literate in rural areas. By contrast, being named after parents had a positive influence on boys' education, a pattern that is especially visible for the eldest son from families who have access to land. In addition, the results reported here are stronger in more complex household arrangements. These results therefore stress the role played by inheritance customs and the continuity of the family line on both naming practices and the way that parents allocated resources between their siblings, as well as highlighting the different expectations around the role that sons and daughters played in these societies.
cepr.org
October 28, 2024 at 3:15 PM
If you use digital newspaper collections this new OA paper is for you - it’s full of great insights into how to understand what’s in them and the many hidden perils of digital search (like the systemically poorer OCR for cheaper and more left-leaning newspapers - who knew?). Please share
November 11, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Reposted by Jon Lawrence
I’m in this week’s @newstatesman1913.bsky.social with a review of Holly Smith’s brilliant history of house rise council housing in Britain, Up in the Air
www.newstatesman.com/culture/book...
Repopulating the high-rises
A new history of Britain’s tower blocks reveals the ways architecture and ideology have combined to ensure residents are always forgotten
www.newstatesman.com
November 6, 2025 at 11:07 AM
Reposted by Jon Lawrence
History PhD student Louise Rodwell is presenting at the Cambridge University Modern British History Workshop TODAY at 5:00pm with a paper titled 'Imagined Landscapes of the First World War.'

See details below or join online here: bit.ly/47saG3x
November 6, 2025 at 9:15 AM
Reposted by Jon Lawrence
Come work for us. The Economist is hiring a Britain political correspondent. Make the sample piece original and Economisty
economist.com/britain/2025...
The Economist is hiring a Britain political correspondent
Join The Economist’s Britain team
economist.com
October 29, 2025 at 11:34 AM
Reposted by Jon Lawrence
JOB
Assistant Professor in the History of Knowledge Pre-1400,
University of Cambridge

www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/assista...
Assistant Professor in History of Knowledge Pre-1400
Applications are invited for the position of Assistant Professor in History of Knowledge Pre-1400, in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge. Please note
www.cam.ac.uk
November 1, 2025 at 5:44 PM
Reposted by Jon Lawrence
The Institute of Historical Research's 2026 June summer school in Bloomsbury is on Sickness and Health, from London's medieval history to the present. Suitable for the History-curious over the age of 16.
IHR London Summer School 2026: Sickness and Health
From the Black Death to the Covid-19 pandemic, from medieval medicine to public health across the centuries, from hospitals to archives & collections. Join us to discover Londo...
www.history.ac.uk
October 31, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Reposted by Jon Lawrence
Thanks to @reaktionbooks.bsky.social for making my history of protest in England's public spaces into a beautiful, well produced book with a fab cover.
Buy it here reaktionbooks.co.uk/work/contest...
October 25, 2025 at 8:33 PM
Reposted by Jon Lawrence
It's here!
Get your copy at reaktionbooks.co.uk/work/contest...
October 25, 2025 at 1:31 PM
Reposted by Jon Lawrence
New article (OA): Helen McCarthy @historianhelen.bsky.social on 'Planning for Retirement in Post-war Britain'

academic.oup.com/ehr/advance-...
Planning for Retirement in Post-war Britain*
Abstract. This article explores how Britons envisaged and planned for the end of working life across the second half of the twentieth century. It shows how
academic.oup.com
October 13, 2025 at 9:11 AM
Reposted by Jon Lawrence
Here is my first publication from my new project on the history of colonial Newfoundland and the Beothuk people, and I'm rather nervous to put it out in the world. Genuinely, all thoughts on this work are welcome as I head into writing a book about it...
New in 'Transactions': 'Possible Maps: Newfoundland, 1763–1829' bit.ly/4oygf5V

@julialaite.bsky.social shows how overlapping maps highlight complexity of encounter with place over a coherence of colonial ideologies. What were peripheries of some people’s empires were centres of others' worlds 1/2
October 23, 2025 at 11:10 AM
Reposted by Jon Lawrence
For @powertochange.org.uk I suggested some "lessons from history" on community and public policy, from the late 1960s through to the current government's "Pride in Place".
www.powertochange.org.uk/evidence-and...
Looking back to move forwards: A historical perspective on community and public policy - Power to Change
This month's essay from Nick Garland explores how past regeneration efforts like the New Deal for Communities offer vital lessons for shaping sustainab ...
www.powertochange.org.uk
October 23, 2025 at 12:33 PM
Reposted by Jon Lawrence
An excellent report for understanding what Labour can and must learn from community-centred policy-making in the past.
October 23, 2025 at 1:13 PM
Reposted by Jon Lawrence
What do you call an apple that has fallen off its tree?

Well according to this 'Treatise on cyder-making' from 1755 you would call it a 'promiscuous' kind of apple!
October 21, 2025 at 2:19 PM
Reposted by Jon Lawrence
A few more digitised at archive.org/details/@ant...
October 21, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Reposted by Jon Lawrence
The Society now invites applications for its Workshop Grants programme 2026: bit.ly/4oPyUdZ

Grants provide funding for groups of historians to come together for a day event to work collaboratively on a shared project.

Closing date for applications: Friday 23 January 2026 #Skystorians
RHS Workshop Grants, 2026 - call now open to fund day events on historical projects - RHS
The Royal Historical Society is pleased to announce the next call for its RHS Workshop Grants for projects to take place in 2026. This scheme provides funding of £1,000 per Grant to enable historians ...
bit.ly
October 21, 2025 at 7:27 AM
Reposted by Jon Lawrence
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 Jon Lawrence
A bold and balanced re-appraisal of Tony Blair's years in power, pre-order 'New Labour, New Britain?' by historian @gsoh31.bsky.social with 25% OFF on the Waterstones website and app until Friday.

Enter discount code OCTOBER25 at checkout: www.waterstones.com/book/new-lab... #booksky
New Labour, New Britain? by Glen O’Hara | Waterstones
Buy New Labour, New Britain? by Glen O’Hara from Waterstones today! Click and Collect from your local Waterstones or get FREE UK delivery on orders over £25.
www.waterstones.com
October 16, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Reposted by Jon Lawrence
Hey! We have two new draft chapters of the Living with Machines book up online for your delectation! One on Mapreader and one on the Environmental Scan. read.uolpress.co.uk/projects/liv...
Living with Machines | University of London Press
*Living With Machines* is a data-driven history of the coming of the machine age in Britain in the long nineteenth century. Featuring an innovative open access edition enhanced with interactive maps, ...
read.uolpress.co.uk
October 14, 2025 at 2:34 PM
Reposted by Jon Lawrence
Interested in cities, places, connectivity, & planning? Applications are open for fully-funded UCL ESRC doctoral studentships through the UBEL partnership. The deadline is 10 November. See further details & eligibility criteria at ubel-dtp.ac.uk/postdoctoral... Contact bartlett.phd-ecidi@ucl.ac.uk
October 13, 2025 at 3:39 PM