Rachel Monsey
@rmonsey.bsky.social
History PhD candidate at Boston University
🪦Mourning 👑 Monarchy 🧠 Memory
1680s-1820s | Britain
🪦Mourning 👑 Monarchy 🧠 Memory
1680s-1820s | Britain
And folks say the academic job market has crashed and burned. Do none of you people want to join the party at @queenscollegeox.bsky.social and be a… *checks notes* a “Pumpkin Farmer at Halloween Town”?
October 14, 2025 at 9:54 PM
And folks say the academic job market has crashed and burned. Do none of you people want to join the party at @queenscollegeox.bsky.social and be a… *checks notes* a “Pumpkin Farmer at Halloween Town”?
In honor of my 30th birthday, please behold the best item of clothing I have ever owned. This T-shirt is from my sophomore year of high school when I took AP #UShistory. My entire class fell in love with the Civil War movie “Ride with the Devil” (starring Tobey Maguire).
September 1, 2025 at 3:59 AM
In honor of my 30th birthday, please behold the best item of clothing I have ever owned. This T-shirt is from my sophomore year of high school when I took AP #UShistory. My entire class fell in love with the Civil War movie “Ride with the Devil” (starring Tobey Maguire).
I want to go back in time and smack David Hume with a rolled up newspaper for this nonsense
August 8, 2025 at 11:16 PM
I want to go back in time and smack David Hume with a rolled up newspaper for this nonsense
Sure, 1760 was the middle of yet another bout of Anglo-French fighting (the seven years war), and yes George III was young and inexperienced compared to his predecessor who’d reigned for three decades. But what’s incredible is the messaging Newcastle received about why he could not retire.
March 17, 2025 at 3:04 PM
Sure, 1760 was the middle of yet another bout of Anglo-French fighting (the seven years war), and yes George III was young and inexperienced compared to his predecessor who’d reigned for three decades. But what’s incredible is the messaging Newcastle received about why he could not retire.
When George III came to the throne in 1760, the Duke of Newcastle tried to “retire from business.” His “whole life [had] been spent in the active service” of government, a fact which informed his “strong resolutions not to enter into any employment in the third reign, especially at 67 years of age.”
March 17, 2025 at 2:25 PM
When George III came to the throne in 1760, the Duke of Newcastle tried to “retire from business.” His “whole life [had] been spent in the active service” of government, a fact which informed his “strong resolutions not to enter into any employment in the third reign, especially at 67 years of age.”
Nothing but respect for the individual(s) responsible for this perfect display at the V&A.
March 5, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Nothing but respect for the individual(s) responsible for this perfect display at the V&A.
The clarity of the details on that seal are incredible!
Even when efforts are made to preserve (as I found with this example at the British Library), it seems random what does or doesn’t survive the centuries. Intact seals are something special.
Even when efforts are made to preserve (as I found with this example at the British Library), it seems random what does or doesn’t survive the centuries. Intact seals are something special.
February 5, 2025 at 4:33 AM
The clarity of the details on that seal are incredible!
Even when efforts are made to preserve (as I found with this example at the British Library), it seems random what does or doesn’t survive the centuries. Intact seals are something special.
Even when efforts are made to preserve (as I found with this example at the British Library), it seems random what does or doesn’t survive the centuries. Intact seals are something special.
These are from MS Add 5822 Cambridgeshire Collections Vol XXI
Here’s the first page, which is also great
Here’s the first page, which is also great
November 22, 2024 at 1:21 AM
These are from MS Add 5822 Cambridgeshire Collections Vol XXI
Here’s the first page, which is also great
Here’s the first page, which is also great
Yesterday, I commuted via train from Edinburgh to Aberdeen and back. Just to visit the University of Aberdeen special collections (incredible staff). Needless to say, it was a loooooooong day. However, sunrise along the coast of the North Sea is unreal.
November 12, 2024 at 5:14 PM
Yesterday, I commuted via train from Edinburgh to Aberdeen and back. Just to visit the University of Aberdeen special collections (incredible staff). Needless to say, it was a loooooooong day. However, sunrise along the coast of the North Sea is unreal.
#OTD Oct. 25, 1760 (264 years ago) King George II died suddenly at Kensington Palace around 8am.
Some of my favorite details for the disorderliness of the event are courtesy of the meticulous (and kinda salty) records of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Secker 🧵
Some of my favorite details for the disorderliness of the event are courtesy of the meticulous (and kinda salty) records of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Secker 🧵
October 25, 2024 at 5:43 PM
#OTD Oct. 25, 1760 (264 years ago) King George II died suddenly at Kensington Palace around 8am.
Some of my favorite details for the disorderliness of the event are courtesy of the meticulous (and kinda salty) records of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Secker 🧵
Some of my favorite details for the disorderliness of the event are courtesy of the meticulous (and kinda salty) records of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Secker 🧵
If you see this, post a bird.
Who can resist the eye-catching vermilion flycatcher?
Who can resist the eye-catching vermilion flycatcher?
October 20, 2024 at 11:17 AM
If you see this, post a bird.
Who can resist the eye-catching vermilion flycatcher?
Who can resist the eye-catching vermilion flycatcher?
I cannot explain how funny I find this catalogue to most of my family. Thus I turn to y’all, my fellow academics, and ask you to please bear witness to this glorious behemoth of a doorstop with me
October 17, 2024 at 7:41 PM
I cannot explain how funny I find this catalogue to most of my family. Thus I turn to y’all, my fellow academics, and ask you to please bear witness to this glorious behemoth of a doorstop with me
Sometimes I think about this fat little #vermilion #flycatcher that I saw years ago in Belize. I hope his life was as delightful as his plumage 🐦🔥
October 11, 2024 at 7:59 PM
Sometimes I think about this fat little #vermilion #flycatcher that I saw years ago in Belize. I hope his life was as delightful as his plumage 🐦🔥
I am unreasonably pleased with myself for this
October 8, 2024 at 5:43 PM
I am unreasonably pleased with myself for this
Me throwing half a comp’s list worth of citations in one footnote:
September 30, 2024 at 9:05 PM
Me throwing half a comp’s list worth of citations in one footnote:
Absolutely adore the ceiling in the Historical Search Room at the National Records of Scotland
September 23, 2024 at 10:56 AM
Absolutely adore the ceiling in the Historical Search Room at the National Records of Scotland
One of my favorites, the Atala butterfly (Eumaeus atala). This photo is from when I was a volunteer in the entomology lab of the Missouri Botanical Garden’s magnificent Butterfly House 🦋
September 19, 2024 at 8:14 PM
One of my favorites, the Atala butterfly (Eumaeus atala). This photo is from when I was a volunteer in the entomology lab of the Missouri Botanical Garden’s magnificent Butterfly House 🦋
Magnificent contribution
September 18, 2024 at 3:59 PM
Magnificent contribution
It’s always sunny in… Edinburgh!
For a solid week the weather has been glorious. So glorious, in fact, that I’m beginning to think the stories of perpetual rain and clouds are overblown 🧐
(I’m joking)
For a solid week the weather has been glorious. So glorious, in fact, that I’m beginning to think the stories of perpetual rain and clouds are overblown 🧐
(I’m joking)
September 17, 2024 at 4:56 PM
It’s always sunny in… Edinburgh!
For a solid week the weather has been glorious. So glorious, in fact, that I’m beginning to think the stories of perpetual rain and clouds are overblown 🧐
(I’m joking)
For a solid week the weather has been glorious. So glorious, in fact, that I’m beginning to think the stories of perpetual rain and clouds are overblown 🧐
(I’m joking)
TIL that King Charles II was a devotee of power-walking 🏃
August 22, 2024 at 9:15 PM
TIL that King Charles II was a devotee of power-walking 🏃
For more info and to register ➡️ www.nacbs.org/gecc-mini-co...
May 29, 2024 at 11:05 PM
For more info and to register ➡️ www.nacbs.org/gecc-mini-co...
Thinking about her*
*the blue whale skeleton in the London Natural History Museum 🐋 🩵
*the blue whale skeleton in the London Natural History Museum 🐋 🩵
April 20, 2024 at 8:06 PM
Thinking about her*
*the blue whale skeleton in the London Natural History Museum 🐋 🩵
*the blue whale skeleton in the London Natural History Museum 🐋 🩵
This lovely little sketch made an appearance today at the National Archives 😊 it made my day slogging through two dozen books of meeting minutes for the Office of Works a tiny bit brighter 🕯️
March 14, 2024 at 7:05 PM
This lovely little sketch made an appearance today at the National Archives 😊 it made my day slogging through two dozen books of meeting minutes for the Office of Works a tiny bit brighter 🕯️