Subjects

Thomas Rowlandson, Entrance of Oxford Street or Tyburn Turnpike (1809). Image: Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection, B1977.14.21238

Tolls saved Britain from pothole hell in the Industrial Revolution

23 Apr 2026

The ‘turnpike’ toll road system deserves far more credit for improving roads in 18th-century England and Wales, a new study argues. Analysis of nearly...

The letters before they were opened and read by Renaud Morieux at The National Archives, Kew

French love letters confiscated by Britain finally read after 265 years

07 Nov 2023

Over 100 letters sent to French sailors, but never delivered, have been read for the first time since they were written in 1757-8. The letters include...

Magdalene College discovers a treasure trove of women’s intellectual history

08 Mar 2021

The collection comprises 47 books and pamphlets owned and annotated by the philosopher Mary Astell (1666–1731), viewed by many as “the first English...

Syphilitic City: one in five Georgian Londoners had syphilis by their mid-30s, study suggests

06 Jul 2020

250 years ago, over one-fifth of Londoners had been treated for syphilis by their 35th birthday, historians have calculated.

London’s forgotten businesswomen

20 Sep 2019

A new exhibition celebrates the City of London's 18th-century female entrepreneurs

Joseph Priestley: theologian, scientist, clergyman and stammerer

Study unearths Britain’s first speech therapists

22 Oct 2018

On International Stammering Awareness Day (22 October), a new study reveals that Britain’s first speech therapists emerged at least a century earlier...

Workhouse Women in St. Giles's Church by Charles Holroyd (1880-84). ©Trustees of the British Museum

Historian uncovers new evidence of 18th century London's 'Child Support Agency'

26 Jul 2018

How 18th and 19th century London supported its unmarried mothers and illegitimate children – essentially establishing an earlier version of today’s...

Detail from plate 5 of Hogarth’s “A Harlot’s Progress”, with the protagonist, Moll, dying of syphilis.

Pox populi: Study calculates 18th century syphilis rates for first time

14 Sep 2017

The unlikely coincidence of a local hospital record and a census led by a pioneering physician has enabled the first study charting rates of venereal...

Earliest-known children’s adaptation of Japanese literary classic discovered in British Library

14 Jun 2017

A chance discovery in the British Library has led to the discovery and reproduction of the earliest-known children’s adaptation of one of Japan’s...

Robert Morden, A New Map of England (1673) (detail)

The Channel: a historian’s view of an iconic stretch of water

30 Mar 2016

Water joins as well as divides – and maritime communities often defy the borders imposed by the state. In the first book of its kind, Dr Renaud...

"The Code Of Honor—A Duel In The Bois De Boulogne, Near Paris", wood engraving by Godefroy Durand

To the death

13 Jul 2015

Dr John Leigh has written the first book exclusively devoted to the duel in literature. In Touché, he offers a compelling picture of the ways in which...

Where to find a dragon in Cambridge

24 Jun 2015

The Cambridge Animal Alphabet series celebrates Cambridge's connections with animals through literature, art, science and society. Here, D is for...

18th century

Tolls saved Britain from pothole hell in the Industrial Revolution

French love letters confiscated by Britain finally read after 265 years

Magdalene College discovers a treasure trove of women’s intellectual history

Syphilitic City: one in five Georgian Londoners had syphilis by their mid-30s, study suggests

London’s forgotten businesswomen

Study unearths Britain’s first speech therapists

Historian uncovers new evidence of 18th century London's 'Child Support Agency'

Pox populi: Study calculates 18th century syphilis rates for first time

Earliest-known children’s adaptation of Japanese literary classic discovered in British Library

The Channel: a historian’s view of an iconic stretch of water

To the death

Where to find a dragon in Cambridge

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18th century

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