I can’t remember when exactly it was that i realised I was really passionate about ‘the past’, perhaps spending summer holidays being dragged around National Trust properties with my parents started it off. All I used to look forward to was the gift shop- a usually traumatic experience for my parents as my brother and I raced around grabbing at sweets and historical replicas. I did build up a mean gemstone collection at one point; under the pretence that I was interested in science and geology (really I just liked shiny rocks). But somewhere along the way I picked up a real fascination and the trips and walks around country parks and historic houses actually became interesting and something to look forward to!
Fast forward a few years and I was fortunate enough to have a really engaging History teacher at GCSE- a teacher who made lessons exciting and really brought History to life. After that I was hooked and continued through A Levels and then applied to study History at University. My graduation day back in 2018 was definitely my proudest moment, having spent three wonderful (but slightly stressful!) years studying History in the beautiful city of York. I mainly studied modern History; and in my final year honed in on British Political History culminating in a dissertation on the Falklands War of 1982.
I got involved with the Institutional History Society as I wanted to look at different time periods and different types of History- since graduating I had really missed getting stuck into a research project which was both exciting and genuinely interesting. I hope the research and work that I produce will uncover some astonishing historical tales, especially of those within the penal system who have perhaps not had their stories told before.