Kathrina Perry - Local Historian

Women in Local History  It occurred to me recently that I haven’t really blogged about my Ph.D focus and how I plan to approach it.   My research focus has recently changed. Anyone who attended my transfer seminar back in May will know that I have been researching the wives and daughters of boot and shoe manufacturers and their participation in local philanthropy within Northampton. This has shifted my focus onto considering women's history further and more specifically on the importance of women in local history. There are many things that I need consider to answer the fundamental question of why women are important in a local history study. For example, is it necessary to include women into an already written history? My current focus is looking at the wives and daughters of prominent boot and shoe industry in Northampton. These women are rarely written about in the local histories and even when appearing in the local newspapers are written about with reference to their h...

 Many of you may have previously visited my blog before so will be accustomed to my waffling, unpredictable posts. This blog, however, has a purpose. The purpose is to provide an insight into what life is like as a Ph.D. student. I had originally planned to use my old blog to do this but felt that I needed a fresh start, a new beginning, a rebirth if you will. I have however previously written some thoughts about being a Ph.D student and you can read them here . In fact, that is a good place to start. What has happened since January 2021? The world is still going COVID crazy and we've had another lockdown. Luckily, Chloe was able to remain in nursery for this third lockdown (is it third? Working from home you get to a point when you don't know anymore) so I was able to continue with my research as best as I could. I presented my transfer seminar titled 'Ladies of the Shoe Trade: Philanthropy, Politics and the social significance of the wives and daughters of prominen...