Where are you from? I’m originally from a small farming community near Llangollen, but I’m now based just outside of Wrexham.
What is the subject of your doctoral research project? My research project is looking at the involvement of women in landownership and landholding in north-east Wales from 1600 to 1800, with an emphasis on their land and agricultural management and improvement. I started my PhD with ISWE in October 2022, but I was also the first ever ISWE intern in 2018.
What are your main research interests? Women’s history, Welsh history, agriculture, rural women, social history.
Tell us about your career so far and what led you to ISWE and your doctoral research project? After I left the Royal Mail in 2017, I decided that it was time to attend university (after years of refusing to conform to my families wishes). I studied Welsh history with archaeology at Bangor at undergraduate level. It was during my undergraduate degree that I realised that there was little written on the history of women in Wales. This, combined with the realisation that I love academia and want to teach in Higher Education, made me focus my research on women’s history in Wales, especially the involvement of women in agriculture. After my undergraduate degree, I studied a Masters in Welsh history at Bangor, which I used to lay the foundations for my PhD research and joining ISWE.
What is your favourite thing about ISWE and being a doctoral researcher? My favourite thing about ISWE is the doctoral researcher cohort and the events that ISWE hold throughout the year. The events are always fun, and it gives us the opportunity to catch up with each other and our projects, providing a fantastic support network.
What is your proudest achievement since joining ISWE? This year I gave a paper at a Welsh history postgraduate conference in Cardiff. Being able to share my research and the significance of landowning women amongst the academic community of Wales was fantastic, and the positive response from the academic community on my research was really encouraging.
What is your favourite historical period and why? My favourite historical period is the seventeenth century. I’d like to say it is because it is a fascinating period of change and turmoil, but it is literally because I have a strange, unexplainable attachment to the period.
Your favourite place in Wales? There isn’t one place that stands out – my favourite places are up in any of the Welsh mountains and on the moorland. You can find a peacefulness that you don’t find elsewhere, plus I grew up walking the hills and moors sheep gathering so I have a natural affinity with the uplands.
Can you recommend any books, TV shows, podcasts, blogs that you have enjoyed recently? Unfortunately, I’m not one for TV shows, podcasts, or blogs. Although my favourite read recently has been Briony McDonagh’s Elite Women and the Agricultural Landscape, 1700-1830. I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in landed women’s relationships with estate management and agriculture.
What are your hobbies or favourite extracurricular activities? Have you got any other interesting projects on the go?
Aside from my PhD, I am a member of the floral committee of the Llangollen International Eisteddfod, so spend a lot of time helping organise and arrange various fundraising events, as well as the set up and maintenance for the core Eisteddfod week. My latest venture for the floral committee is making floral cross-stitch cards. I also try support and take part in community projects hosted by Hwb Pentredwr (my favourite was creating a felted image of the local houses). Currently, I’m also in the process of transcribing a selection of historical documents at the request of a private owner, and regularly try to assist individuals with family history research. The rest of my time is spent with my two children, who love going hiking and exploring historic places with me.
Contact Lizzy:
hiuab2@bangor.ac.uk
