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May 11

This month’s update adds the lives of 11 women who were successful writers of popular fiction between 1870 and 1920: Florence Barclay, Elizabeth Burgoyne Corbett, Mary Gordon, Maxwell Gray, Ella Lindow, Jean Middlemass, and Catherine Pirkis. bit.ly/3MhgQbX

May 23

Today's life of the day is Richard Wallingford abbot of St Albans and astronomer, mathematician, horologist, and cleric who made major contributions to astronomy including building the oldest mechanical clock of which there is detailed knowledge. oxforddnb.com/display/10.109

May 15

Read the ODNB's newest entry on Ella Amalia Lindow who wrote under the pseudonys Gabrielle Wodnil and Ella Wodnil. bit.ly/3pEKvDk

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Kent Maps Online

@KentMaps1

May 15

Of the 11 new female authors released by @odnb this month, four have links to Kent. More at oxforddnb.com/newsitem/748/w

May 15

Today's life of the day is Tom Wintringham. The British soldier, military historian, journalist, and poet lived an eventful life and his innovative thinking is attracting renewed interest. bit.ly/3O7pewb

Dr Dominique Gracia / @graciado@mastodonapp.uk

@graciado

May 11

It was a joy to write about Elizabeth Burgoyne Corbett and CL Pirkis for this set of new entries on women's lives. Thanks to the ODNB team for their meticulous reviews, and Carolyn Oulton at

@ICVWW

for suggesting me to the Oxford team.

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Two publishers travelled home of the novelist Mary Gleed Tuttiett (who wrote under the pseudonym Maxwell Gray) to bid for the follow-up to her sensational "The Silence of Dean Maitland" (1886), which was a runaway success. bit.ly/3Mgd4Qg

May 9

Read our entry on the late great Albert Finney who "left a legacy of superb film performances and a memory of a theatrical presence that combined an innate authority, an impish mischief, a buried anger, and a bristling native intelligence." bit.ly/3AkIJZZ

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Who's Who

@ukwhoswho

May 9

Actor and director Albert Finney was #BornOnThisDay in 1936 and started his stage career in the 1950s. Films included Tom Jones, Erin Brockovich and Skyfall. He died in 2019. doi.org/10.1093/ww/978 #WhosWho

Professor Fiona Skillen

@FionaSkillen

May 9

Always a pleasure to write entries for

. This entry for Dale Greig, Scottish athletics pioneer & champion runner, was a joy to research and write. With thanks to

@hugh_barrow

@RunYoung50

for their help. #SportHistory #SportHeritage #WomenInSport oxforddnb.com/display/10.109

May 6

Camilla, Queen Consort of the United Kingdom, is the 11th consort since 1707. Discover the life of the previous queen consort, Elizabeth The Queen Mother, who refused to leave England during the Second World War saying "I shall not go down like the others" bit.ly/3AYazf5

May 6

Today marks the first Coronation of a British monarch in 70 years. From George III to George VI, look back at the monarchs over the past two centuries. #Coronation bit.ly/3M2EKbk

May 5

All eyes will be on the clothes this #Coronation weekend! Discover Norman Hartnell, fashion designer of many of Queen Elizabeth II’s outfits, including her coronation robe. bit.ly/3Vz5qDE

May 5

Meet the official artist at Elizabeth II’s coronation, Terence Cuneo! And here’s just one of his works from that occasion. #Coronation bit.ly/3nybm3a

May 5

Tempted by the Coronation Quiche? The official dish of the 1953 coronation was Coronation Chicken, invented by Rosemary Hume and Constance Spry who relaunched the Cordon Bleu cookery school in London after the Second World War. bit.ly/3nCIeaP

melanie bell

@drmelaniebell

May 4

Love her work, Something Nice to Eat is one of my favourites! I was delighted and honoured to write an entry for Sarah for the ODNB

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This week marks the centenary of British documentary director Sarah Erulkar. She directed 70+ films - her name and work deserve to be far better known. She was the 1st global majority filmmaker to have a career as a film director in the UK. Photos preserved by #BFINationalArchive twitter.com/robinalexbaker…

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May 4

It has been 70 years since a coronation of a British monarch. Join us as we look back at the monarchs, designers, and dignitaries that took part in past coronations. Find out more about the Monarchs of Great Britain and the United Kingdom. bit.ly/3VvdbdH

May 4

Upon her election as Prime Minister #OTD in 1979, Margaret Thatcher's party purchased a congratulatory ad that read "May the Fourth be with you, Maggie. Congratulations." creating the first documented reference to #StarWarsDay bit.ly/2KxmF3a

May 2

Today's life of the day is Admiral Edward Vernon, Royal Navy officer and politician whose long and distinguished career is marred by his failure in the West Indies. bit.ly/3p2tjar

Canterbury Christ Church University

@CanterburyCCUni

May 1

The work of our

@ICVWW

colleagues is helping to recognise forgotten & overlooked Victorian women writers, with 11 being chosen by the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Find out more about their work & upcoming postgraduate study day on 3 May ow.ly/20mc50NZMas

Shining a light on forgotten Victorian women writers

canterbury.ac.uk

Work by the International Centre for Victorian Women Writers has helped forgotten female writers of the late 19th and early 20th century be recognised.

Christopher Howse

@BeardyHowse

Apr 29

These are all surprising: recommendations by Geoffrey Madan of lives in the old Dictionary of National Biography (available online with the current

). John Nichols Tom, or Thom, "impostor and madman," alias Sir Percy Honeywood Courtenay (1799-1838) is a good place to start.

Prof Elaine Chalus

@EHChalus

Apr 30

Checking something for a student took me back to this piece I wrote years ago for the

: the indomitable Emily Mary, marchioness of Salisbury-Pittite politician, archer, & intrepid rider & leader of the Hatfield Hounds. She was quite the character! [doi-org.liverpool.idm.oclc.org/10.1093/ref:od]

Apr 28

#OTD in 1967, recent ANB entry boxing great Muhammad Ali refused induction into the military and was imprisoned leading to the World Boxing Association and New York State Athletic Commission suspending his license and revoking his title as world champion. bit.ly/423CVQy

Apr 27

Learn more about Lyra McKee, a talented journalist whose work on growing up gay in Northern Ireland and on the legacies of the Troubles won acclaim but whose promising career was ended when she was shot while observing rioting in the Creggan area of Derry. bit.ly/40DLIYl

Colourful Heritage

@ColourHeritage

Apr 27

We were honoured that Colourful Heritage were asked by

to write an entry last year for the late Bashir Maan CBE - A trailblazer & UKs 1st Muslim Councillor in 1970 🙌Really excited that it has finally been published this month & can be read in link : bit.ly/3GSdp8F

Being carried by councillors with other Labour Candidates after declaration of results in 1970. Copyright Glasgow Museums

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ALT

Anas Sarwar and 5 others

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Apr 18

Now available with open access, discover the life of Bashir Maan a ‘trailblazer’ and a true community leader who worked for increased unity among Muslim communities not only in Scotland but also across the UK. bit.ly/3GSdp8F

Newcastle-born Doug McAvoy was general secretary of the National Union of Teachers from 1989 to 2004; described as ‘a short, well-upholstered man with a Geordie accent’, he conducted a long and slow battle in his union and built a record membership. bit.ly/3V9M7k2

Apr 25

Pharmacologist Stewart Adams discovered ibuprofen. Initially developed to treat rheumatoid arthritis, it was tested for more general use after Adams had tried it on himself as a hangover cure, having had too many vodkas at a conference in Moscow. bit.ly/4425pvx

Apr 24

Rosamunde Pilcher wrote thirteen novels before she scored an enormous success in her mid-sixties with her fourteenth, The Shell Seekers (1987), based on her Second World War experiences, selling more than 10 million copies, and later made into a film. bit.ly/3ozlAAs

Apr 22

Albert Finney, a five time Oscar nominee, shot to fame in the title role in "Billy Liar" and won an Olivier Award for "Orphans". Learn more about his life and achievements in this month's ODNB. bit.ly/3AkIJZZ

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The @odnb SCOTS update for 2023 has been published! It includes an entry written by Colourful Heritage staff on the life of Bashir Maan CBE, UKs 1st Muslim Cllr and a pioneering politician

: heraldscotland.com/news/homenews/ Watch this space for his entry... @ScottishLabour @GlasgowCC

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Election victory of 27th Kingston Ward. Copyright CSG CIC Glasgow Museums Collection

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Apr 18

Recently added to the ODNB Nik Powell, producer and former director of the UK’s National Film And Television School (

@NFTSFilmTV

), made a major impact on British cinema by pioneering new forms of distribution, exhibition, and marketing. bit.ly/3UHCskz

Apr 17

Added this month, Ian Macdonald from Glasgow was widely regarded as the doyen of immigration law, his 1983 textbook on immigration law and practice going through another eight editions before his death, and one of the UK’s leading human rights lawyers. bit.ly/3oaeqSS

Sarah Moorhouse

@_moorhousesarah

Apr 16

The entries I wrote for the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography have now been published! Read about hot air balloonist Julian Nott🎈, champion of Australian wines Hazel Murphy 🍷, IVF pioneer Ian Craft 👶 and more

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

@OUPAcademic

oxforddnb.com

Illuminations

@Illuminations

Apr 15

Delighted to see online my

biog of sandal-wearing drama director (The Forsyte Saga, Roads to Freedom, many more), TV exec and thoroughly nice man James Cellan Jones; many thanks to

@ruskin147

+ siblings for assistance [Subscription access only] doi.org/10.1093/odnb/9

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Carter, (Helen) Violet Bonham [née (Helen) Violet Asquith], Baroness Asquith of Yarnbury (1887–19...

Today's

life - (Helen) Violet Bonham Carter Her last speech, in November 1968, was on the need for reform of the House of Lords. She wryly observed that it was a matter that a half-century earlier had been deemed urgent.

oxforddnb.com

"Carter, (Helen) Violet Bonham [née (Helen) Violet Asquith], Baroness Asquith of Yarnbury (1887–1969), politician" published on by Oxford University Press.

Warwick MRC

@MRCWarwick

Apr 14

The Modern Records Centre holds the archives of the University of Warwick. One of its most important figures was Lord Bhattacharyya and his name appears on buildings and roads around campus. Follow the link below to read about his life.

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This month we added to the ODNB people who died in 2019 among them engineer Kumar Bhattacharyya, transgender pioneer Julia Grant, prime minister and president of The Gambia Sir Dawda Jawara, and inventor of Ibuprofen Stewart Adams bit.ly/3MO94qZ bit.ly/3muoYMq

The

update for 2023 has been published. It includes my entry on the life of Brian Mawhinney, the Northern Ireland-born politician who served as a Cabinet Minister in the 1990s (written in a personal capacity).

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This month we include the lives of 247 people who died in 2019 and who left their mark on the UK's national life, among them drummer Ginger Baker, novelist Andrea Levy, Olympic athlete Ken Matthews, and public servant Mary Warnock bit.ly/43xMcBJ

Discover the life of Joe Casely-Hayford, "a beacon of hope and a sense of possibility for young black designers... important not just for his innovative and anarchic fashion, but because he was telling a story that wasn’t being told by his contemporaries." bit.ly/3MIbiYz

Read the open access article about the life of Ivan Cooper, who president of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins, described as ‘the embodiment of the power of non-violent actions in pursuit of justice’. bit.ly/40byUYF

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Connal Parr

@ParrConnal

The @odnb published my entry on SDLP founder Ivan Cooper (1944-2019) today. He said towards the end of his life he wanted to be known as a civil rights leader first, politician second.

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Glasgow Sugar Aristocracy

@glasgow_sugar

Old Firm legends added to Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

Delighted to see more Scots in the ODNB, and congratulations to Dr Joe Bradley for the entry on Billy McNeill. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Scots added | HeraldScotland

heraldscotland.com

Great Scots added to Oxford Dictionary of National Biography