It is with sadness that we report the death of Humfrey Butters following a short illness. Those of us who knew him will have many memories of his many years of service in the department. It goes without saying that the Venice programme stands as an enduring reminder of his contributions to the university. He will be greatly missed. There will be a small family funeral followed by a memorial service later in the year. Some memories of Humfrey are gathered here.

The Peterloo Massacre took place on 16 August 1819 and is considered a landmark moment in the struggle for democracy in Britain. However, the number of people present at the Massacre may have been “significantly smaller” than previously thought, according to research by History PhD student Dave Steele.

The full article is available on the BBC HistoryExtra website.

In a first for Who Do You Think You Are?, father-and-son comedy double-act Jack and Michael Whitehall join forces to investigate their family tree. They discover the tragedy that left Jack’s great grandfather (Michael’s grandfather) an orphan. And tracing their line back to Wales in the 1830s, they find out about a Tory ancestor's role in opposing the Chartist movement for wider voting rights.

Professor Hilary Marland features in the programme, which is now available on BBC iPlayer.

BBC Radio 4’s File on 4 programme this week examined the experiences of the Kenyan tea workers affected in the post-electoral violence in Kenya in January 2008. The workers are now trying to get compensation for murders and rapes from Unilever, the owner of the tea estate where the violence occurred. An interview with Professor David M Anderson features in the programme. The programme, entitled Bitter Brew is now available on the BBC Sounds website.

We’re delighted to announce the launch of the History of Science and Technology Hub at the University of Warwick.

The University of Warwick has a wealth of expertise in the history of science and technology. We cover the full range of scientific disciplines, from physics to anthropology to economics, as well as the technologies associated with them. Our teaching and research in this area is distinctive. It links up the history of scientific theories with wider historical phenomena such as war, religion, globalisation, ideology, social and environmental change, and the rise and fall of states and empires. This work is integrated into various projects in the History Department and is connected to other Warwick research centres in the sciences, humanities and social sciences.

The History of Science and Technology Hub is a portal to the people, teaching, research and events related to the history of science and technology at Warwick.

To find out more please visit our website or follow us on Twitter. 

We are delighted to announce that Dr Sarah Richardson has been awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the Historical Association. Each year the Historical Association awards a small number of Honorary Fellowships to recognise and celebrate outstanding contributions to history and to the Historical Association.

Professor Mark Knights recently joined Melvyn Bragg on BBC Radio 4's In Our Time, to discuss why a Westminster protest against 'Popery' in June 1780 led to widespread rioting across London, lethally suppressed.

The show was originally broadcast on Thursday 2 May, but now available as a podcast on the BBC Radio 4 website.

 
Materials of the Mind: Phrenology, Race, and the Global History of Science, 1815-1920, by Dr James Poskett (University of Warwick), is a new monograph published by University of Chicago Press.

Phrenology was the most popular mental science of the Victorian age. From American senators to Indian social reformers, this new mental science found supporters around the globe. Materials of the Mind tells the story of how phrenology changed the world—and how the world changed phrenology.

This is a story of skulls from the Arctic, plaster casts from Haiti, books from Bengal, and letters from the Pacific. Drawing on far-flung museum and archival collections, and addressing sources in six different languages, Materials of the Mind is an impressively innovative account of science in the nineteenth century as part of global history. It shows how the circulation of material culture underpinned the emergence of a new materialist philosophy of the mind, while also demonstrating how a global approach to history can help us reassess issues such as race, technology, and politics today.

Details of all the monographs and edited collection of the Warwick University History Department's current academic staff are available online, and the details of all the monographs and edited collection of the Warwick University History Department's emeritus academic staff are also available online.