Sam Guthrie

Wrong Sam Guthrie sorry! Coincidentally also Australian, but a historian based in London rather than the former diplomat and novelist 🙂

Famous Faces Ernie Toshack, test cricketer and Mandurama Red.

Did I tell you about the time I discovered an unknown photograph of a test cricketer and member of Don Bradman's Invincibles?

In the spare time, I'm still research, writing (and doing some recording about) the Mandurama Reds rugby league team.

open.substack.com/pub/manduram...

Irish Times' new mailout setup is painful, I don't need emails that look like they come from journalists!

'Call for Speakers' for the conference 'Hidden Histories' organised by the amazing Andie Kristina and myself. 21st of May 2026 and is open to anyone from any discipline. Please share with anyone who may be interested in submitting an abstract for a paper. 👇 #conference

Obit I've come across for a former league player who died in 1928. He was young too, 32. Most obits were the same, short but painful illness. Anyone out there able to suggest what illness would have been reported like this? Was it a bad cancer?

Black and white photo taken from high above showing the lawn at Queen's University Belfast filled with neat rows of Red Cross nurses.

Gave a "mystery lecture" in London last night. Thought I'd lost the crowd but rather they'd taken me up on the challenge of considering a very human perspective of the Troubles.

Glad I went before the lecture on pareidolia in everyday objects 🤣

Posting more in 2026, here not there, of course.

Any follow, subscription, share and support are massively appreciated. The blog will have monthly updates and plenty of content in between.

My project on the Mandurama Reds has received the Wes Smythe Award (from the Tom Brock Bequest) to further research the history of the village and rugby league team.

Lots of connections to labour union history, Irish migration, and rural life in this story

open.substack.com/pub/manduram...

Flatford Mill and Dedham. Beautiful countryside and great @nationaltrust.org.uk spot: 10/10 scones and ice cream

'The Right Honorable J. Ramsay MacDonald addressing the House of Commons', by Sir John Lavery, 1923. Oil on Canvas. Credit Glasgow Life Museums. https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/the-right-honourable-j-ramsay-macdonald-addressing-the-house-of-commons-84786

The Parliamentary History Essay Prize 2025 is open!
The prize is worth £500 and winners will have their essay published in our journal!

The submission deadline is 30 Nov 2025!

For details 👇
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@histparl.bsky.social @georgianlords.bsky.social @victoriancommons.bsky.social

Grave Recording - How archaeologists record graves! Learn more about the diverse work we carry out at the CBA.

🪦 Ever walked through a graveyard & wondered what the stones can tell us?

@qubelfastofficial.bsky.social Archaeologist Lara Wilgaus shares how graves are recorded, from GPS mapping to grave motifs, in their #ADayInArchaeology blog.

👉

We're trying to raise the profile of the work we're doing to support Heritage Work in the London Borough of Islington. Any insta follows would be appreciated!

www.instagram.com/islingtonher...

Screenshot of the website header for slavesinparis.org comprising a drawing of the Place des Victoires in 18th-century Paris

"Slaves in Paris: A Digital Mapping Project" - a partnership between Miranda Spieler and Colonial Networks slavesinparis.org. Created with the support of our Kress Foundation Digital Art History Grant. Officially launched today in Paris at #GCFHSResist

Sos lóin i Londain.

Got a tour of the Emirates and Arsenal Museum today, caught this reference to Glentoran. Hadn't realised that Arsenal travelled to play the Glens in September of 1969! The night before the match there were attacks on the RUC and churches burnt out!

No one:

Local Authority Heritage Service:

"I've sent you a WhatsApp could you just confirm this isn't poop."

‘Oh, where have all the branches gone?’: Making the History of the British Red Cross in Northern Ireland - The Linen Hall, Belfast The ‘Our Stories – Our Times’ project, the largest undertaking of oral history by the British Red Cross to date, took place in Northern Ireland from 2022 to 2024. Participants […]

I'll be speaking at the Linen Hall Library on the history of the (British) Red Cross movement in Northern Ireland. 13 June!

linenhall.com/event/oh-whe...

Historic churches, I'm in search of examples of great brochures, flyers, and design! Does anyone have any they can share? #heritage #churches #history

Really!? Small world! I'm down here Islington based now with the Council's heritage team

Walk and explore around the Reformed Jewish burial ground at Balls Pond Road. Fascinating stuff and a great project underway!

Corner of Church Rd and High Street, building on the right is now the Boots!

On this episode after the Enniskillen Workhouse. Recommend the whole If Walls Could Talk series, the team at Afro Mic were wonderful to work with

If Walls Could Talk - Series 2: 1. The Workhouse and Templemore Baths The Workhouse in Enniskillen has transformed from its sombre past to a vibrant site of resilience, while Belfast's historic Templemore Baths remain a vital community hub.

Brilliant to see Templemore Baths on the BBC! Really pleased to do this as a bit of a farewell to both the building and my home of six years www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0028n2j

Moves to London, #Belfast gets all the sun. Am I doomed to gloom forever?

Lovely day back running an Intro to Oral History workshop for QUB's Our Place; Our Stories.

#OralHistory #History

Free oral history workshop, Tue 25th at the Linen Hall Library, Belfast. Plenty of participation, and I'll definitely be available to chat.

Made possible through a @qubhistory.bsky.social Centre for Public History comment project

Sign up via Eventbrite www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/community-...

Three years of freelancing, still find the exact words to politely enquire about remuneration awkward to formulate.

Today I found out I need a root canal and got invited to speak at Kings in London. Swings and round-a-bouts right?

whenever i'm up all night writing with the cat i think of Pangur Ban - the cat of an Irish monk who lived in Reichenau Abbey in the 9th century, and the poem the monk wrote about him.

That's a fair point, I didn't think of it!

Screenshot of Google Earth showing location of Mountpottinger school. Templemore Avenue and its Baths can be seen a street away.

Some heritage that needs saving on #heritagetreasures day:

Mountpottinger School, *I believe* the oldest purpose built public education building in East Belfast. Designed by Samuel Close and built in 1896.

Derelict today, leased to a furniture shop. Pictured with emoji.