ÌÇÐÄTV

Yorkshire-born Catherine Exley (1779-1857) was the wife of a British soldier who followed her husband through the Peninsular War. Unusually, we are able to read Exley's own account of her experiences in a personal diary that was printed in a local newspaper after her death. While Exley witnessed major events such as the battles of Salamanca and Vitoria, her diary is especially vivid in its recollections of the terrible privations and personal tragedies she faced on the long trek through Spain and Portugal. This workshop brings together specialists in a range of areas to consider the multiple dimensions of Exley's account, its context and its significance.

Programme

11am Coffee available in Scarman lounge
11.30 Welcome (Rebecca Probert, Rebecca Earle and Kirsty Hooper)

Discovering one's ancestors

11.30-12 Discovering Catherine Exley’s story (Richard Woodhead)
12-12.30 Researching family history (Audrey Collins, National Archives)

Lunch 12.30-1.30

The domestic context of women's lives

1.30-1.50 Naomi Wood – ‘Religion’
1.50-2.10 Giorgio Riello – ‘Clothing’
2.10-2.30 Hilary Marland, ‘Childbirth’
2.30-2.50 Maria Luddy – ‘Ireland’

Coffee break 2.50-3

The context of war

3-3.20 Elodie Duche – ‘The wives of captive redcoats and naval men’
3.20-3.40 Stuart Eastwood – ‘The 34th Regiment’
3.40-4 Charles Esdaile – ‘Women in the Peninsular war’
4-4.20 Tom Cardoza (via Skype) – ‘Campfollowers in the French army’

4.30 Close

Organisers

• , ÌÇÐÄTV School of Law
• , School of Comparative American Studies
• , Department of Hispanic Studies