PhDone! Dr Qiqing Tan

Dr Qiqing Tan is a PhD graduate from the History Department at the University of Bristol, where she joined in 2020 after completing her master’s degree at Renmin University in China. Under the supervision of Professors Brendan Smith and Benjamin Pohl, she successfully defended her doctoral thesis on Irish revenue in January 2025.

Hi Qiqing. First of all, congratulations on your successful viva! Can you tell us a bit about what your doctoral research was about?

Thanks! My research investigates the state of Irish revenue and the operation of the Irish exchequer during the reign of Edward II (1307-1327). By analysing various sources of revenue through both geographical and chronological perspectives, it contends that, despite various pressures, the Irish exchequer effectively navigated the English lordship in Ireland through some of the most severe crises in medieval Irish history. Moreover, this study employs the operations of this fiscal system as a prism through which to explore how individuals and communities in Ireland adapted to this rapidly deteriorating conditions. Officials, ministers, clerks, citizens, farmers, and foreigners alike demonstrated resilience and flexibility in adversity, seeking to maintain and advance their positions amid a time of crisis.

How did you become interested in Irish fiscal history?

My interest in this field began during my master’s degree, where I focused on the English exchequer in the twelfth century. This research provided a solid foundation for understanding the development of fiscal systems in England. As I delved deeper into the subject, I became increasingly fascinated by how these institutions expanded and evolved in the late Middle Ages, particularly in Ireland, which was under English control at the time. The Irish exchequer, in particular, caught my attention due to the volume of surviving records, which offered a valuable, though manageable, source for studying a period of around twenty years. Furthermore, the fourteenth century in Ireland was an especially intriguing era, marked by political instability, power struggles, and the contestation of different identities. This complexity made Ireland an ideal setting for exploring the interplay between fiscal systems, society, and politics.

What did you enjoy most about your project?

One of the most enjoyable aspects of my research was the quiet, contemplative time I spent with the records. There’s something meditative about immersing yourself in historical documents and piecing together the past from seemingly fragmented data. I was constantly struck by the way small details in the financial records could tell you so much about the social and political fabric of the time. It was the process of solving these puzzles that I found particularly satisfying—there’s a deep joy in uncovering hidden patterns or discovering something previously overlooked in the archives. The interdisciplinary nature of my research also kept me engaged, as I was able to draw from history, economics, and political science to enrich my understanding.

Any top tips for lunch spots near your archives / libraries / museum collections / the Bristol University campus?

Absolutely! Near the University of Bristol, I highly recommend Chris and Jo’s Kitchen for lunch. It’s a lovely spot that serves wholesome, delicious food. If you’re ever in Dublin near the National Archives of Ireland, I always enjoyed stopping by Brew Lab Specialty Coffee. It’s a fantastic coffee shop where I’d grab a coffee to start my day or take a quick lunch break. The atmosphere there really helped energise me for the long hours spent in the archives.

Heading of one Irish receipt roll (TNA, E 101/237/3, m.8)

Let’s talk about the viva itself. What would you advise someone who is preparing for their own viva?

Preparing for the viva can be nerve-wracking, but the key is to be well-prepared and to stay calm. Even though you wrote the thesis, it’s crucial to familiarise yourself thoroughly with every section, as you may be asked to explain concepts in ways that require more depth than the written document provides. A good practice is to make a list of possible questions that could arise. The ‘Viva Survivors’ website is a great resource for this. In addition, try to rehearse your answers and don’t rely too heavily on notes during the viva itself. The more you practise, the more confident you’ll feel in presenting your ideas clearly and coherently. Lastly, remember that the viva is as much a conversation as it is an examination—don’t be afraid to engage with your examiners thoughtfully.

What’s next for you? Where can we find your research and/or writing now?

 At the moment, I am applying for postdoctoral fellowships, which will allow me to continue my research into medieval fiscal history. I’m also in the process of developing a book proposal based on my doctoral thesis, with the goal of expanding the research and making it more accessible to a broader audience, particularly those interested in the history of English colonial rule in Ireland. My work is also featured in the forthcoming volume Scotland and England, c.1300 to 1603: War, Diplomacy, and Power, edited by Andy King, Gordon McKelvie, and Jenny McHugh, where I have contributed an article titled ‘The Repercussions of the Scottish War: A Financial Approach to the Bruce Invasion of Ireland, 1315-1318’ (Brepols, forthcoming).

Shaun Wallace on In Pursuit of Freedom

In this blog post, Bristol lecturer Shaun Wallace reflects on his forthcoming book In Pursuit of Freedom: Fugitive Slaves and Advertised Escape in the Early Republic.

Explaining the origins and motivations behind my first manuscript I find myself gravitating toward the same inspiration I accredit to my decision to study and teach American slavery—the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave (1845). As a second year student at the University of Stirling in 2008, my introduction to racial slavery was through Douglass’s eloquent and powerful antebellum autobiography. I was drawn to its themes of agency and resistance and to the life of Douglass, the self-taught author who learned to read and write and used his literateness to challenge, and eventually escape, the system that enslaved him. I analysed literateness within narrative accounts of enslavement written by formerly enslaved people for my undergraduate dissertation, explored the relationship between literacy and escape for my MRes thesis, and resistance as captured in fugitive slave advertisements for my PhD project.

Yet, for every question answered, another seemed to appear. How did bondpersons pursuit of literacy fuse with their understanding of freedom? What other motivations led enslaved persons to escape? Douglass was Maryland’s most famous fugitive but who were the others—The women, men, and children who never left written testimonies but were advertised as escapees by enslavers? How did demographic, geographical, and temporal factors shape fugitivity patterns—Did bondpersons who escaped from the Chesapeake region in the upper South share the same profile as escapees from slavery in the deeper South?I designed the Fugitive Slave Database (FSdb) to address these questions. One of the largest digital archives of American fugitive slave advertisements from the turn of the nineteenth century, I built it to preserve fugitivity notices in their complete and original form, bring them into a corpus of historical evidence, and create datasets for analysis. A total of 5,567 fugitivity notices published in Georgia and Maryland (and smaller samples from South Carolina and Virginia) were collected and over 9,000 records extrapolated from them, generating new and original information for 2,350 enslaved women, men, and children advertised as escapees by some 2,000 men and women who enslaved them.

My forthcoming manuscript, In Pursuit of Freedom: Fugitive Slaves and Advertised Escape in the Early Republic (publication with the University of Georgia Press: early 2025) centres around the experiences of the enslaved women and men captured in fugitive slave advertisements, emerging as a major contribution to historiographical understandings of slavery in the United States from the turn of the nineteenth century.

Directing attention to a time (the early republic) and to places (Georgia and Maryland) that have not received sustained consideration by scholars of enslaved fugitivity, my book enriches scholarly understanding of the methods adopted by enslavers when enslaved men and women escaped, providing new insights into the attitude of enslavers as well as the role of printers and print in the surveillance of Black bodies.  In Pursuit of Freedom furnishes scholarship with first empirically-based profile of fugitives and fugitivity in Georgia and Maryland at the turn of the nineteenth century. It deploys quantitative and qualitative methods to unearth the stories that enslaved women and men did not write themselves but that can be recovered, reconstructed, and reimagined through careful attention to a vast archive of fugitive slave advertisements that became a standard feature of American newspapers during the eighteenth century.

My new book encourages slavery scholars to interpret fugitive slave advertisements in new and original ways. Pioneering innovative digital humanities methodologies to conceptualize and theorize bondpersons pursuit of freedom as a lifelong struggle, it sheds light on a profoundly personal process of becoming and self-actualization in the lives of enslaved women and men as they distanced themselves physically and psychologically from bondage. Fugitivity, the book argues, marked an important, if uncertain stride, in what has been until now a fugitive process—Not the end but rather a moment in the lives of freedom seekers alluded to in fugitive slave advertisements. Interpreting notices for escapees for what they were truly were—the desperate actions of enslavers to interfere and meddle in a process they could never control—we can ensure that the agency, decision-making, and personhood of the women and men in pursuit of freedom is never again generalized, masked, silenced, or undermined.

 

Summer Reads 2023

From works of historical fiction to micro-history, memoir to nature writing, as we reach the midpoint of the summer holidays, historians at the University of Bristol share with us what they’ve been reading so far.

Brendan Smith, Professor of Medieval Studies, is reading Danube by Claudio Magris. Every page has something memorable to say about the historic connections of the places the author passes through, from source to Black Sea. Not since my interrail in the summer of 1982 have I seen the mighty river!

Misha Ewen, Lecturer in Early Modern History, is reading The Love Songs of W. E. DuBois by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers. The Love Songs of W. E. DuBois is an emotional work of historical fiction, which is both a coming of age story and a family saga, which traces their experiences of enslavement and dispossession, intimacy and love, during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It’s also a mediation on the role of the (family) historian – the ethics of doing research and what we hope to recover. I’ve never read a book quite like this and I couldn’t put it down.

Lorenzo Costaguta, Lecturer in U.S. History, is reading Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich. Nickel and Dimed is a short and extraordinary book. Written by social justice activist and writer Barbare Ehrenreich (1941-2022), it narrates the author’s attempts to survive through minimum-wage jobs in late-90s US economy. The book became a literary sensation when it was published in 2001. In an economy still enjoying the upside of the late 1990s tech boom, Ehrenreich unveiled the social damages produced by a capitalist system designed to be impossible to navigate for the poor. Beautifully written, self-critical, inspired, Nickel and Dimed rapidly became an instant classic.

Will Pooley, Senior Lecturer in Modern History, is reading Twilight of the Godlings: Shadowy Beginnings of Britain’s Supernatural Beings by Francis Young. I love a book that takes on an old problem – what are the origins of the motley spirits and supernatural beings of medieval Britain? It’s no surprise the answer isn’t simple. Young suggests that across the longue durée communities with similar needs recycled the bits and pieces of old godlings into new spirits, wild men, and eventually… fairies. A fun one for folklore fans!

Josie McLellan, Professor of History, is reading The Swimmer: The Wild Life of Roger Deakin by Patrick Barkham. An experimental biography of the nature writer Roger Deakin. Subtle, engrossing, and an absolute page-turner!

Simon Potter, Professor of Modern History, is reading The Disappearance of Lydia Harvey: A True Story of Sex, Crime and the Meaning of Justice by Julia Laite. The Disappearance of Lydia Harvey traces Laite succeeds in bringing out big themes in twentieth-century global and social history through painstaking reconstruction of the lives of ordinary people.

Fernando Cervantes, Reader in History, is reading Journeys of the Mind: A Life in History by Peter Brown. It had me completely hooked for a good week. It is a fascinating memoir of his intellectual development that takes the reader from Brown’s native Dublin through Oxford and London to Berkeley and Princeton. It is also an exceptionally generous appraisal of all the people who have influenced him as well as a cracking read. Written with Brown’s characteristic elegance and wit, it is also a wonderful travel book, reconstructing Brown’s many journeys in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Among the many books he mentions that had a profound impact on him is Hilda Prescott’s The Man on a Donkey, a forgotten classic of historical fiction that meticulously reconstructs the lives of individuals and communities in the decades leading up to and during Henry VIII’s decision to dissolve the monasteries. I am only half-way through — it is very long! — but I am thoroughly enjoying it. Both books are absolute ‘musts.’

Richard Stone, Senior Lecturer in Early Modern History, is reading Late Light by Michael Malay. It’s a beautiful piece of nature writing.  Michael takes us with him as he learns about four fascinating but overlooked animals with which we share the British landscape (eels, moths, mussels, and crickets), but also how human actions are putting them at risk of extinction. Michael also tells us how, after growing up in Indonesia and Australia, his explorations of nature helped him fall in love with English West Country which he now calls home.  I’m normally a physical books person, but Michael narrated the audiobook himself, so listening to it is just like sitting listening to a friend tell you about his adventures!

PhDone ! With Julia Phillips

In the latest in our #PhDone series, we caught up with Dr. Julia Phillips.

Julia took early retirement in 2017 after 25 years as a CEO in the not-for-profit sector in England and Australia. She also worked in travel and tourism, as a lecturer at Warwickshire College, distribution management, financial management, and programmer/systems analyst. In her words: ‘It’s a varied background!’

Hi Julia! First of all, congratulations on your successful viva! Can you tell us a bit about what your doctoral research was about?

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PhDone! With Dr. Jiayi Tao

In the latest in this new series, we talk to Dr. Jiayi Tao about her doctorate, recently completed in the department.

Under the support of the China Scholarship Council, Jiayi Tao carried out her PhD project at the University of Bristol, passing her viva in September 2021. Her research interests lie in the history of international humanitarianism and modern Chinese history.

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Forest 404: A Chilling Vision of a Future Without Nature

by Professor Peter Coates , Professor of American and Environmental History, University of Bristol

Binge-watching of boxsets on BBC iPlayer or Netflix is a growing habit. And binge-listening isn’t far behind. Podcast series downloadable through BBC Sounds are all the rage (with a little help from Peter Crouch). Enter Radio 4’s ‘Forest 404’ – hot off the press as a 27-piece boxset on the fourth day of the fourth month. This is something I’ve been involved in recently: an experimental BBC sci-fi podcast that’s a brand-new listening experience because of its three-tiered structure of drama, factual talk and accompanying soundscape (9 x 3 = 27). Continue reading

‘An Arena of Glorious Work’

UOB PhD student Gary Willis writes for us, below, on the Council for the Preservation of Rural England. Gary wrote his Masters dissertation on the role of British conservation organisations during the Second World War, and this forms the basis of an article about the role of CPRE during the war which is now published in the October 2018 issue of the Rural History journal.  He is currently undertaking a PhD on the impact on the rural landscape of Britain’s expanded war industry in the Department of History (Historical Studies) at Bristol, supervised by Professor Peter Coates Continue reading

‘The Maltese Soul’ and the Quest for a Post-Colonial Identity

During a recent visit to Malta, Research Associate, Dr Andrew Hillier, found a country seeking to establish its identity in the post-colonial world.

 

Save for the odd passing reference, Malta tends to go un-noticed in British imperial history. Yet, for over 150 years,  the island, together with neighbouring Gozo, was an important British colony, playing a key role in the empire’s Mediterranean strategy. Moreover, when the country finally gained its independence, this ended not just British rule but two thousand years of colonisation. Its history, therefore, is instructive as to both Britain’s imperial project and, more generally, the impact of imperial rule on a nation and its people.

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