Hoskins Day 2024
Saturday 01 June, University of Leicester, from 12:00 noon until 4:00pm.
The W. G. Hoskins lecture is the highlight of Hoskins Day and is presented annually to commemorate the work and lasting influence in the fields of local and landscape history and historical and environmental conservation of William George Hoskins CBE FBA (22 May 1908 – 11 January 1992) who was an English local historian and founder, at the University of Leicester, of the first university department of English Local History. His great contribution to the study of history was in the field of landscape history. Hoskins demonstrated the profound impact of human activity on the evolution of the English landscape in a pioneering book: “The Making of the English Landscape“.
Event Opens
12:00 Attenborough Tower Room 101 and Foyer
A light lunch will be available with a second-hand book sale and VCH and oral history displays available to view.
Library Tour One
12:15 – 13:00 The tour departs from the David Wilson Library foyer.
Library Tour Two
13:00 – 13:45 The tour departs from the David Wilson Library foyer.
The David Wilson Library houses one of the largest regional and local history collections in the UK. These short tours will provide an introduction to the Library, explain how members of the public can join and use the collection, and include a short stop at Special Collections to see some rare books and archive material.
There is no need to pre-book for a tour. Please make your way to the David Wilson Library entrance hall to meet up with your host, Dr Will Farrell.
As well as a tour of the building and the main collection on the third floor, we will be showcasing the following collections in the Special Collections Reading Room:
- The Chaproniere Collection: photographic archive of English parish churches. We will be looking at the material on Suffolk.
- Highlights from the Draper Bequest on Kent: this is the most recent major donation to the local history rare book collection.
- Frederick Attenborough’s correspondence with Hoskins and other local historians. This relates to the slide collection that Richard Jones has been digitising.
- Poll Books: we have over 100 poll books in the Library, and we will be showcasing this important source for local political and social history.
Michael Gilbert – Introduction
13:50 – 14:00 Lecture Theatre One Attenborough Building
Dr Michael Gilbert is Chair of the Friends of the Centre
for English Local History at the University of
Leicester. Michael studied at the University of London and at the Centre where his thesis explored the changing landscape and economy of the late medieval fenlands. He is currently setting up the Centre for Fenland Studies at Ayscoughfee Hall in Spalding, South Lincolnshire to bring together local historians, academics and heritage groups.
Colin Hyde – “Walking through the Past”.
14:00 – 14:20 Lecture Theatre One Attenborough Building
A look at guided walking trails from Susanna(h) Watts in 1804 (she published her guidebook A Walk Through Leicester anonymously, and referred to herself as ‘he’ in the address at the beginning of the book) to the latest online walking tours of Leicester. Considering how these trails have changed over the years – or not – can tell us about how Leicester has celebrated its heritage over the past 200 years.
Colin has been with the East Midlands Oral History Archive (EMOHA) at the University of Leicester since 2001 and was seconded to the Unlocking Our Sound Heritage Midlands Hub, also at the University of Leicester, between 2018-2021. Colin has many years’ experience of giving advice, help and training in oral history. He has helped to create oral history related exhibitions, newsletters, books, CDs, videos and websites.
See our short biography of Susanna(h) Watts
Pam Fisher – “Blue dogs, basketry, board games and bells: The VCH in the 21st Century”.
14:20 – 14:40 Lecture Theatre One Attenborough Building
Pam completed an MA and a PhD at the Centre for English Local History at the University of Leicester. She is currently the Volunteer Programme Manager for Leicestershire Victoria County History Trust and also County Editor. Pam’s role is to plan the research, recruit, train and support volunteer historians to help, to carry out some research herself and to prepare or edit a text for publication.
Break
14:40 – 15:00
Corinne Fowler – “Landscape history after Hoskins: Country Walks Through Colonial Britain”.
15:00 – 16:00 Lecture Theatre One Attenborough Building
Our keynote speaker is Corinne Fowler, Professor of Colonialism and Heritage at the University of Leicester. She is co-investigator of both the Rural Racism Project and the AHRC project ‘Addressing the Histories and Legacies of Empire in Literary House Museums: Dove Cottage and Beyond’, which brings together academics, consultants, stakeholders and community groups to investigate the colonial links of Romantic-period literary house museums, using Wordsworth Grasmere as an initial focus.
In this talk, Professor Fowler explores how raw materials, slavery-produced goods, and colonial wealth reshaped British landscapes from the remote Scottish isle of Jura to Cornish copper mines. Together with ten walking companions, Corinne’s new book Our Island Stories: Country Walks Through Colonial Britain examines how local history is intertwined with imperial history, investigating the unique colonial dimensions of British agriculture, landownership, enclosure, wool-making, cotton-weaving and coastal trade.
what times will the lectures take place on Hoskins Day? It is not at all clear from this publicity.
Hello Deborah, lectures will take place at 2:00 and finish by 4:00, attendees are welcome from 12:00 in room 101 of the Attenborough Tower for refreshments (tea, coffee, sandwiches, etc)