The Nicola Verdon Memorial Fund.
The Nicola Verdon Memorial Fund has been launched. It provides financial support to help early career researchers in agricultural and rural history to attend conferences and undertake research (including travel to archives or other research expenses).
Nicola undertook the MA course in English Local History at the University of Leicester during Dave Postles time there. She completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Sussex before moving to Leicester for her MA, completed in 1995, and subsequent PhD.
She held various lecturing positions since completing her doctorate in 1999, including at Harlaxton College, the University of Reading and the University of Sussex. In January 2011 she took up the position of Reader in History at Sheffield Hallam and was appointed Professor of Modern British History there in 2018.
Her research interests focussed on life and labour in the British countryside in the 19th and 20th centuries and she has published many journal articles and book chapters on women’s and children’s work in agriculture, on poverty and standards of living, and on family life on British farms, and was the author of two books, Rural Women Workers in 19th century England (Boydell, 2002) and Working the Land: A History of the Farmworker in England from 1850 to the Present Day (Palgrave, 2017).
She worked with several institutions, including theatres, museums and the broadcast media, and enjoyed communicating her knowledge of history to a wider public audience. She also made a significant contribution to the study of English local history in her role as President of the British Agricultural History Society.
She was an acclaimed historian who made an outstanding contribution to the study of agricultural and rural history. Her research on the British countryside, and particularly female agricultural workers, was internationally recognised for its significance. Nicola, who was generous with her time, advice and insights, enjoyed travelling for research and conferences.
She was acutely aware how challenging it is for early career researchers to fund travel and accommodation for such trips. This initiative, jointly funded by the BAHS, Ed Bolt (Nicola’s partner, University of Nottingham) and Nicola’s family, aims to perpetuate her memory by enabling early career scholars to attend conferences (particularly BAHS events) or undertake research trips on agricultural or rural history.
Up to £1,500 will be offered as part of this fund each year with a maximum of £500 awarded per person. For further details and to apply, please visit our website.
