Samantha Shave
I'm a historian of social policy interested poverty, welfare and wealth in modern Britain from 1750 onwards. My research is mainly concerned with the development and impact of the poor laws and deterrent workhouses as well as the voice of welfare claimants in the making of social policies. My work often applies the concepts and ideas developed in the social sciences today, such as the policy process and policy transfer, to develop a deeper understanding of social policies in the past. My monograph, Pauper Policies: Poor Law Practice in England 1780-1850, was published by Manchester University Press in 2017 (paperback released in November 2018). I'm currently working on various projects, one of which is entitled 'Who Cares? Relief, Reform and Old Poor Law Scandals' funded by a Marc Fitch Research Grant.
I'm also a historical consultant for popular radio and TV programmes and some print media. Last year I was a guest speaker on BBC Radio 4's In Our Time programme on The Poor Laws: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0001m73
I joined Lincoln in January 2018, having previously had an eight-year postdoctoral research career, with positions at the University of Sussex, the University of Cambridge, and the University of Southampton, and a Lectureship at Bournemouth University. Postdoctoral research projects allowed me to develop interests in wealth, inheritance, the origins and development of the stock market and the role and purpose of financial advice.
I review books and papers for a wide range of journals on a range of topics, especially those about the poor laws, workhouses, welfare state, charities, but also on topics across social policy, and social, political and economic history.
Although I'm no longer an early career researcher myself, I support early career researchers by organising and delivering training events. I was a committee member of the IHR's History Lab Plus (2011-13), the UK Staff Research Association (2011-2014) and was a co-founder of the Sussex Research Staff Association (2011).
I've helped PhD and MPhil students develop research projects, and can supervise postgraduate students of all levels with their independent research on a wide range of topics. Do get in contact if this interests you.
I'm also a historical consultant for popular radio and TV programmes and some print media. Last year I was a guest speaker on BBC Radio 4's In Our Time programme on The Poor Laws: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0001m73
I joined Lincoln in January 2018, having previously had an eight-year postdoctoral research career, with positions at the University of Sussex, the University of Cambridge, and the University of Southampton, and a Lectureship at Bournemouth University. Postdoctoral research projects allowed me to develop interests in wealth, inheritance, the origins and development of the stock market and the role and purpose of financial advice.
I review books and papers for a wide range of journals on a range of topics, especially those about the poor laws, workhouses, welfare state, charities, but also on topics across social policy, and social, political and economic history.
Although I'm no longer an early career researcher myself, I support early career researchers by organising and delivering training events. I was a committee member of the IHR's History Lab Plus (2011-13), the UK Staff Research Association (2011-2014) and was a co-founder of the Sussex Research Staff Association (2011).
I've helped PhD and MPhil students develop research projects, and can supervise postgraduate students of all levels with their independent research on a wide range of topics. Do get in contact if this interests you.
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Books by Samantha Shave
"Pauper policies presents exciting new research on the English Poor Laws before and after the Amendment Act of 1834. This original study of an institution that lay at the heart of life for many centuries is empirically rich and analytically engaging. Shave's book provides a superb example of how painstaking archival work opens the possibility of deeper understanding of a wide range of cognate areas of social and political life. Beautifully written and clearly argued, this is an excellent addition to the scholarship."
Professor Emma Griffin, University of East Anglia
Papers by Samantha Shave
"Pauper policies presents exciting new research on the English Poor Laws before and after the Amendment Act of 1834. This original study of an institution that lay at the heart of life for many centuries is empirically rich and analytically engaging. Shave's book provides a superb example of how painstaking archival work opens the possibility of deeper understanding of a wide range of cognate areas of social and political life. Beautifully written and clearly argued, this is an excellent addition to the scholarship."
Professor Emma Griffin, University of East Anglia
Historians of welfare, the English poor laws, and medicine have been aware of the importance of workhouse-based medicine, but the topic has not been studied in depth. This volume is the first to examine the history of the medical services provided by these institutions both in Britain and its former colonies, over the period covered by the Old and New Poor Laws. Written by prominent historians of medicine, welfare, and social policy, the essays document the experiences of those who received care or died in these houses, and form the critical foundation for a new historiography of workhouse medicine.
Contributors: Jeremy Boulton, Virginia Crossman, Romola Davenport, Steven King, Angela Negrine, Susannah Ottaway, Rita Pemberton, Jonathan Reinarz, Alistair Ritch, Leonard Schwarz, Samantha Shave, Kevin Siena, Leonard Smith, Alannah Tomkins.
The aim of the knowledge transfer component of the project was to facilitate the teaching of new research on British living standards in UK schools. The knowledge transfer component of the project was undertaken in partnership with The National Archives.
The National Archives had experience of running a number of ‘teacher scholar’ programmes. A ‘teacher scholar’ could be defined as a teacher who becomes expert on a particular topic through academic activities, such as attending lectures, reading, and examining primary ‘evidence’ (such as documents, statistics, landmarks etc), and then uses this knowledge to inform the lessons they write. The lessons developed by the teacher scholars would be shared with other teachers who did not attend the programme by being made available to download online.
The Sussex project team worked with Andrew Payne, Head of Education and Outreach at TNA, and Ben Walsh, teacher, author and senior GCSE history examiner, to develop a teacher-scholar programme on the subject of modern British living standards.
Dr Samantha Shave was responsible for liaison between the TNA and Sussex teams and wrote this report about the Programme at the end of the project in 2013, in order to capture the development of the programme, what happened on the programme and how it worked.
This report hopes to serve as inspiration for academics in the humanities and social sciences who are planning or embarking on knowledge transfer and impact projects.
Samantha is an Honorary Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Medical Humanities. She has researched and written about the history of poverty and the poor laws, as well as aspects of health and wealth in modern Britain. She occasionally acts as, and always enjoys being, a historical adviser for TV and radio documentaries and popular history magazines.