Enfilade

London Lives, 1690-1800
De Havilland Campus, University of Hertfordshire, 5-6 July 2010

Proposals due by 28 February 2010

A call for papers and short presentations for a two-day conference to mark the launch of: http://www.londonlives.org. This new website will provide access, using an integrated search facility, to primary sources containing 240,000 pages of manuscripts sources and 3.2 million names, reflecting the history of eighteenth-century London. It includes the eighteenth-century material from the Old Bailey Online; the manuscript records of quarter sessions, three London parishes, Bridewell, St Thomas’s Hospital, and the Carpenter’s Company; datasets from the Westminster Pauper Biographies Project; and several datasets formerly deposited with the Arts and Humanities Data Service.

Conceived as an unconference, this event is designed to allow as many participants as possible to contribute in as many ways as possible. Contributions are invited from anyone whose research will benefit from use of the site. The schedule will include a few formal papers, but most sessions will consist of either short papers, of up to eight minutes, with slides (rigorously timed), or workshops in which specific historical questions are explored in small groups using both the London Lives website, and the wider infinite archive of the internet. There will also be some panel discussions comprising related 20-minute papers with opportunities for debate and shout outs. You may propose to participate in any of the ways described above. To do so, please submit a brief description of your work (not more than 150 words) to t.hitchcock@herts.ac.uk by 28 February 2010, with an indication of whether you would like to do an 8-minute presentation, a workshop, or a 20-minute paper.

Early access to the site will be arranged for those submitting a contribution. Although not finalised, we anticipate the cost (including accommodation) for this two-day event to be in the region of £120, with a discount for those contributing to the programme.