Welcome! I am a historian of the eighteenth-century world, particularly the British Empire and the many indigenous societies it encountered. I also have interests in visual history, anthropological history, experimental uses of biography, and issues surrounding higher education and the humanities. On this site you’ll find links to my historical writing, reflections on my historical reading, and discussions of various historical engagements (oh, and an unlikely page on swimming).
Recent Posts
All That Remains
Another piece on Bennelong, but here also on Arthur Phillip, comparing their burial sites and posthumous lives. Preliminary work for my next book. Part of my quarterly gig with Inside Story. Click here for the 1500-word essay.
Revising the Life of Bennelong
This is a videoed talk I gave at the conclusion of my 2021 fellowship at the National Library of Australia. It presents some of the research I undertook on fellowship to help us revise the biography of Bennelong (c1764-1813). My deep thanks to the excellent audience who showed how important Bennelong’s history is to so … Continue reading Revising the Life of Bennelong
Voice, Treaty, Truth webinar
During NAIDOC week 2021 I was delighted to be a part of a webinar inspired by my latest Inside Story piece (see below). It was a major honour to talk alongside leading Uluru spokesperson Megan Davis, public lawyer Gabrielle Appleby, and historian Mark McKenna. Davis’s unit at UNSW recorded the webinar. It removed the chat … Continue reading Voice, Treaty, Truth webinar
Why does Truth come third?
The excellent online mag Inside Story has asked my colleagues in the First Nations and Colonial Histories Centre at ACU to write a monthly column. This was my first contribution – a reflection on what the ‘Voice, Treaty, Truth’ sequencing in the Uluru Statement means for tellers of history. When the Australian Historical Association met … Continue reading Why does Truth come third?
