Ed Legon

Dr Ed Legon is a Senior Lecturer in Heritage Management and Business History at Queen Mary University of London, affiliated with the Department of Business and Society. He serves as Programme Director for the MA Heritage Management, a collaboration between Queen Mary and Historic Royal Palaces. His research spans early modern political economy, focusing on textile workers’ political culture in 17th-century England and contemporary London’s industrial and ecclesiastical heritage. He is co-director of Queen Mary’s Centre on Labour, Sustainability, and Global Production (CLaSP), and contributes to editorial roles for The London Journal and the Institute of Historical Research’s British History seminar.

Teaching responsibilities include BUS262 Business and History, undergraduate dissertation coordination, and postgraduate modules on heritage theory and management. He is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Key research outputs include a forthcoming monograph on clothmakers’ political roles (Manchester University Press) and contributions to studies of the Board of Trade and heritage discourse. His work bridges business history, material culture, and memory studies, addressing topics like guild politics, post-revolutionary memory, and the transformation of religious spaces into industrial heritage sites.

Ed supervises PhD projects on themes such as commercial diplomacy in West Africa, everyday politics in revolutionary England, and Thames foreshore heritage. He actively participates in interdisciplinary academic networks and public engagement initiatives.