Jane Hamlett

Jane Hamlett is Professor of Modern British History in the History Department at Royal Holloway, University of London. She is a historian of modern British society and culture with a focus on the home, family, and material and visual world, and serves as co-director of the Bodies and Material Culture Research Group.

Her educational background includes History studies at Mansfield College Oxford, an MA in Women's and Gender History at Royal Holloway, and a PhD exploring the material culture of the Victorian middle-class home. After working at Oxford, Manchester, and Surrey universities, she returned to Royal Holloway in 2008.

• Material and visual culture
• Gender, family and relationships
• Domesticity and home life
• Disability and mental health
• Education
• Environment and animals

Hamlett's publication record includes six books and sixteen articles/book chapters. Her recent work focuses on the history of pets in British family life, with her 2023 book 'Pet Revolution: Animals and the Making of Modern British Life' (co-authored with Julie-Marie Strange) receiving significant attention. She is currently working on a project about the history of family papers in nineteenth and early twentieth century England.

Selected Awards and Recognition:

• Fellow of the Royal Historical Society
• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

Hamlett has received significant research funding including ESRC and AHRC grants for projects on Victorian institutions and pet history. She has curated multiple exhibitions at the Museum of the Home and collaborated with organizations including Surrey History Centre, Hampshire Local Archives, Wandsworth Libraries, and Blue Cross. Her media appearances include BBC's 'Who Do You Think You Are?', 'The House through Time', and multiple Radio Four programs including 'Making History' and 'Thinking Allowed'.

She teaches undergraduate courses in Modern British History including 'Britain on Camera: Photography, Film and British Society 1845-1960' and 'Troubled Minds: Histories of Mental Health in Britain, 1780-2000', and currently supervises five PhD students.