Tessa Whitehouse

Dr Tessa Whitehouse is a Reader in Eighteenth-Century Literature at the School of English and Drama, Queen Mary University of London. She directs the Queen Mary Centre for Religion and Literature in English and specializes in textual cultures of the Atlantic world, focusing on friendship, epistolary practices, and religious minorities in the long eighteenth century (1660–1830). Her research integrates historical, literary, and digital methodologies.

Education: BA (Cambridge), MRes and PhD (London). She has held Visiting Research Fellowships at Chawton House Library, the American Philosophical Society, and the Academy of Finland Centre of Excellence. Her work includes leading projects like 'Mapping Multifaith London' and 'Making Friends', which explore religious histories and childhood dynamics through collaborative interdisciplinary approaches.

• Co-edited volumes: Religion and Life Cycles in Early Modern England and Textual Transformations: Books and their Meanings from Baxter to Coleridge
• Public Engagement: Developed exhibitions for the Ragged School Museum (Interact Award winner), and appeared on BBC Radio 4’s '500 Years of Friendship'

Her research also examines memorial practices, children’s friendships, and the role of periodicals and conduct books in shaping eighteenth-century thought. She actively supervises doctoral students in related fields and contributes to academic networks such as the Writing and Religion Research Network.