Copyright © 2010 The Historical Association: Swansea Branch

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   * Member of the branch’s Local History sub-committee

 

Dr John Law (Chairman) studied at the universities of St Andrews and Oxford, and in 1971 became a lecturer at Swansea University. He has been a member of the Council of the Society for Renaissance Studies for over twenty years, and was a founding member of its Welsh branch; he was editor of Renaissance Studies between 1997 and 2007. Dr Law became a corresponding member of the Deputazione Veneta di Storia Patria in 1981, and in 1985 was awarded a Fellowship of the Royal Historical Society. He is the author of a number of published works dealing with medieval Italian history.

 

Dr Claire Vivian (General Secretary and Membership Secretary) is a History graduate of Swansea University. Her research is focused on the Early Modern period (c.1500–1800) and she has a particular interest in seventeenth-century British history, especially Puritanism and the emergence of spiritual autobiography as a recognisable genre. Claire worked alongside Dr John Law as Assistant to the Editor of Renaissance Studies between 2004 and 2007. She successfully completed her PhD in 2008 and currently works for Swansea University Library and History Department. In her spare time Claire is a keen caver and climber.

 

Colin Wheldon James* (Vice-Chairman) is a History graduate of the University of Wales Swansea (where he also gained a Diploma in Local History), is associated with Mellen University in the United States and is a Field Editor for the Edwin Mellen Press. He is a civil servant who lectures Medieval History part-time at Swansea University’s Department of Adult Continuing Education. As well as being a full member of the Historical Association, Colin also holds membership of the Royal Historical Society, the Society for the Study of the Crusades and the Latin East, the British Association for Local History, the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors, and is an Associate Member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. His published works include A Study of the Clerk’s Report Book of the Swansea Local Board of Health, 1855–1866, and ‘The Miraculous Crusade’ (in The Historian, vol 105).

Peter Richards (Treasurer) studied Dental Surgery at Cardiff University, qualifying in 1981. For many years he practiced dentistry in the Dulais Valley, owning two practices. Peter now runs the family farm in Alltwen, near Swansea, and has always had a keen interest in history. He is a mature student studying for an MA in Maritime and Imperial History at Swansea University. His interest is in the mercantile marine, especially with regard to sailing ships, and in particular, the East India Company. He is currently writing a dissertation on voyaging in East Indiamen between 1750 and 1833.