Suzannah Lipscomb
Suzannah Rebecca Gabriella Lipscomb (born 7 December 1978) is a British historian, academic, and television presenter who has written and appeared in a number of television and radio programmes about British history, as well as being a regular panellist on the quiz programme "Insert Name Here". Her research focuses on the sixteenth century, in both English and French history, and covers religious, gender, political, social, and psychological history. She has also written and talked about British and European witch trials, and has for many years, contributed a regular column to the magazine "History Today". Lipscomb has been a  member of the Board of Governors of Epsom College for a number of years. She worked as a curator for Historic Royal Palaces at Hampton Court; as a Lecturer at the University of East Anglia; as a Senior Lecturer and Convenor for History at the New College of the Humanities; and, as a Reader at the University of Roehampton, where she became a Professor when she was appointed to a personal chair as a Professor of History in January 2019. In December 2020, Lipscomb was appointed a Trustee of the Mary Rose Trust. On 1 April 2021, she became Professor  Emeritus at the University of Roehampton. Early life and education. Lipscomb grew up in Surrey near Hampton Court Palace, which she credits for sowing “the seeds of a lifelong fascination with the Tudors.” She was educated at Nonsuch High School for Girls, Epsom College, and Lincoln and Balliol colleges of the University of Oxford. In 2009, she was awarded her Doctorate of Philosophy from Oxford, with a thesis entitled "Maids, Wives, and Mistresses: Disciplined Women in Reformation Languedoc". Academic career. While completing her thesis, she worked as a curator at Hampton Court Palace, where she was responsible for organising a  series of exhibitions held throughout the spring and summer of 2009 to mark the 500th anniversary of Henry VIII of England's accession to the throne. The programme won the 2011 Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)-sponsored KTP Award for Humanities for the Creative Economy. She is a consultant to Historic Royal Palaces, and is an external member of their research strategy board. In 2010, Lipscomb became a lecturer in history at the University of East Anglia. In 2011, Lipscomb was elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. From September 2011, she was head of the Faculty of History  at the New College of the Humanities, and stepped down in September 2016 to concentrate on research and teaching for a further year. In 2012, Lipscomb was awarded the "Nancy Lyman Roelker Prize" by the Sixteenth Century Society for her journal article “Crossing Boundaries: Women’s Gossip, Insults, and Violence in Sixteenth-Century France,” in "French History" (Vol 25, No. 4). In October 2018, Lipscomb was elected a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. In September 2017, she joined the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Roehampton as a reader in Early Modern History, and was appointed as a  professor of history at the University of Roehampton in January 2019. Lipscomb serves as a governor at Epsom College, and was appointed as a Trustee to the Mary Rose Trust in December 2020. In 2021, Lipscomb was awarded a Special Commendation by the Social History Society for her book, "The Voices of Nîmes: Women, Sex, and Marriage in Reformation Languedoc". At their ballot on 17th February 2022, Lipscomb was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. Media career. She contributed to five episodes of "The Secret Life Of:" for the Yesterday TV channel. The series was designed to give  “tabloid treatment of historical icons,” and includes an episode where Lipscomb and co-host Lucy Worsley “revel in these raunchy titbits” about Henry VIII's love life. Lipscomb also contributed to "Time Team", Series 20, for Channel 4. With Joe Crowley, she presented "Bloody Tales of Europe" and "Bloody Tales of the Tower" for the National Geographic Channel. In May 2013, Lipscomb appeared in "The Last Days of Anne Boleyn" on BBC Two, which featured other historians and historical novelists, including David Starkey, Philippa Gregory, and Hilary Mantel. Lipscomb co-presented "I Never Knew That About Britain", for ITV (2014 ). The series was described by "The Independent"s critic, Ellen E. Jones, as “too busy adorning the obvious with bunting to uncover anything truly fascinating.” She wrote and presented a two-part documentary titled "Henry and Anne: The Lovers Who Changed History" for Channel 5. The "Daily Telegraph" critic, Jake Wallis Simons, called it “dumbed-down tommyrot.” However, the "Radio Times" stated that “Dr. Suzannah Lipscomb can manage the story of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn perfectly well all by herself [without "ropey reconstructions"].” In January 2019, the program was re-presented on Channel 5 as "Queen for a Thousand Days . Lipscomb wrote and presented Hidden Killers of the Victorian Home" for BBC Four, as well as the follow-up shows "New Hidden Killers of the Victorian Home", "Hidden Killers of the Edwardian Home", and "Hidden Killers of the Tudor Home". Writing for the "Daily Telegraph," Australian critic Clive James gave "Hidden Killers of the Edwardian Home" a positive review, “principally because Ms. Lipscomb was almost as fascinating as her subject.” In May 2016, she wrote and presented "Hidden Killers of the Post-War Home", again for BBC Four. In October 2015, Lipscomb wrote and presented "Witch Hunt: A Century of  Murder", a two-part documentary for Channel 5. On 27 October 2015, Lipscomb joined Matthew Sweet, Marina Warner, Larushka Ivan-zadeh, Claire Nally, and Catherine Spooner, to talk about witchcraft and witch-hunting, in history, film, and politics on the BBC Radio programme "Free Thinking". In January 2016 and January 2017, she appeared in two episodes of the BBC Two comedy panel game show "Insert Name Here". Between November 2017 and January 2018, she again participated in a further four episodes of the same programme. She participated on the programme additional times in January 2018 and December 2019. In April  2016, she co-wrote and co-presented, with Dan Jones, "Henry VIII and His Six Wives", which was shown on Channel 5. On 13 December 2016, she appeared as a contestant on Series 6 of "Celebrity Antiques Road Trip", partnered with David Harper, against Kate Williams and Catherine Southon. In January 2017, Lipscomb spoke about how C.S. Lewis had inspired her life on BBC Radio 4's "Great Lives" series, together with Malcolm Guite. That same month, Lipscomb appeared on BBC Radio 4's "Today" programme to discuss the Archbishop of Canterbury's expected apology for the violence that followed  the Protestant Reformation, to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. In May 2017, in collaboration with Dan Jones, Lipscomb co-wrote and co-presented a three-part docu-drama, "Elizabeth I", for Channel 5. For three consecutive evenings in May and June 2017, Lipscomb, alongside Dan Jones and engineer Rob Bell, presented "The Great Fire" for Channel 5, a series in which the three presenters walked the actual route the Great Fire of London took across the city. In June and July 2017, Lipscomb was the week's guest on the BBC Radio 3 programme titled "Essential Classics," where  she selected her favourite classical pieces of music for presenter Rob Cowan. Between 2017 and 2019, Lipscomb was a regular contributor to “Dictionary Corner” on "Countdown" with Susie Dent. On 13 January 2018, Lipscomb appeared as a contestant on an academic version of "Pointless Celebrities," partnered with performance poet John Cooper Clarke, where they reached the head-to-head round. In March and April 2018, she appeared on Channel 5's "Secrets of the National Trust" with Alan Titchmarsh. On 6 March 2018, in Series 2, Episode 2, she visited the Cliveden Conservation to meet the stonemasons restoring Stowe's  statues. On 3 April 2018, in Episode 6, she visited County Down, where she learnt about Castle Ward's starring role in the TV adaptation of "Game of Thrones," and made swords with the show's armourer. In March 2018, Lipscomb began a series of podcasts for Historic England entitled "Irreplaceable: A History of England in 100 Places". The podcast, presented by Lipscomb and journalist Emma Barnett, was awarded silver (second) in the “Best Branded Content” category of the British Podcast Awards on 19 May 2018. Lipscomb presented "The Tsar and Empress: Secret Letters" on Australia's SBS TV Channel  in April 2018, and on the Yesterday Channel in May 2018. Over four weeks in March 2019, Lipscomb, with Dan Jones and engineer Rob Bell, presented "London: 2000 Years of History", for Channel 5 (UK). Lipscomb was a judge of the biography and memoirs section for the Costa Book Awards, and the Costa Book of the Year competition in 2019. In 2020, she was Head Judge of all sections of the Costa Book Awards, and the Costa Book of the Year. On 29 April 2021, Lipscomb began presenting her own podcast under the History Hit Umbrella, entitled "Not Just The  Tudors." After the initial four episodes, new episodes of "Not Just The Tudors" became available twice weekly. In July and August 2021, Lipscomb presented "Walking Tudor Britain" for 5Select, in which the historian walked across different parts of Britain to uncover exciting hidden secrets of Tudor history. In November 2021, Lipscomb was a guest on Damian Barr's "The Big Scottish Book Club", where she gave a reading from her latest book, "What is History, Now?", followed by discussion about how to recover the lost lives of women. Political life. In May 2016, Lipscomb was one of 300 prominent historians , including Simon Schama and Niall Ferguson, who were signatories to a letter to "The Guardian," telling voters that if they chose to leave the European Union (EU) on 23 June, they would be condemning Britain to irrelevance. In January 2022, Lipscomb was one of over 310 writers and publishers, including Bernadine Evaristo and Robert Macfarlane, who asked the House of Lords to vote down the government's Police, Crime, Sentencing and Court Bill in a letter to "The Times," entitled Freedom to Protest.