Newsletter – October 2026
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New – Data Prize
The Society is pleased to offer a new biennial prize for outstanding contributions to creating, compiling, and sharing data and information in economic history.
Applicants can be at any career stage. The prize may be awarded to an individual or small group of researchers (up to five individuals). It cannot be awarded to an organisation. The data or information that are the focus of the contribution must have been made freely available to be considered for the prize.
Deadline – 1 December 2026
Thirsk – Feinstein PhD Dissertation Prize
This annual prize of £1,000 for the best doctoral dissertation in economic and/or social history will be presented at the 2027 Annual Conference.
To be eligible, the thesis must be written in English and have been awarded during 2026.
Deadline – 31 December 2026
RHS/EHS Lecture: The Charitable Corporation Scandal of 1732 with Amy Froide
This lecture will explore the activist female shareholders of one eighteenth-century company, the Charitable Corporation, to illuminate women’s role in Britain’s financial history. Established in 1707 to make low – interest loans to the ‘industrious poor’, the Charitable Corporation was exceptional in its inclusion of women as charter members. The significance of women to the corporation continued as they represented over one third of company investors by 1731. Not merely passive investors, women who held shares in the company exhibited a notable sense of proprietorship in the venture. When a financial scandal rocked the Corporation in 1732, and both Directors and officers were caught embezzling funds, the shareholders protested. A group of them petitioned Parliament to punish the swindlers, with one third of the signatories being women. The Parliamentary investigation of the Charitable Corporation’s fraud was singular enough that the MPS made an exception and allowed women to view the House proceedings because of their notable financial losses. From inception, to demise, the female investors in the Charitable Corporation stand out for their active involvement in shareholding and their demand for a Parliamentary ‘bail out’. These women claimed a public, political voice based on their financial contributions
Online – 4 December 2026.
Economics Observatory New Article Series
In 2026, the Economic History Society marks its centenary. To celebrate 100 years of the Society, a special series of short, accessible articles explores how the economy and society have changed singe 1926, brining economic history to bear on some of the major questions facing us today. The articles are published by the Economics Observatory, which brings economic research and analysis to a broad audience, including policymakers, students and the wider public. Written by economic historians, the series looks back over the past century to examine what has changed, what has persisted, and what history can tell us about the present.
The following articles are available:
What can we learn from a century of economic history? By Patrick Wallis
How has children’s health in the UK changed over the past 100 years? By Bernard Harris
How economic inequalities in the UK narrowed over the past 100 years? By Neil Cummins
How has unemployment in the changed over the past 100 years? By Meredith Paker
How have UK industrial relations changed over the past 100 years? By Niall Cullinane
How have UK businesses changed over the past 100 years? By Niall MacKenzie
How has the UK’s trade changed over the past 100 years? By Brian Varian
How has the UK business cycle changed over the past 100 years? By Jason Lennard
Call for Teaching Materials in Economic History
A reminder that, as announced in a recent newsletter, the Economic History Society, in partnership with the Economic Network, is developing a new initiative to strengthen the teaching of economic history in higher education. Launching in Q4 2026 as part of the Society’s centenary celebrations, the initiative will support lecturers in embedding economic history across the undergraduate economics curriculum.
We are particularly interested in practical teaching resources, including example lectures, assessment ideas, seminar plans, classroom exercises and data-based activities. Contributions from the UK higher education community and beyond are welcome, whether designed for stand-alone economic history modules or illustrating how historical perspectives can enrich teaching in other areas of economics.
PhD Bursary Awards 2026/27
Elisa Duriavig, Unviersity College London
‘Cultivating Trust: The Arsenal Family and Children Center and the Making of a Moral Economy of Care in Post-war Pittsburgh’
Yibin Liu, Queen’s University Belfast
‘Reconstructing Hong Kong Financial History: Crises, Investors, and Global Capital Markets’
Thomas Monk, London School of Economics
‘Occupational Reinvention’
Micaela Panes, Cardiff University
‘Emotion, Belonging and Political Identities: Working- Class Women’s Activism, South Wales and South- West England, c. 1928-1969’
