Presentations
My presentations highlight local themes and include personal testimony, anecdotes and stories. Use is made of archeology, contemporary and modern images, maps, photographs, artefacts and memoirs. EACH PRESENTATION IS AVAILABLE VIA ZOOM!
The cost of each presentation is £85, travel expenses included within 50 miles of Buckingham.
I provide biographical information, a relevent image and details about each presentation.
Above all, I look to make the presentations enjoyable and interesting, taking into account the prior knowledge of the audience to whom I'm talking!
First World War Presentations
The Oxf & Bucks LI on the Somme 1916'
'Oxfordshire on the Home Front 1914-18'
‘Armistice 1918 and After: Some Local Perspectives’
'Nobody's Heroes: 8th East Lancs at War 1914-18'
'Banbury Munitions Factory during the Great War'
India related presentations
'Five RAF Indian Pilots of the Great War'
'Hardit Singh Malik - The Flying Sikh'
'The Indian Army during the First World War: An Oxf & Bucks LI Perspective’
'Watershed: Mahatma Gandhi and the First World War'
'Indians at Victorian Oxford'
Second World War Presentations
'Oxfordshire in the Second World War'
British Civil War Presentations
'Warrior Women of the English Civil War, 1642-51'
‘The Battle of Cropredy Bridge and the Oxford Campaign 1644'
'Soldiers, Saints and Sinners: Oxfordshire Characters from the British Civil War 1642-6’
‘The City of Oxford during the Civil War 1642-46’
'The Battle of Edgehill 1642'
'The Battle of Naseby 1645'
'Buckinghamshire in the Civil War 1642-6'
New presentations:
'Indians at Victorian Oxford'
The first Indian students to attend the University of Oxford arrived in 1871, and the bridge between Oxford and India has grown stronger ever since. But why did Indian students begin to attend British universities from the middle of the 19th century?
This presentation examines the close relationship between Britain and the Subcontinent, aiming to explain briefly the background in Indian politics, the views of families and the students themselves. It also looks at the Oxford Indian Institute, the growth of Balliol College and those dons at the heart of the developments.
The talk focuses on the stories of four students who attended Oxford before the First World War: the first woman to study Law at the university; a Sikh princess, a nationalist revolutionary and a Bengali poet. The talk lasts for 50 minutes and is fully illustrated.
'The British Civil Wars, 1642-51, in Eight Paintings'
This presentation highlights some important moments during the Civil Wars of the mid seventeenth century, as represented in works of art. It focuses particularly on portraits and scenes executed at the time and those canvases produced in the Victorian era.
Art historian Roy Strong calculated that during the nineteenth century, more works of art were produced depicting scenes connected with Charles I, Oliver Cromwell, Henrietta Maria and the struggle of Cavalier versus Roundhead than for any other period of British history!
The presentation lasts for approximately fifty minutes, highlights both well-known and forgotten pieces and is a stimulating way to find out more about one of the most important periods in British history. Fully illustrated.
'Trench Humour in the First World War'
Soldiers often turned to humour to alleviate the stress of life in the trenches. Jokes, puns, and satirical songs were a part of the soldiers’ oral culture. Much of the humour was lost on those outside the soldiers’ group, but it resonated with the soldiers and allowed them to cope with the strain of service and combat.
This presentation takes a light-hearted look at trench humour in slang and through tunes, cartoons, satirical journals, concert parties and in many other ways.
The presentation is fully illustrated, includes film clips and the odd musical recording. It lasts for approximately 50 minutes.