AHRC Fellowship for Dr Kevin Linch

Dr Kevin Linch has been awarded an 18-month Research, Development and Engagement Fellowship, for his project ‘Re-archiving the Individual: British Army Officers, 1790-1820’.

Dr Linch, an Associate Professor of Modern History, has received the award from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). His new project - ‘Re-archiving the Individual: British Army Officers, 1790-1820’ - will develop digital research methods in the arts and humanities, bringing together archive sources to trace the lives and service of individuals in new ways.

The research will create and explore a ‘life archive’ as a tool to understand people in the past. Unlike the existing digitisation of archival records which just transcribe names, like the recent release of the 1921 census or parish records, this life archive links related records together, marking a transformational step in digital humanities techniques.

Through this Fellowship, Dr Linch will be working in collaboration with Sheffield Digital Humanities Institute, one of the UK’s leading digital humanities centres, and The National Archives to 're-archive' records.  The publicly available life archive will provide an adaptable and authoritative research and reference tool for scholars and students working on the British Army, as well as family historians looking for information about their ancestors who served as officers.

You can read more about Dr Linch's plans for the Fellowship here.