‘Manchester Goods’, trading a global commodity: the role of the merchant community in the rise of Manchester as a world centre for cotton textiles in the 19th century (GRIFFINEU19cdpSMACSM)

This collaborative doctoral award is jointly supervised between the Science and Industry Museum, Manchester and the School of History, UEA.

Manchester was the world’s foremost cotton textiles trading city between the early nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, playing a unique role as the engine for the international marketing and sale of Lancashire’s finished textiles. Using rich material in the Science and Industry Museum’s archive and other archives, this studentship will address the development of Manchester as a global trading powerhouse during Britain’s industrial revolution and down to the eve of World War One.

The student will have considerable autonomy to develop the project based on archival discoveries. In addition to developing academic skills, this studentship provides experience of work outside the academic environment. As a member of the Science and Industry Museum’s Curatorial & Archives team for the duration of the project, the student will have the opportunity to work alongside curators, archivists and conservators and gain first-hand experience of collections management, exhibitions and public programmes, as well as curatorial skills including object handling.

For more information on the supervisor for this project, please go here: https://people.uea.ac.uk/e_griffin

Programme: PHD
Start Date: January 2020
Mode of study: Full-time/part-time