Fern Riddell
{{short description|British historian}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
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| name = Fern Riddell
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| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=y|1986|01|22}}
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| nationality = British
| citizenship = United Kingdom
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| occupation = Historian, writer, historical consultant
| period = 2013–present
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| website = [https://www.fernriddell.com/ Fern Riddell's website]
| education = Barton Court Grammar School
| alma_mater = Royal Holloway, University of London
King's College London
| thesis_title = Sex and Suffrage: Female Agency in the British Music Halls, 1850-1919
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| thesis_year = 2016
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| doctoral_advisor = Paul Readman
Arthur Burns
| academic_advisors = Matthew Sweet
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| discipline = History
Feminism
| sub_discipline = Gender, sex and suffrage in Victorian Britain
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| notable_works = Death in Ten Minutes: The Forgotten Life of Radical Suffragette Kitty Marion
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Fern Riddell ({{IPAc-en|f|ɜːr|n|_|r|ɪ|'|d|ɛ|l}}Fern Riddell, 'it's not riddle like fiddle IT'S RID-DELL LIKE BELL', [https://twitter.com/FernRiddell/status/1386680334138421251 Twitter] {{respell|FURN|_|ri|DEL}}) (born 22 January 1986) is a British historian who specialises in gender, sex, suffrage and Victorian culture. She has written several popular history books and is a former columnist for the BBC History magazine.
Early life and education
Riddell attended Barton Court Grammar School from 1997 to 2004. After a gap year, she studied history at Royal Holloway, University of London from 2005, graduating with a BA in 2008, and an MA in 2009.{{Cite web|url=https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/en/persons/fern-riddell(b0046fb6-12d2-433c-8327-449a15f3253a)/biography.html|title=Fern Riddell - Biography - Research Portal, King's College, London|website=kclpure.kcl.ac.uk|access-date=2019-12-29|archive-date=29 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191229164824/https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/en/persons/fern-riddell(b0046fb6-12d2-433c-8327-449a15f3253a)/biography.html|url-status=dead}} Between 2010 and 2016, she undertook a PhD thesis at King's College, London, entitled "Vice and Virtue: Pleasure, Morality and Sin in London's Music Halls 1850-1939". Her doctoral degree was supervised by Paul Readman and Arthur Burns, and examined by Matthew Sweet.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/proginfo/2018/30/thats-edutainment|title=BBC - That's Edutainment - Media Centre|website=www.bbc.co.uk|access-date=2019-12-29}}
Career
Riddell is a cultural historian who specialises in sex, the suffragette movement and women's struggle for equality.{{Citation|title=Dr Fern Riddell on suffragettes, the struggle for equality, & radical methods {{!}} London Live| date=9 July 2018 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wg5opCPUZhk|language=en|access-date=2019-12-29}}{{Cite web|url=http://nowthenmagazine.com/sheffield/issue-127/dr-fern-riddell/|title=Dr Fern Riddell|website=Now Then|date=October 2018 |language=en-US|access-date=2019-12-29}}{{Cite web|url=https://curiousartsfestival.com/books/dr-fern-riddell/|title=Dr Fern Riddell – Curious Arts Festival|language=en-GB|access-date=2019-12-29}} She has appeared on various BBC television and radio programmes. In 2013 she was selected as one of the BBC Expert Women, and took part in a training programme that improved women's media and communication skills. That year she was made one of BBC Radio 3's New Generation Thinkers. She has since acted as a researcher for the 2015 revival of Horrible Histories, seasons 13-14 of Who Do You Think You Are?, seasons 3-5 of Ripper Street, and Decline and Fall. She hosts Not What You Thought You Knew, a podcast for the History Channel.{{Cite web|url=https://www.history.co.uk/shows/not-what-you-thought-you-knew|title=Not what You Thought You Knew|website=History TV|language=en-GB|access-date=2019-12-29}}
Riddell extensively investigated the scrapbook of suffragette and birth control campaigner Kitty Marion.{{Cite web|url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/hazelshearing/kitty-marion-suffragette-scrapbook-goes-on-display-museum|title=This Suffragette Kept A Record Of All Her Badass Activism In A Scrapbook Made Public For The First Time|last=Shearing|first=Hazel|website=BuzzFeed|date=4 July 2018 |language=en|access-date=2019-12-29}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/feb/06/1910s-suffragettes-suffragists-fern-riddell|title=The 1910s: 'We have sanitised our history of the suffragettes'|last=Riddell|first=Fern|date=2018-02-06|work=The Guardian|access-date=2019-12-29|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}} The scrapbook contained stories of her hunger strikes, arson attacks and prison escapes. Riddell has spoken about the sexual assault and harassment that Marion faced and how that fuelled her suffragette campaigning.{{Cite web|url=https://studentnewspaper.org/edinburgh-international-book-festival-revolting-women-helen-pankhurst-and-fern-riddell-with-adele-patrick/|title=Edinburgh International Book Festival: Revolting Women – Helen Pankhurst and Fern Riddell With Adele Patrick|date=2018-08-27|website=The Student|language=en-GB|access-date=2019-12-29}}
In 2018, after tweeting that she was "Dr Fern Riddell" and not Miss, Riddell she was subject to criticism on Twitter.{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/mansplaining-woman-doctor-title-arrogant-professional-name-twitter-fern-riddell-a8399076.html|title=A female doctor asked to be called her proper name and men were furious|date=2018-06-14|website=The Independent|language=en|access-date=2019-12-29}} To respond to those who deemed her arrogant and "immodest", she created the hashtag #ImmodestWomen, which saw thousands of women sharing their stories.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-44496876|title='It's Dr, not Ms,' insists historian|last=Evans|first=Patrick|date=2018-06-15|access-date=2019-12-29|language=en-GB}} In 2019 Riddell hosted her own BBC Four television programme, A Victorian Scandal: The Rudest Book in Britain.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0005prc|title=BBC Four - A Victorian Scandal: The Rudest Book in Britain|website=BBC|language=en-GB|access-date=2019-12-29}} Riddell was a member of the Royal Holloway team on the 2019 University Challenge Christmas Special.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000crt5|title=BBC Two - University Challenge, Christmas 2019, Royal Holloway v Sussex|website=BBC|language=en-GB|access-date=2019-12-29}}
= Books =
Her publications include:
- {{Cite book|title=Sex Lessons From History|last=Riddell|first=Fern|publisher=Hodder & Headline Ome|year=2020|isbn=978-1473666269|location=London|pages=288}}
- {{Cite book|title=Death in Ten Minutes: The Forgotten Life of Radical Suffragette Kitty Marion|last=Riddell|first=Fern|publisher=Hodder & Stoughton|year=2018|isbn=978-1473666184|location=London|pages=352}}
- {{Cite book|title=The Victorian Guide to Sex: Desire and deviance in the 19th century|last=Riddell|first=Fern|publisher=Pen & Sword Books Ltd|year=2014|isbn=978-1781592861|location=London|pages=176}}
She has written for the Times Higher Education magazine,{{Cite web|url=https://www.timeshighereducation.com/features/culture/sherlock-holmes-a-very-british-superhero/2010108.article|title=Sherlock Holmes: a very British superhero|date=2014-01-02|website=Times Higher Education (THE)|language=en|access-date=2019-12-29}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.timeshighereducation.com/comment/opinion/graduate-teaching-assistants-have-been-left-behind-by-all/2011230.article|title=Graduate teaching assistants have been left behind by all|date=2014-02-13|website=Times Higher Education (THE)|language=en|access-date=2019-12-29}} The Guardian,{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/nov/10/victorians-invent-vibrator-orgasms-women-doctors-fantasy|title=No, no, no! Victorians didn't invent the vibrator {{!}} Fern Riddell|last=Riddell|first=Fern|date=2014-11-10|work=The Guardian|access-date=2019-12-29|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/aug/01/eastbourne-pier-coastal-wreck-victorian-fantasy|title=Eastbourne pier has become another coastal wreck, but its magic will live on {{!}} Fern Riddell|last=Riddell|first=Fern|date=2014-08-01|work=The Guardian|access-date=2019-12-29|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}} The Huffington Post{{Cite web|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/author/fern-riddell/|title=Fern Riddell|website=HuffPost UK|language=en|access-date=2019-12-29}} and History Today. Riddell is active on social media, including Twitter ([https://twitter.com/FernRiddell @FernRiddell]) and Instagram ([https://www.instagram.com/fernriddell @fernriddell]).
References
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External links
- {{IMDb name|7192636}}
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Category:Alumni of Royal Holloway, University of London
Category:Alumni of King's College London
Category:People from Broadstairs