Suzannah Lipscomb

Suzannah Lipscomb
Lipscomb speaking in 2013
Born	1978 (age 38–39)
Residence	Shepherd's Bush, London, England
Nationality	British
Fields	History
Institutions	University of East Anglia New College of the Humanities
Alma mater	Lincoln College, Oxford, MA (Oxon) Balliol College, Oxford, D.Phil
Website suzannahlipscomb.com

Suzannah Rebecca Gabriella Lipscomb^[1][2] (born 1978^[3]) is a British historian, academic and television presenter who has written and appeared in a number of television and radio programmes about British history.

Early life and education

Lipscomb grew up in Surrey near Hampton Court Palace which she credits for sowing "the seeds of a lifelong fascination with the Tudors".^[4] She was educated at Nonsuch High School for Girls, Epsom College, and Lincoln and Balliol colleges of the University of Oxford.^[5][6][7][8] She was awarded her Doctorate of Philosophy from Oxford in 2009 with a dissertation entitled Maids, Wives, and Mistresses: Disciplined Women in Reformation Languedoc.^[9]

While completing her dissertation she also worked as a curator at Hampton Court Palace where she was responsible for organising a series of exhibitions held throughout the spring and summer of 2009 to mark the 500th anniversary of Henry VIII of England's accession to the throne.^[8] The programme won the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) sponsored KTP Award for Humanities for the Creative Economy. See page 20 of.^[10][11] She is a consultant to Historic Royal Palaces and is an external member of their research strategy board.^[12]

Personal life

In May 2016, Lipscomb was one of 300 prominent historians, including Simon Schama and Niall Ferguson, who were signatories to a letter to The Guardian warning voters that if they chose to leave the European Union on 23 June they would be condemning Britain to irrelevance.^[13][14]

Career

Lipscomb was a lecturer in history at the University of East Anglia.^[15] In 2011 Lipscomb was awarded an Arts and Humanities Research Council-sponsored KTP Award, "Humanities for the Creative Economy".^[16]

In 2011 Lipscomb was elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.^[17]

From September 2011 she was Head of the Faculty of History at the New College of the Humanities, stepping down in September 2016 to concentrate on research and teaching. She remains a Senior Lecturer and Fellow in Early Modern History at NCH.^[18][19] Lipscomb also serves as a governor at Epsom College.^[20]

In 2012 Lipscomb was awarded the Nancy Lyman Roelker Prize by the Sixteenth Century Society for her journal article "Crossing Boundaries: Women’s Gossip, Insults and Violence in Sixteenth-Century France" in French History (Vol 25, No. 4).^[21][22]

She contributed to five episodes of The Secret Life Of: for the Yesterday Channel.^[23] The series was designed to give "tabloid treatment of historical icons"^[24] and includes an episode where Lipscomb and co-host Lucy Worsley "revel in these raunchy titbits" about Henry VIII's love life.^[25] Lipscomb also contributed to Time Team, Series 20, for Channel 4.^[26]

With Joe Crowley she presented Bloody Tales of Europe and Bloody Tales of the Tower for the National Geographic Channel.^[27][28]

In May 2013 Lipscomb appeared in The Last Days of Anne Boleyn on BBC Two with other historians and historical novelists, including David Starkey, Philippa Gregory and Hilary Mantel.^[29]

Lipscomb co-presented I Never Knew That About Britain, for ITV (2014). The series was described by The Independent's critic Ellen Jones as "too busy adorning the obvious with bunting to uncover anything truly fascinating".^[30]

She wrote and presented a two-part documentary Henry and Anne: The Lovers Who Changed History^[31] for Channel 5. The Daily Telegraph critic Jake Wallis Simons called it "dumbed-down tommyrot".^[32][33] However, the Radio Times said "Dr Suzannah Lipscomb can manage the story of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn perfectly well all by herself [without "ropey reconstructions"]".^[34]

She wrote and presented Hidden Killers of the Victorian Home for BBC Four,^[35] as well as the follow up shows New Hidden Killers of the Victorian Home,^[36] Hidden Killers of the Edwardian Home,^[37][38] and Hidden Killers of the Tudor Home.^[39] Clive James writing in the Daily Telegraph gave Hidden Killers of the Edwardian Home a positive review, "principally because Ms Lipscomb was almost as fascinating as her subject".^[37] In May 2016, she wrote and presented Hidden Killers of the Post-War Home, again for BBC Four.^[40]

In October 2015 Lipscomb wrote and presented Witch Hunt: A Century of Murder, a two-part documentary for Channel 5.^[41][42]

In January 2016 she appeared on the BBC Two comedy panel game show Insert Name Here, and again in January 2017 she appeared in two episodes of Insert Name Here.^[43]

In April 2016, she co-wrote and co-presented, with Dan Jones, Henry VIII and His Six Wives,^[44] which was shown on Channel 5.^[45][46]

On 13 December 2016 she appeared as a contestant on Series 6 of Celebrity Antiques Road Trip,^[47] partnered with David Harper, against Kate Williams and Catherine Southon.^[48]

In January 2017 Lipscomb spoke about how C.S. Lewis had inspired her life on BBC Radio 4's Great Lives Series,^[49] together with Malcolm Guite.

In January 2017 Lipscomb appeared on BBC Radio 4's Today programme^[50] to discuss the Archbishop of Canterbury's expected apology for the violence that followed the Protestant Reformation to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation.^[51]

In May 2017, she co-wrote and co-presented a three-part docu-drama, with Dan Jones, Elizabeth I, for Channel 5.^[52]

For three consecutive evenings in May and June 2017 Lipscomb, with Dan Jones and engineer, Rob Bell presented, The Great Fire, for Channel 5, a series in which the three presenters walked the actual route the Great Fire of London took across the city.^[53][54][55]

Bibliography

• Henry VIII: 500 Facts, by Brett Dolman, Suzannah Lipscomb, Lee Prosser, David Souden and Lucy Worsley. Historic Royal Palaces, 2009. ISBN 978-1-873993-12-5.
• 1536: The Year that Changed Henry VIII, Lion Hudson, 2009. ISBN 978-0-7459-5365-6.^[56]
• A Visitor's Companion to Tudor England, Ebury, Random House, 2012. ISBN 978-0-09-194484-1.^[57] Published in the United States as A Journey Through Tudor England, by Pegasus Books, July 2013. ISBN 978-1-60598-460-5.^[58][59][60]
• Lipscomb, Suzannah (2013). Betteridge, Thomas, ed. Henry VIII and the court : art, politics and performance. Farnham, Surrey: Ashgate. ISBN 978-1-4094-1185-7. 
• The King is Dead: The Last Will and Testament of Henry VIII, Head of Zeus, London, November 2015. ISBN 978-1-78408-191-1

References

External links

• Official website
• Suzannah Lipscomb on IMDb