Victorian women and secret drinking - Women and Alcohol cluster seminar

We are delighted to announce our next DSN Women and Alcohol cluster seminar on 1st July 2021 at 1pm GMT (on zoom) with guest speaker, Dr David Beckingham (University of Nottingham). 

David's article 'Private Spirits, Public Lives: Sober Citizenship, Shame and Secret Drinking in Victorian Britain' came out in April and he has kindly agreed to talk about the rich and interesting research behind the article before we open up the floor for an extended discussion on women and secret drinking (and beyond). We hope that you can join us. 

Victorian women and secret drinking

In this talk I will introduce the research behind my recent article, ‘Private Spirits, Public Lives: Sober Citizenship, Shame and Secret Drinking in Victorian Britain’, published in Journal of Victorian Culture.  I will explore in more detail the nature of the archival or historical record through which we can research the different attitudes to women’s drinking in this period.  In my case, this was agitation around the purchase of drink from licensed grocers and railway refreshment rooms.  Though this might now seem rather esoteric, I want to suggest that we can use these moments of temperance action not only to say something about the motivations for reform work but also to gain rare glimpses into the drinking cultures of women.

 

David Beckingham is a cultural and historical geographer at the University of Nottingham, and has published widely on different aspects of drink regulation, temperance and the treatment of inebriety.

If you would like to attend the seminar or join the research cluster please e-mail us on dsnwomenandalcohol@gmail.com