Dr Robin Usher announced as new R.J. Hunter Digital Fellow
The main purpose of this 18 month post-doctoral Fellowship which is generously supported by Laura Houghton Hunter in honour of her late father Robert J. Hunter who was a highly respected (and much loved) historian of the Ulster Plantation, is to further develop the prosopographical database of British Settlers in the Ulster Plantation (1609-1700).
“I am delighted to have been appointed R.J. Hunter Digital Fellow. This position will enable me to bring the Ulster Settlers Database into its next development phase and build significantly on the superb work of my predecessor, Dr Richard Fitzpatrick.”
The Royal Irish Academy is delighted to announce the appointment of Dr. Robin Usher as the new R.J. Hunter Digital Fellow.
The project uses historical data relating to the English and Scottish men and women who settled in the six escheated counties of Ulster in the period, c.1609-1641. In the first phase, the database incorporated some of the key sources for the study of the Ulster plantation: grants of forfeited land, military muster lists, surviving court records and the secondary literature on the plantation.
The Fellowship will be hosted by the Institute of Irish Studies, Queen’s University Belfast and the Fellow will be mentored by Professor Mary O’Dowd and Professor Tom O’Connor, Maynooth University. The technical support for the online database will be provided by the Centre for Digital Humanities at Maynooth University.
Dr. Usher has the following to say in relation to his appointment “I am delighted to have been appointed R.J. Hunter Digital Fellow. This position will enable me to bring the Ulster Settlers Database into its next development phase and build significantly on the superb work of my predecessor, Dr Richard Fitzpatrick.
Forthcoming data, gathered from plantation surveys, legal records, wills and testaments, maps, the Ulster port books, the 1641 depositions, and, of course, the invaluable research notes of Robert J. Hunter, promises fresh insights into the worlds of various non-elite settlers, including the class of skilled labourers and artificers who cultivated the land and constructed the residences on some 180 estates spread across the plantation counties. The platform may also showcase new information about women’s cultural and economic roles, such as household and estate management and the acquisition of goods. These are just some of the possibilities.
The project should interest scholars focusing on the history of migration in these islands, as well as those concerned with British colonisation in North America or settlements in other parts of the globe. For many other users, it will offer a powerful tool for genealogical research and community heritage, empowering them to understand their own historical roots more deeply”.