HISTORICAL FIGURES

Welcome to our collection of contextual essays covering historical figures.

To support libraries, researchers, and educators, we regularly commission academics to write contextual essays that explore topics using our digital primary source archives.

Our essays cover topics from monarchs such as Frederick the Great to pioneering activists like Mary Gawthorpe: read any of our essays through the links below.

Cardinal Henry Benedict

Daniel MacCannell, University of Aberdeen

From State Papers Online

Charles III: the Uncrowned Contender

Allan I. Macinnes, University of Strathclyde

From State Papers Online

Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, 1896-1964

Rosalyn Fraad Baxandall, State University of New York

From Women's Studies Archive

Frederick the Great

Peter H. Wilson, University of Oxford

From State Papers Online

George Augustus Sala

Peter Blake, University of Brighton

From The Telegraph Historical Archive

James II and VII in Exile

John Miller, Queen Mary, University of London

From State Papers Online

James III and VIII

Edward Corp, Université de Toulouse

From State Papers Online

Lord Northcliffe

Adrian Bingham, University of Sheffield

From the Daily Mail Historical Archive

Maria Clementina, the Unrealised Queen

A.R. Gillespie

From State Papers Online

Mary E. Gawthorpe: An Introduction

Krista Cowman, Leeds Metropolitan University

From Women's Studies Archive

Mary, Queen of Scots

Natalie Mears, University of Durham

From State Papers Online

Representations of Gladstone in the Punch Historical Archive

Gary Butler and Louisa Yates, Gladstone's Library

From the Punch Historical Archive

The Fourth Earl of Rochford as Diplomat and Secretary of State, 1749-75

Geoffrey W. Rice, University of Canterbury (New Zealand)

From State Papers Online

The Reigns of George I (1714-27) and George II (1727-60)

William Gibson, Oxford Brookes University

From State Papers Online

Thomas Wolsey (1470/1-1530)

David Grummitt, History of Parliament Trust

From State Papers Online

William Cecil, Lord Burghley (1520-98)

Stephen Alford, University of Cambridge

From State Papers Online

‘Playing Fair’: Winston Churchill’s Relationship with The Telegraph

A. Warren Dockter, University of Cambridge

From The Telegraph Historical Archive

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Any views and opinions expressed in these essays are those of the author in question, and any views or opinions from the original source material are those of the publication in question. Gale, part of Cengage Group, provides facsimile reproductions of original sources and do not endorse or dispute the content contained in them. Author affiliation and information within them are correct as of the original publication date.

Featured archives

DAILY MAIL HISTORICAL ARCHIVE, 1896-2016*

Part of our growing "middle market" collection of influential national newspapers that reflect twentieth-century popular culture and tastes, this archive gives researchers an alternative to the ‘newspapers of record’ – and includes the rare and difficult to access Daily Mail Atlantic Edition.

PUNCH HISTORICAL ARCHIVE, 1841-1992

This archive includes nearly 7,900 issues from all volumes of Punch, the world's most celebrated magazine of wit and satire. It contains Almanacks and special numbers, and in collaboration with Liverpool John Moore’s University, authorship has been attributed and made searchable using the ledgers.

STATE PAPERS ONLINE

Explore the full picture of early modern and eighteenth-century Britain and Europe: this major resource overcomes the fragmented experience of much historical research by combining papers with fully-searchable Calendars.

THE TELEGRAPH HISTORICAL ARCHIVE

Once the world's largest-selling newspaper, this daily newspaper is generally cited by press historians as the start of a new era of journalism. It is one of the few newspapers that notably changed its political leaning, and has contributors including British Prime Ministers and senior politicians.

WOMEN'S STUDIES ARCHIVE

Covering large parts of the nineteenth- and twentieth-centuries, this series supports research into the social, political, and professional aspects of women’s lives, and offers insight into the pioneers of women’s history and their achievements, with focus on material created by women.