Hi, I’m Rory, an MA Student in Imperial History at the University of Kent. I completed my BA in Conflict and War at the University of Wales Trinity St David in Lampeter.

My historical pursuits have always been of a military theme, and the Age of Revolutions project is no different. When I was young, Bernard Cornwell’s Sharpe got me interested in the Napoleonic Wars, and since then my horizons have broadened to the period covering the Seven Years War up to the Waterloo Campaign in 1815. My research does vary, but has begun to have a particular emphasis on the history of the military in British North America, along with several other projects into the Dutch involvement on both sides of the Napoleonic Wars. My current main academic research is an investigation into volunteer forces in Ireland and Canada 1798-1814. My hope with the Age of Revolutions project is to further expand the project’s work with regard to specific regiments, and the experiences of these fighting men throughout the period.

As a new student to Kent I have not been able to embark on any trips, but I am hoping to conduct several research excursions to regimental museums across the country.

My key interests outside of my academic work are in historical re-enactment, and ice hockey. The latter is a more recent endeavour, having taken the opportunity to begin whilst here in Canterbury, and as a result of inspiration from a time spent studying in Vancouver in 2017. The former is a much more long lived pursuit – I began in August 2012 as a Napoleonic British soldier, and I now have recreated everything from a 13th century tournament knight to a Mexican soldier at the Alamo!