William Morgan's 1682 map of London.

Jamie Gemmell

Historian of Early Modern England and the Atlantic World

I am a historian of early modern England and the Atlantic World. Currently, I am an AHRC-funded doctoral researcher in History at King’s College London. My project is a history of London that examines how race was practiced and navigated between 1655 and 1730. It centres Black Londoners and identifies some of the ways in which ideas and practices of race and racemaking shaped metropolitan social relations. I am trained in social history, Atlantic history, imperial history, theoretical approaches to the study of race and racemaking, Early Modern History, and Digital Humanities. My research seeks to invite critical conversations about the constellation of Englishness, empire, and racemaking.

Outside of my doctoral research, I am a Graduate Teaching Assistant and the General Administrator for the Centre for Early Modern Studies at KCL. I received my Masters and Undergraduate degrees in History from the University of Edinburgh. I have previously worked on the University of Maryland’s Slavery, Law, and Power Project and worked as the Editor in Chief of Retrospect, the University of Edinburgh’s, student-led, History, Classics, and Archaeology journal.

Education

  • 2022-Ongoing: Ph.D. in History, King’s College London, Supervised by Prof. Laura Gowing (KCL) and Prof. Miles Ogborn (QMUL).
  • 2021: MSc by Research in History, Distinction, University of Edinburgh
  • 2020: MA Hons in History, First Class, University of Edinburgh

    • Appointments

  • 2024-Ongoing: General Administrator, Centre for Early Modern Studies, King’s College London
  • 2023-Ongoing: Graduate Teaching Assistant, King’s College London
  • 2023-2024: RaceB4Race Mentorship Network
  • 2022-2023: Assistant Editor, Slavery, Law, and Power Project, University of Maryland
  • 2020-2021: Editor-in-Chief, Retrospect Journal

    • Projects

    An image of the John Blanke Tournament roll.
    Reflecting on Habib's Black Lives in the English Archives

    A year-long Symposium that reflected on Imtiaz Habib's Black Lives in the English Archives, 1500-1677. Through the Autumn and Winter of 2022 we hosted three online reading sessions. These were followed by a blog series, published by the many-headed monster blog. The series was launched on the 19th May 2023 at the London Metropolitan Archives.

    A photograph of the title page of James Knight's manuscript.
    James Knight's History of Jamaica

    A digital humanities project that seeks to produce a digitised and annotated version of James Knight's 1746 manuscript, A Natural, Moral, and Political History of Jamaica.

    Publications and Outputs

  • "Fictions of Consent: Slavery, Servitude, and Free Service in Early Modern England , by Urvashi Chakravarty,"Journal of Global Slavery 8, no. 2/3 (2023):346-348.
  • Co-edited with Rebecca Adusei, "Reflecting on Imtiaz Habib's Black LIves in the English Archives," the many-headed monster (2023)
  • "The Natural, Moral, and Political History of Jamaica and the Territories thereon depending from the First Discovery of the Island by Christopher Columbus, to the Year 1746, by James Knight, ed. Jack P. Greene," English Historical Review (2023)
  • "The Trial and Testimony of Edward Francis," Northern Early Modern Network Blog (2021)
  • "The Anglo-Atlantic World during the 17th Century," Scottish Centre for Global History Podcast (November, 2021)
  • "Editing The Jamaica Reader: A Conversation with Prof. Diana Paton and Prof. Matthew Smith," Retrospect Journal (June 06, 2021)
  • Co-edited with RACE.ED "Race in Retrospective," Retrospect Journal (2021)
  • "Review: Our Time is Now," Retrospect Journal (May 23, 2021)
  • "Writing Postcolonial Histories: A Conversation with Dr. Julie Gibbings," Retrospect Journal (May 23, 2021)
  • "Listening to Empire: Making Podcasts with Jelena Sofronijevic," Retrospect Journal (April 05, 2021)
  • "Histories of Hope," Retrospect Journal (April, 2021)
  • "Review: Wicked Flesh," Retrospect Journal (March 07, 2021)
  • "Review: Tacky's Revolt," Retrospect Journal (January 31, 2021)
  • "Book One to Book Two: Writing Histories of Atlantic Slavery," Retrospect Journal (January 31, 2021)
  • "Prejudice and Pandemics," Retrospect Journal (January, 2021)
  • "Review: Slavery at Sea," Retrospect Journal (October 11, 2021)
  • "From Proposal to Published: Writing Histories of Atlantic Slavery," Retrospect Journal (October 11, 2021)

    • Awards

  • 2024-2025: Folger Shakespeare Library Fellowship
  • 2022-Ongoing: London Arts and Humanities Partnership Research Studentship
  • 2020-2021: Sheila Cannell Postgraduate Scholarship
  • 2019: Carnegie Trust Vacation Scholarship

    • Contact Me