Queer Rural Lives: Searching the Archives (with Tim Jerrome)

Queer histories of England have predominantly focused on the country's urban centres and cities - especially London. Yet queer and same-sex relationships have always existed throughout English life. Rural England is no exception.

In the first of two podcasts, Joe and Ollie welcome onto Absolute Units former MERL colleague Tim Jerrome (University of Brighton), whose PhD explores the history of same-sex relationships in rural England.

Learn about the challenges of finding queer histories in farm archives, the issues of archivist objectivity, and how museums can develop their practices to better surface and represent stories and relationships that were hidden in the past.

Relevant links:

• Horseman's Word: https://merl.reading.ac.uk/blog/2021/03/horsemans-word-secret-society-horse-wizards/
• The Tractor Whisperers: https://merl.reading.ac.uk/blog/2021/04/tractor-whisperers/
• Queer Constellations: https://merl.reading.ac.uk/explore/online-exhibitions/queer-constellations-histories-rural-gay-men/
• Queer Constellations (video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxCUMyOGc9w

---

Shop new Absolute Units merch on our online shop: https://merl-shop.co.uk/shop/Absolute-Units-Podcast-merch.html

---

Absolute Units is the official podcast of The Museum of English Rural Life. This series is made possible through the generous support of Arts Council England and Museums Partnership Reading, a partnership of The MERL with Reading Museum. Themetune by Tai Dawson.

Co-hosts: Ollie Douglas and Joe Vaughan
Producer: Joe Vaughan

• Shop MERL merch: https://merl-shop.co.uk/shop/absolute-unit.html
• Support the pod: https://merl.reading.ac.uk/visit-us/donate/