Current placement opportunities

Placement Title: The Chapel Royal & Royal Peculiar of Saint Peter ad Vincula: Registers Transcription 1550-1821

Placement Partner: Historic Royal Palaces

Placement Duration: 6 months part-time/3 months full time. 

Provisional start date: Flexible start date from early 2025

Contacts: If you have questions about this placement opportunity, please email Alfred Hawkins and Jemima Hubberstey at Alfred.Hawkins@HRP.org.uk and jemima.hubberstey@hrp.org.uk

To apply: To apply, please send a CV and 300-word statement of interest to Alfred Hawkins (Alfred.Hawkins@HRP.org.uk) by Friday 3rd January 2025. Please also indicate whether you would prefer to carry out the placement full or part-time.

Placement overview and objective:

HRP is seeking a PhD student to undertake either a placement (3-month full-time or 6-month part-time) to begin to transcribe and index a collection of important, partially researched, 16th-20th century chapel registers held by the Chapel Royal and Royal Peculiar of Saint Peter ad Vincula within HM Palace and Fortress the Tower of London. This placement will focus on the earliest records, consisting of the Register of Burials, Baptisms and Marriages 1550, 1580 and 1587-1821.

The Chapel of Saint Peter ad Vincula, built between 1519 and 1520, is best known as the burial place of three sixteenth century queens (Anne Boleyn, Catherine Howard and Lady Jane Grey) and two saints of the Catholic Church (John Fisher and Thomas More). Its principal role though, is as the parish church of the Tower of London, a place of worship for innumerable residents, officers, craftspeople and soldiers associated with the Tower of London.

The core outputs of this work are:

• To begin the transcription of these important documents.
• To begin to Index transcribed records.

To undertake additional research into the lives of identified individuals of interest.

Tasks to be undertaken:

The principal tasks are to transcribe and index the registers in a suitable format which will be discussed with the student at the start of the placement. Additional tasks may be decided according to the skills and interests of the student and length of the placement. These may include conducting research around particular identified individuals, creating public facing outputs (blogs, social media posts, etc) and professional shadowing on large scale conservation projects.

The registers are a collection of disparate documents undertaken in many hands. The student will ideally be familiar with palaeography and the transcription of sources dating from the 16-20th century. It is also expected that the student will be proficient in the use of Microsoft Office.

The registers, which were bound into a single volume in the nineteenth century, have previously been digitised with high quality photography. The student will principally use these images to undertake the transcription of the registers, and so extensive previous experience handling primary records is preferable, but not required. Additional training in object handling will be provided where needed.

The student will be able to develop the following skills/knowledge through the placement:

This placement would suit a candidate interested in pursuing a research or heritage-related career, as there will be opportunities for the student to gain the following skills and experiences:

• Opportunity to hone research and archival skills through working with the registers, including skills in palaeography and transcription.
• Opportunity to learn about object handling.
• Professional experience of conducting curatorial research for one of the UK’s premier heritage organisations.

During the placement, the student will receive mentoring from their placement supervisor, as well as support from the wider research team at HRP.

The placement will support HRP’s work in the following ways:

These documents relate primarily to the lives of lesser-known individuals living, worshiping and dying within the fortress (though some high status and executed individuals are included). For the majority of individuals in the medieval and early modern periods these records consist of the only documents created during an individual’s lifetime. As a result, this project will help Historic Royal Palaces to create a more detailed understanding of the community within the Tower, its institutions and the use of the chapel itself.

Prior research into the registers have principally focused on the identification of known individuals and individuals of diverse backgrounds, work this project will continue and expand upon in order to better understand the diverse nature of the Tower community.

In transcribing these works the placement will help Historic Royal Palaces to reach wider public audiences, and make this information more accessible for future research, contributing to further study of the site.

About Historic Royal Palaces:

Historic Royal Palaces is responsible for six magnificent and historically significant royal palaces: HM Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London (a UNESCO World Heritage Site); Hampton Court Palace; Kensington Palace; Banqueting House, Whitehall (the sole surviving part of the historic Palace of Whitehall); Kew Palace, Queen Charlotte's Cottage and the Pagoda (within Royal Botanic Gardens Kew); and Hillsborough Castle and Gardens, the monarch's official residence in Northern Ireland.  

Our collections include the Arts Council England designated Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection, archaeological finds, and architectural drawings. Many of the items on display at our palaces which we undertake research on, including the Crown Jewels, are part of the Royal Collection. 

Historic Royal Palaces is an Independent Research Organisation (IRO), a status awarded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) in recognition of our research activity which allows us to receive UKRI funding and co-supervise PhD students.  

With millions of UK and international visitors each year to each of our sites, established learning and communities programmes, and a growing online audience, HRP offers the opportunity to generate significant and lasting research impact with national and global reach.  

To Apply:

To apply, please send a CV and 300-word statement of interest to Alfred Hawkins (Alfred.Hawkins@HRP.org.uk) by Friday 3rd January 2025. Please also indicate whether you would prefer to carry out the placement full or part-time.