Key details
Dr Claire Eustance
Senior Lecturer, History
Claire completed her doctorate at the University of York in 1994 and since then has enjoyed a varied career in academic and project management roles in further and higher education. Before joining the University of Greenwich in 2009 she managed a series of widening participation projects working with members of marginalised and excluded communities in Tower Hamlets, Hackney and Newham. Claire has been a part-time member of the History Programme Team at Greenwich since 2013 and served as History Programme Leader from 2019-2023.
Responsibilities within the university
- Chair, University of Greenwich Archive Steering Group
- Member of the Centre for Research in Language & Heritage (CREL)
Research / Scholarly interests
Claire’s research interests lie in histories of 19th and 20th century politics, society and culture. She is passionate about questions of gender and the intersections with class, ethnicity and race. Claire’s research into 20th century feminisms has focussed on lesser known elements of the British women’s suffrage movement and its impact in different contexts. The collection of essays she edited with A.V. John, The Men’s Share: Masculinities, Male Support and Women’s Suffrage in Britain, 1890-1920 remains one of the go-to books on the subject. In 2017, Claire guest curated one of the Houses of Parliament’s Vote100 exhibitions, ‘Suffragettes in Trousers: the men who supported women’s suffrage in Parliament’
In 2018 Claire set up Greenwich100, a successful collaborative knowledge-exchange project working with local researchers/historians, schools and libraries in Greenwich to raise awareness about gender equality and women’s rights in past and present and inspire research into the history of the campaigns for women’s rights locally, nationally and internationally.
In 2024, Claire helped to set up Greenwich Women’s History Researcher Network. This Network is working hard to building stronger links between the organisations and people dedicated to raising awareness of contributions women have made to the history of Greenwich.
Media activity
Television
- Consultant, Who do you think you are, BBC1
- Talking head "Suffragette Allies". BBC Parliament (2018) at 8.30pm on Sunday 11th February.
Radio
- Guest ‘Woman’s Hour’ BBC Radio 4 (since 2014)
News expertise
- Interviewee, BBC Parliament programmes
Recent publications
Books
C. Eustance & A.V. John (eds) The Men's Share? Masculinities, Male Support and Women's Suffrage,1890-1920 (Routledge, London,2014 [first published 1997])
C. Eustance et al (eds), A Suffrage Reader: Charting Directions in British Suffrage History (Leicester University Press, London, 2000)
Book chapters
‘A chivalry that includes and surpasses justice.’ male support for women’s suffrage in Edwardian Britain, in K. Cowman, ed. The Routledge Companion to British Women’s Suffrage, (London & New York: Routledge, 2024)
The Women’s Freedom League and discourses of feminism in Great Britain (1907–1914) in K. Cowman, ed. The Routledge Companion to British Women’s Suffrage, (London & New York: Routledge, 2024)
“‘Many more worlds to conquer’: the Feminist Press Beyond Suffrage”, (with M. Di Cenzo) in C. Clay et al, Women’s Periodicals and Print Culture in Britain, 1918-1939, (Edinburgh: University of Edinburgh Press, 2017)
"Protests from Behind the Grille: Gender and the transformation of Parliament, 1867-1914", in B. Ziemann & T. Mergel (eds), European Political History 1870-1913, (Ashgate, Farnham, 2007)
Alsford, S. & Eustance, C. 2013 Mapping transition: an interactive workshop. Clark, R., Andrew, J. & Thomas, L (eds). Compendium of Effective Practice: Proven ways to improve student retention and success – 2nd Edition. York: HEA, Paul Hamblyn, HEFCE, Action on Access