Dr Jessamy Carlson

About

Jessamy is the principal record specialist for family, local and community history. She researches and advises on a range of records which allow the tracing of people and places in the past. These include the 1939 Register and the 1921 Census, for which she is the research lead.

As one of the 20th century specialists, her research focuses on the experiences of children and young people in the past, particularly those who are care experienced, or who encountered the juvenile secure estate.

Research activity

Jessamy is currently working on the re-cataloguing of WO 399, the records of pre-1939 military nurses, and on the history of the Home Office Research Unit, alongside other projects. Recently, she lead public engagement for the release of the 1921 Census in 2022. Previously she developed public engagement partnerships in the Events & Exhibitions team, notably running the First World War 100 programme between 2015 and 2018, and worked on the 20-Year Rule Project in Archive Sector Development.

Jessamy has a degree in Medieval Studies from Birmingham, and a Masters degree in Archive Administration from the University of Wales (Aberystwyth). She was awarded a Clore Fellowship in 2010, and is a Registered Member of the Archives & Records Association. She has been a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts since 2011. She recently completed her PhD in Sociology at the University of Essex, titled ‘Girls will be girls – Approved Schools in England, 1933-1973’. She is Associate Staff at the Centre for Archival and Information Studies at the University of Dundee, and advises a number of academic projects including the ICeM 1921 project at the University of Cambridge.

Jessamy is interested in 20th-century British social welfare history, especially in the juvenile courts and the associated systems and institutions. She also works extensively on family and local history, and welcomes enquiries from anyone working on key sources for these areas of research. She has previously worked on a number of projects at The National Archives relating to legal records, from the late 18th century onwards.