Molly Groarke

My PhD is a collaborative doctoral award working with the UK’s National Trust. I am exploring the links between the British Empire and Killerton House, a National Trust property in Devon. My research seeks to understand and characterise the imperial involvement of the Aclands of Killerton, a landed gentry family active in antislavery, evangelical, and philanthropic political circles in the long nineteenth century. Researching the British Empire through a family network enables valuable new historical perspectives, including an understanding how imperial values and politics were lived, learned, and experienced by individuals, and a recognition of empire as an informal, decentred network. My project also has important implications for the heritage sector; the Aclands achieved social and cultural profits through their imperial involvement, as well as financial gain. Thus, Killerton House provides an opportunity to communicate to the public a new history of the British Empire and the English country house, one that focuses on the wide-ranging impact of the empire on British society, culture, and politics, alongside established interpretations that recognise economic benefits of imperial activity.
I am supervised by Dr Gareth Atkins (University of Cambridge) and Dr Barbara Wood (National Trust). I received my BA in History from Lancaster University and my MLitt in Intellectual History from the University of St Andrews. I am enthusiastic in promoting public engagement in history through the museums and heritage sector. I have had roles working in local history centres, archives, history education, and the academic publishing industry.