Dr Joan Thirsk CBE
Joan Thirsk was elected a Patron of the KAS in May, an accolade which honoured her lifetime as an eminent historian. I requested an interview to find out about a career which has specialised in the agrarian past – but so many other facets of her life presented themselves during our talk that my departing remark concerned the impossibility of condensing them within a page!
Born in London, an interest in agriculture seemed unlikely for a city girl. Joan however, has traced her roots back to 1780 to the Enfield area, postulating that the family name of Watkins originated through Welsh drovers who brought animals to Smithfield; perhaps farming is in the blood? Her interest in history was superseded by her decision to study modern languages, at Westfield College for women in London. But in 1942, one year into her course, an ultimatum was issued, requesting a promise to teach or do war work. Joan chose the latter and went into the ATS.
Her language skills were needed - thus began three years at Bletchley. She hasn’t seen the recent film ‘Enigma’ but did comment on the glamorisation of a role “which we all knew was important, but was not our routine. Nobody had the ‘big picture’ for security’s sake”. Here she met her future husband, marrying in 1945. She was amused on a recent visit to the centre to see a photograph from those days of a party, peopled by those from huts 6 and 3, “can’t remember the occasion, but Asa Briggs is there although I’ve been sliced off the side!”
Married, and returning to Westfield after the war, a decision to switch subjects was history’s gain. However, her linguistic studies have added a European dimension to her historical interpretation, an approach she feels missing in many historians today. A feminist stance has increased with age, fuelled by irritation at the way in which ‘people-orientated’ themes (costume, food and personal lives) once the derided province of 19th century women historians, are now tackled in the media by male presenters. Offered the CBE in 1994, Joan’s mixed feelings about the honours system were overcome by the feeling that, as one of few women so chosen, she should accept. She was not surprised to find herself the only woman recipient at the ceremony.
Having gained a first at Westfield she was offered a graduate studentship, and with R. H. Tawney as her supervisor, produced a thesis on the confiscation of royalist lands during the Civil War and subsequent Restoration. A move to Leicester University to take up a Research Fellowship on the agrarian history of Lincolnshire saw the germination of a scheme devised for a grand survey of England and Wales. The first volume, written by Joan, of the mighty ‘Agrarian History’, appeared in 1967 and was “sparkling, innovative”. She eventually became the editor in 1975; the final volume (7) appeared in 2000.
Her ground-breaking career path was accomplished whilst raising her children, born in 1954 and 1956 respectively. Commuting between London and Leicester meant that family life stayed intact, although her subsequent move to Oxford (“a very masculine place!”) to take up a Readership led to the purchase of a little house where family holidays could be spent. This was the first of a succession of near-derelict houses (from C S Lewis’s in Oxford to southern Spain), which needed complete renovation. Joan has mixed and laid concrete, built and plastered walls and is a dab hand at the decorative finishing touches of paper and paint! Her current home in Hadlow Castle was bought in 1954, first seen when driving past on a dark, stormy afternoon with crows wheeling around the tower, “we just knew we had to live there”. A shell after partial demolition by a developer, it was made habitable during work weekends and is now a suitably distinctive residence for occupants of distinction!
Following her husband’s retirement, the family lived in Oxford for 10 years. In 1983, finding the travelling and supervision of postgraduates disheartening due to the lack of their employment prospects, Joan also opted for retirement from University life. At this point Hadlow Castle became their permanent home rather than a weekend retreat.
Throughout our conversation ‘alternatives’ were a recurring theme, from the alternative stance of women historians to alternative career options. In 1997 ‘Alternative Agriculture – From the Black Death to the Present Day’ was published, dealing with recurring crises in farming. “We’re currently in the fourth such experience. I find farmers searching for alternatives; I can almost predict events”. Joan is currently working on food history between 1500 and 1750 and has given eight seminars in America on the subject. She has also been asked to write an essay, as the only woman member of its original executive committee, for the British Agricultural History Society describing its formation in 1953. The Society is soon to hold a celebration of her life and work.
The ‘superwoman’ label applied to women during the last two decades – those who juggle home, family and career - applies equally to women like her during the earlier 20th century pioneers in their fields. She was keen to stress though, that “my whole academic life has been tailored not to disturb my family – I would have been tempted by all sorts of wonderful posts overseas!” Joan was born this year. Her achievements are undisputed and her vitality undiminished; the KAS are proud to have her as a Patron.
Joan outside her home at Hadlow Castle
The Editor