Estella Chen

Research Topic

'Witnessing Law in the English Courthouses, 1700-1850'

Supervisor: Bob Harris

My main academic interest lies in the social and cultural histories of justice and law in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Britain, with a particular emphasis on courtroom procedures, architecture, and the people who inhabited these spaces. My DPhil research investigates the experiences of ‘the public(s)’ as spectators in the courtrooms of metropolitan London and provincial assizes, paying attention to the spaces and senses of court observers, the trends of trial-attendance, the social composition of courtroom spectators, as well as the behaviours and regulation of this heterogeneous group. In doing so, I hope to not only restore light onto the once-popular collective pastime of trial-spectating and its crucial role in the cultural life of the late-Georgian and Victorian men and women in England, but also to elucidate several significant aspects of the public's engagement with, and attitudes towards, justice and the law in a period of profound social, political, and judicial transformations. 

Prior to starting my DPhil in 2023, I received my BA Honours Specialisation in History from Western University, Canada, where I am a departmental gold medallist. I then pursued an MSt in 'British and European History, 1700-1850' at Wolfson College, Oxford, where I won the 'Best Performance in Cohort' prize 2022/23 for achieving the highest overall marks among all strands of MSt in History candidates. 

My DPhil research is generously funded by the Clarendon Fund and The Queen's College, Oxford.