Amanda Westcott
Thesis Title: George III and Kingship at Court in Late Eighteenth-Century Britain
My thesis concerns the study of the court as a socio-political body combining institutional and inter-personal relationships centered around the monarch. It will discuss the particular court culture that George III and his consort Queen Charlotte facilitated, and the ways in which this system – as a collective arrangement between the monarch and ruling class – evolved in the 1780s and 1790s.
The development of the court at this time was one of negotiation in light of the disruption due to the king’s illness, political conflict within Britain, and war throughout Europe. The events of the 1780s and 1790s reveal a significant network of courtiers and royal officeholders that adapted to wider socio-political spheres of activity and engaged in the cultural pursuits of both the English and European élite. A study of kingship in this period better defines this court structure by illustrating the presence of aristocratic courtier families who continued to uphold its cultural programs amid disruption, as well as the king’s own pursuit of dignity and sovereignty in the face of social and political challenges. George III was enabled to express particular elements of his kingship at a transformative time in his reign, marked not by decline, but by a growing dependence on a select court circle, and his example is significant to the study of courtly adaption in an age of revolution and empire.
Work Experience
I would like to build a career in the British heritage sector after my studies, and I am an active participant in the Heritage Pathways Programme offered by The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities (TORCH). Thanks to the university's Career Service, I've also gained further practical experience through internships with the National Trust Partnership, Purcell Architects, and the Devonshire Collections at Chatsworth House.
I have worked as a contracted research consultant for Purcell Architects (2021-2022), where I performed detailed, desk-based research and writing, with projects ranging from historic development reports on North Chingford (London) and Anglesey Abbey (National Trust, Cambridge), and the revision of entries for listed buildings in High Street Heritage Action Zones (English Heritage).
I am a clerk at Keble College Chapel and also volunteer at the Ashmolean Museum.
In Michaelmas 2022, I completed training offered by the History Faculty at Oxford, called Preparation for Teaching and Learning at Oxford (PLTO). My teaching placement was supervised by Dr Brian Young (Christ Church) in Special Subject: English Architecture, 1660-1720.
Scholarships and Prizes
Second place prize in the Humanities Poster Competition (2024), hosted by the Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities (TORCH); Jonathan and Amanda Phillips Award, Keble College, Oxford (2023), for contributions to the Keble community, based on nominations received from staff and students; Book Grant from Keble Chapel (2020-2023); Delia Bushell Graduate Scholarship in History, Keble College, Oxford (2019-2020); The Mavis Gibson Prize in History, Keble College, Oxford (2020); recipient of the Keble College Graduate Support Fund (2021-2023) and the Keble Association Grant (2022 and 2023) with accompanying Griffiths Award (2022).
Supervisor
