Professor Maureen Meikle

Honorary Fellow; History

Biography

Background

I studied at the University of Edinburgh and graduated with an MA Hons in General Arts (1983) and a PhD in Scottish History (1989) entitled ‘Lairds and Gentlemen, a study of the Landed Families of the Eastern Anglo-Scottish Borders, circa 1540-1603’. My supervisors were Professor A. E. Goodman and Professor Michael Lynch.

Since completing my PhD in 1989, I have lectured in Early Modern British History at various universities in England, Scotland and the USA. From 1993-1995 I was Fulbright Visiting Professor of British History (Robertson Chair), at Westminster College, Fulton, Missouri, U.S.A. Then I became Senior Lecturer in History at the University of Sunderland from 1995-2009. I was thereafter Head of Humanities, Director of Academic Enhancement (Research) and Professor of Early Modern History at Leeds Trinity University. I took early retirement in 2018 and returned to Scotland. I was appointed as an Honorary Fellow in the School of History, Classics and Archaeology in 2019.

I have made successful personal grant applications to the Scouloudi Foundation, Marc Fitch Fund and Strathmartine Trust. As Treasurer and a Trustee of the Durham Victoria County History [VCH] during 2001-09 I successfully applied for grants and donations from Sir Tom Cowie, the Northern Rock Foundation, the Marc Fitch Fund, the Hadrian Trust and the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle-upon-Tyne to fund History of Darlington and History of Sunderland projects. I was part of a major collaborative bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund for £3.5 million to study England’s Past For Everyone, which was awarded for 2004-2008 and included a substantial amount payable to the University of Sunderland for the History of Sunderland project.

At Sunderland, I was also committed to working with local organisations and partners of the university such as the AHRB North East England History Centre, the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne as a council member and research committee member. Nationally, I was the Convenor of the Women’s History Network from 2004-06.

I have been an active Vice President of the Surtees Society since 2009. At Leeds Trinity I was an external representative on the Northern History Journal’s Management Committee at University of Leeds from 2011-18. I was the Historical consultant to the City of Sunderland and the Sealed Knot Society’s re-enactment of the Battle of Hylton (1644) attended by over 10,000 people, 14-15 August 2010. I was also an historical consultant to the Border Reiver-Hexham Old Gaol project based on 16th-century prisoners chosen by groups from three prisons in the North East and funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, 2014-15.

I have organised many academic conferences over the years. I have been a postgraduate external examiner at the Universities of Sydney, Auckland and Durham. I was an external examiner for the undergraduate History degrees at Manchester Metropolitan University and have been part of validation panels for Humanities programmes at the University of Wales, Newport and Glyndwr University.

I was elected as a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland (1993), the Royal Historical Society (2004) and the Society of Antiquaries of London (2005).

Responsibilities & affiliations

Vice President, The Surtees Society

Past PhD students supervised

  • Leona Skelton; Environmental Regulation in Northern English Towns and Scottish Burghs, c. 1500-c. 1700: A Comparative Study;, PhD, Durham University, (external supervision). Completed 2013.
  • Vera Bell: Charitable bequests in Durham in the 17th century: a study of the purpose, organisation and beneficiaries; part-time PhD, University of Sunderland. Completed 2005.
  • Sylvia Stevens: Quakers in society in northeast Norfolk, 1690-1800.; part-time PhD, University of Sunderland. Completed 2005.
  • Angela Curtis: The Levellers and the quest for democracy; part-time MA History dissertation. University of Sunderland. Completed 2008.
  • Miranda Ashitey: The North East and the Grand Tour; full-time MA History dissertation, University of Sunderland. Completed 2006.
  • David M. Hamilton: The Challenges and Subversions of Patriarchal Order in early modern England; full-time MA History dissertation, University of Sunderland. Completed 2006.
  • Cynthia Bartlett: Durham’s grand Quaker Anthony Pearson. A Quaker Leader in Durham, 1653-1660;, part-time MA History dissertation, University of Sunderland. Completed 2002.
  • Jean Devlin: The Border Ballads and the Border Reivers, with reference to Redeswire and Kinmont Willie;, part-time MA Historical Studies dissertation, University of Sunderland. Completed 2000

Research summary

Early Modern British History, with a particular interest in Women's History and Scottish History.

Current research interests

Completion of the research in England, Denmark and Scotland and then the writing up of my biography of Queen Anna of Denmark, Queen Consort of King James VI and I.

Books

  • A British Frontier? Lairds and Gentlemen in the Eastern Anglo-Scottish Frontier, 1540-1603 (Tuckwell Press, 2004). ISBN 1 86232 261 9. xxii + 344pp. The Marc Fitch Fund made a grant towards this monograph.
  • Sunderland and its Origins: Monks to Mariners, with Christine M. Newman (Phillimore, 2007). ISBN 978-1-86077-479-9. viii + 220pp. This text was grant-aided by the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Victoria County History of England, the Durham VCH Trust and several other charitable foundations. Related website: www.victoriacountyhistory.ac.uk/counties/durham
  • The Scottish People 1490-1625 (Lulu.com, 2013). ISBN 978-1-291-51800-9 (paper). E-book; Kindle (2014) ISBN 978-1-291-98566-5. xxvii +536pp. All areas of Scotland are covered from the Borders, through the Lowlands to the Gàidhealtachd and the Northern Isles. The chapters are as follows - Burgh and landward: society and the economy, Women and the family, International relations: war, peace and diplomacy, Law and order: the local administration of justice, Court and country: the politics of government, The Reformation: preludes, persistence and impact, Culture in Renaissance Scotland: education, entertainment, the arts and sciences, and Renaissance architecture: the rebuilding of Scotland. (351,000 words, including endnotes) Publication was grant-aided by the Graduate Research School (University of Sunderland) and the Strathmartine Trust.
  • Anna of Denmark 1574-1619: Britain’s First Queen Consort (Taylor & Francis, 2025), in progress. Anna of Denmark (1574-1619), Queen Consort to James VI and I has been somewhat overlooked by historians. This will be a definitive biography of her life based upon extensive archival research in Denmark, England and Scotland.

Edited Books

  • Elizabeth Ewan and Maureen M. Meikle, eds., Women in Scotland, c. 1100- c.1750 (Tuckwell Press, 1999). ISBN 1 86232 046 2. xxx + 272pp. Now out of print, but available online Publication was grant-aided by the Scouloudi Foundation.
  • Jean Spence, Sarah Aiston & Maureen M. Meikle, eds., Women, Education, and Agency, 1600-2000 (New York: Routledge, 2009). ISBN10: 0-415-99005-X (hbk) ISBN10: 0-203-88261-X (ebk) ISBN13: 978-0-415-99005-9 (hbk) ISBN13: 978-0-203-88261-0 (ebk). Paperback ISBN10: 0-415-88836-3 or ISBN13: 978-0-415-88836-3 (New York: Routledge, 2010). Part of the scholarly series Routledge Research in Gender and History.

Refereed Articles and Book Chapters

  • A Godly rogue: the career of Sir John Forster, an Elizabethan Border Warden, an extended article for Northern History, vol 28 (1992), 126-163.
  • The Invisible Divide: the greater lairds and the nobility of Jacobean Scotland, Scottish Historical Review, vol 28 (April/October 1992), 70-87.
  • Northumberland Divided: Anatomy of a sixteenth-century bloodfeud, Archaeologia Aeliana, fifth series, vol 20 (1992), 79-89.
  • Victims, viragos and vamps: Women of the 16th-Century Anglo-Scottish frontier in J. C. Appleby ; P. Dalton, eds. Government, Religion and Society in Northern England, c. 1000 to c. 1700 (Alan Sutton 1997), 172-184. ISBN 0-7509-1057-7.
  • Holde her at the economic rule of the house, Anna of Denmark and Scottish Court Finances 1589-1603, in Elizabeth Ewan and Maureen M. Meikle, eds., Women in Scotland, c. 1100- c.1750 (Tuckwell Press, 1999), 105-111. ISBN 1 86232 046 2.
  • A meddlesome Princess: Anna of Denmark and Scottish Court politics, 1589-1603, in J. Goodare; M. Lynch, eds. The Reign of James VI (Tuckwell Press, 2000), 126-140. ISBN 1-86232-095-0.
  • John Knox and womankind: a reappraisal, The Historian, 79 (Autumn 2003), 9-14. ISSN 0265-1076.
  • The Homes and the East March, in R. Oram; G. Stell, eds. Lordship and Architecture in Medieval and Renaissance Scotland (Birlinn/John Donald, 2005), 231-49. ISBN 0-85976-628-4.
  • Flodden to the Marian Civil War, 1513-1573, in B. Harris; A. Macdonald, eds. Scotland: The Making and Unmaking of the Nation c. 1100-1707 vol. 2 (Dundee University Press, 2007), 1-17. ISBN 1-84586-028-4.
  • Anna of Denmark’s Coronation and Entry into Edinburgh, 1590: cultural, religious and diplomatic perspectives, in Julian Goodare and Alasdair A. MacDonald, eds. Sixteenth-Century Scotland: Essays in Honour of Michael Lynch, (Brill, 2008), 277-94. ISBN 978 90 04 16825 1.
  • From Lutheranism to Catholicism: The Faith of Anna of Denmark (1574-1619) (co-written with Dr Helen Payne, University of Adelaide), The Journal of Ecclesiastical History, 64/1 (2013), 45-69. DOI: 10.1017/S0022046911000868.
  • Scottish reactions to the marriage of the Lady Elizabeth, first dochter of Scotland; in Sara Smart; Mara R. Wade eds. The Palatine Wedding 1613: Protestant Alliance and Court Festival (Vol. 29. Herzog August Bibliothek, Wolffenbütteler Arbeiten zur Renaissanceforschung series, Wiesbaden 2013), 131-143. ISBN 978-3-447-10014-4. ISSN 0724-956X.
  • Growth, 1600-1800 in G. Cookson, ed. The Victoria History of the Counties of England: A History of County Durham, Volume 5: Sunderland (Boydell; Brewer, 2015), 61-107. ISBN: 9781904356448
  • The Scottish Covenanters and the Borough of Sunderland, 1639-1647: a Hidden Axis of the British Civil Wars, Northern History, 54/2 (2017), 167-188. DOI:10.1080/0078172X.2016.1256063.
  • Once a Dane, Always a Dane? Queen Anna of Denmark’s Foreign Relations and Intercessions as a Queen Consort of Scotland and England, 1588-1619, Court Studies 24 (2019), 168-180. DOI: 10.1080/14629712.2019.1626121.

Non-refereed articles and book chapters:

  • The sixteenth-century Border Lairds: a study of the links between wealth and house building, History of the Berwickshire Naturalists Club, vol 46, part 1 (1993), 9-36.
  • Mosquitoes and missionaries, Life and Work (September 1996), 16-17.
  • The Later Stewarts and the British Stewarts in R. Oram, ed. The Kings and Queens of Scotland (Tempus Publishing, 2001), 178-227. ISBN 0 7524 1988 9.
  • Mary and James VI in R. Oram, ed. The Stewarts. Kings and Queens of Scotland 1371-1625 (Tempus Publishing, 2002), 91-120. ISBN 0-7524-2324-X.
  • Anna of Denmark, Queen Consort of King James VI ; I (1574-1619): marriage negotiations and the early years in Scotland with some afterthoughts’, Royal Stuart Journal, 5 (2014), 1-11.

Entries in reference works:

The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University Press, 2004), eds. H.C.G. Matthews; B. Harrison.

  • Anna of Denmark. 7000 words. (with Helen M. Payne) Vol 2, 191-199. ISBN 0198613520.
  • John Armstrong of Gilnockie. 700 words. Vol 2, 425-27. ISBN 0198613520.
  • William (Piers) Cockburn. 200 words. Vol 12, 346. ISBN 0198613628.
  • Sir John Forster. 800 words. Vol 20, 414-15. ISBN 0198613709.
  • Alexander, fifth Lord Home. 1,900 words. Vol 27, 857-59. ISBN 0198613776.
  • George, fourth Lord Home. 650 words. Vol 28, 758-61. ISBN 0198613784.
  • Alexander, first earl of Home. 1,800 words. Vol 27, 859-61. ISBN 0198613776.
  • Andrew Ker of Ferniehirst. 650 words. Vol 31, 376-77. ISBN 0198613814.
  • Andrew Ker of Cessford. 1,000 words. Vol 31, 375-76. ISBN 0198613814.
  • Sir Thomas Ker of Ferniehirst. 1,200 words. Vol 31, 393-95. ISBN 0198613814.
  • The Selbies of Northumberland, c. 1540-1646. 1750 words. Vol 49, 687-89. ISBN 0198613997.

The Biographical Dictionary of Scottish Women eds. E. Ewan, S. Innes, R. Pipes; S. Reynolds (Edinburgh University Press, 2006), ISBN 0748617132.

  • Anna of Denmark, Queen of Scots (1574-1619) 600 words, 15.
  • Lilias of Ancru)m (fl. 1500) 150 words, 206.
  • Jackie Crookstone (1768-97) 150 words, 86.
  • Janet Newton of Dalcove (c.1520-1566) 150 words, 283.
  • Alison Douglas (c. 1496-1530s) 150 words, 99.
  • Helen Guthrie (fl. 1596) 150 words, 153.
  • Marion Haliburton, Lady Hume (1520s-1550s) 150 words, 155.
  • Katherine Hugone (fl. 1598) 150 words, 172.
  • Dame Elizabeth Ker (c. 1470-1548) 150 words, 194.
  • Barbara Mackenzie of Kintail (fl. 1617) 150 words, 229-30.
  • Helen Grahamslaw of Newton (c.1570-c.1600) 150 words, 144.
  • Janet Scott, Lady Ferniehirst (c. 1548-c.1595) 250 words, 316 (with Ruth Grant).
  • Henrietta Stewart, countess of Huntly (c. 1572 - 1642) 250 words, 340 (with Ruth Grant).
  • Margaret Stewart of Ochiltree (1548-1612) 200 words, 342.
  • Beatrix Weir (c.1590-c.1609) 150 words, 372.
  • Annabella Murray, countess of Mar (1536-1603), 300 words, second edition, 2019.

 

Mary Hays, Female Biography; or, Memoirs of Illustrious and Celebrated Women, of All Ages and Countries (1803). Chawton House Library Series: Women’s Memoirs, ed. Gina Luria Walker, Memoirs of Women Writers Part III (Pickering; Chatto: London, 2013) ISBN 9781848930537

  • Editor of the original entry on Mary, Queen of Scots, the longest entry in the series at 286 pages.

Book Reviews (since 2005):

  • A Dialogue on the Law of Kingship among the Scots. A Critical Edition and Translation of George Buchannan’s De Iure Regni apud Scotos Dialogus, eds. Roger A. Mason; Martin S. Smith (Ashgate, 2004), for The Sixteenth Century Journal, 26/3 (2005), 838.
  • Border Fury. England and Scotland at War, 1296-1568, by John Sadler (Pearson, 2005), for Northern History, 43/1 (2006), 172-73.
  • Edinburgh Under Siege 1571-1573, by Harry Potter (Tempus, 2003), for The Sixteenth Century Journal, 36/4 (2005), 1217-18.
  • An Unofficial Alliance. Scotland and Sweden 1569-1654, by Alexia Grosjean (Brill, 2003), for The Sixteenth Century Journal, 37/1 (2006), 143-44.
  • Working Women in English Society, 1400-1620 by Marjorie Keniston McIntosh (Cambridge University Press, 2005), for Continuity and Change, 21/2 (2006), 373-74.
  • The Buildings of Scotland. Borders, by Kitty Cruft, John Dunbar ; Richard Fawcett (Yale University Press, 2006), for Northern History, 44/1 (2007), 161-63.
  • Durham Hearth Tax, Lady Day 1666, by Adrian Green, Elizabeth Parkinson and Margaret Spufford, British Record Society, 119 (2006), for Northern History, 44/1 (2007), 174-75.
  • The Scottish Parliament under Charles II, 1660-1685, by Gillian H. MacIntosh, (Edinburgh University Press, 2007), for History, 93/2 (2008), 275-76.
  • The Northern Rebellion of 1569. Faith, Politics and Protest in Elizabethan England by Krista .J. Kesselring (Palgrave, 2007), for Northern History, 45/2 (2008), 383-85.
  • The Burghs and Parliament in Scotland, c. 1550-1651, by Alan R. Macdonald (Ashgate, 2007), for History, 93/4 (2008), 562-63.
  • Acts of Perception: A Study of Barnard Castle in Teesdale, 2 vols, by David Austin (English Heritage, 2007), for Archaeologia Aeliana, 5th ser. 37 (2008), 238.
  • Scotland Re-Formed 1488-1587, by Jane E.A. Dawson (Edinburgh University Press, 2007), for Parliamentary History, 28/2 (2009), 295-96.
  • The Mistresses of Henry VIII, by Kelly Hart (History Press, 2009), for Herstoria 5 (2010), 52.
  • Finding the Family in Medieval and Early Modern Scotland, eds. Elizabeth Ewan; Janay Nugent (Ashgate, 2008), for The Sixteenth Century Journal, 41/2 (2010), 500-501.
  • The Scottish Middle March, 1573-1625, by Anna Groundwater (RHS/Boydell, 2010) for Northern History, 48/2 (2011), 379-80.
  • Early Modern Women an extended review of John Hudson, Shakespeare’s Dark Lady. Amelia Bassano Lanier: The Woman Behind Shakespeare’s Plays? (Amberley Publishing, 2014); Elizabeth Norton, The Boleyn Women. The Tudor femmes fatales who changed English history (Amberley Publishing, 2014); Jayne Elisabeth Archer, Elizabeth Goldring ; Sarah Knight, (eds) The Progresses, Pageants, ; Entertainments of Queen Elizabeth I (Oxford University Press, 2013); Retha M. Warnicke, Wicked Women of Tudor England. Queen, Aristocrats, Commoners (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012); Kimberley Schutte, Women, Rank, and Marriage in the British Aristocracy, 1485-2000 (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014) and Tim Reinke-Williams, Women, Work and Sociability in Early Modern London (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014) for the Women’s History Review, 24/5 (2015), 819-22. Published online.
  • Scottish Schools and Schoolmasters 1560-1633, eds J. Durkan; J. Reid-Baxter (Scottish History Society/Boydell Press, 2013) for Review of Scottish Culture, 27 (2015), 133-34.
  • The Murder of King James I, by Alastair Bellany and Thomas Cogswell (Yale University Press, 2015), for The Sixteenth Century Journal, 47/2 (2016), 532-34.
  • Children and Youth in Premodern Scotland, eds. Elizabeth Ewan; Janay Nugent (The Boydell Press, 2015), for The Scottish Historical Review, 95/2 (2016), 255-57.
  • National Identity and the Anglo-Scottish Borderlands 1552-1652 (The Boydell Press, 2019), by Jenna M. Schultz. For Northern History, 56/1 (2019), 169-171.
  • Anna of Denmark and Henrietta Maria: Virgins, Witches, and Catholic Queens by Susan Dunn-Helmsley. For The Royal Stuart Journal 10 (2019).
  • A Protestant Lord in James VIs Scotland: George Keith, Fifth Earl Marischal (1554-1623), by Miles Kerr-Petersen (St Andrews Studies in Scottish History. Boydell; Brewer, 2019), For The Sixteenth Century Journal, 51/3 (Fall 2020), 815-817.
  • Regency in Sixteenth-Century Scotland, by Amy Blakeway (The Boydell Press, 2015). For Northern Studies, forthcoming
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