I am a native of Leeds in Yorkshire and a graduate of Girton College, Cambridge, where I studied under Dr Alistair Reid. I hold an MPhil on late Victorian politics from the University of Birmingham and a PhD from the University of Leicester. I am a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.
From 2002 until 2019 I was head of history at Newman University in Birmingham, where I established Single Honours History for the first time and then set up a Masters degree in Victorian Studies.
In 2012 I published my first major monograph 'The Liberal Unionist Party, 1886-1912: A History' which was shortlisted for the Total Politics Political History Book of the Year in 2013 and described by Professor Vernon Bogdanor in the 'Times Literary Supplement' as “one of the most important works on the politics of the late Victorian era to have appeared in recent years.”
In 2014 I organised the international Joseph Chamberlain centenary conference and edited a collection of essays arising from the conference in 'Joseph Chamberlain: International Statesman, National Leader, Local Icon' which was launched at the Palace of Westminster in 2016 and selected by the 'Financial Times' as one of their books of the summer.
I am a member of the Centre for Print History and Culture steering group and in 2019 edited the Centre’s first collection of essays: 'Print, Politics and the Provincial Press'. I am a regular contributor to the 'Times Literary Supplement' and have been interviewed by the BBC for 'Midlands Today,' 'The Sunday Show', 'Newsnight', 'Who Do You Think You Are?' and 'Inside Out.'
My current AHRC funded research project 'Corruption, Public Service and the Common Good in Western Europe' is a multi-disciplinary, transnational investigation of the means whereby corrupt practices were challenged and an alternative ethos of governance, inspired by contemporary religion, utilitarian philosophy, radical literature and the Scottish Enlightenment came to dominate British political culture. I have published initial articles in the 'English Historical Review' and the 'Journal of Liberal History' on the topic and co-edited a collection of essays: 'The Many Lives of Corruption: The Reform of Public Life in Modern Britain, c1750-1950', published by Manchester University Press in 2022
My Office Hours are 1-2pm and 4-5pm on a Friday in term-time.
Fellow of Royal Historical Society
Royal Historical Society
Senior Fellow of HEA
Higher Education Academy
Honorary Senior Research Fellow
University of Birmingham
I am currently working on a history of the public service ethos in 19th century Britain for which I have published a major article in English Historical Review, as well as an article in the Journal of Liberal History. I have recently co-edited a book, titled 'The many lives of corruption: The reform of public life in modern Britain, c.1750-1950' which was published by Manchester University Press in May 2022. I currently hold an AHRC Research Networking Award and have arranged research symposia in UK, the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden and Spain.
Book Chapter
Cawood I (2024) 1868. In: Dale I (ed.) British General Election Campaigns 1830–2019: The 50 General Election Campaigns That Shaped Our Modern Politics. London: Biteback, pp. 97-105. https://www.bitebackpublishing.com/books/british-general-election-campaigns-1830-2019
Article
Cawood I (2024) Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman. Journal of Liberal History, (123), pp. 34-40.
Article
Hamilton & Inches: A Unique Record
Cawood I (2023) Hamilton & Inches: A Unique Record. Scottish Business and Industrial History, 33 (2), pp. 9-36.
Edited Book
The many lives of corruption: The reform of public life in modern Britain, c. 1750–1950
Cawood I & Crook T (eds.) (2022) The many lives of corruption: The reform of public life in modern Britain, c. 1750–1950. Manchester: Manchester University Press. https://manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526150035/
Book Chapter
Epilogue: the British way in corruption
Cawood I & Crook T (2022) Epilogue: the British way in corruption. In: Cawood I & Crook T (eds.) The many lives of corruption: The reform of public life in modern Britain, c. 1750-1950. Manchester: Manchester University Press, pp. 279-297. https://manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526150035/
Conference Paper (unpublished)
"System of the North"? Dugald Stewart, Walter Scott, Henry Brougham and anti-corruption
Cawood I (2022) "System of the North"? Dugald Stewart, Walter Scott, Henry Brougham and anti-corruption. The Scottish Enlightenment and the reform of civic ethics in the Nineteenth Century, University of Glasgow, 10.06.2022-10.06.2022. https://youtu.be/mYjLhV7C1Mw
Conference Paper (unpublished)
The Public Service Ethos: a Gift from Victorian Britain?
Cawood I (2022) The Public Service Ethos: a Gift from Victorian Britain?. Ethics and the Civil Service – past, present, and future, University of Sussex, 08.04.2022-08.04.2022. https://youtu.be/_AfFzrlLrHk?t=3645
Article
The Black Book and the reform of public life in early nineteenth-century Britain
Cawood I (2022) The Black Book and the reform of public life in early nineteenth-century Britain. Journal of Liberal History, (113), pp. 6-17. https://liberalhistory.org.uk/journal-articles/the-black-book-and-the-reform-of-public-life-in-early-nineteenth-century-britain/
Website Content
A history of British political sleaze – and why we should worry about the Johnson government
Cawood I (2021) A history of British political sleaze – and why we should worry about the Johnson government. University of Stirling Public Policy Blog [Blog post] 31.05.2021. https://policyblog.stir.ac.uk/2021/05/31/a-history-of-british-political-sleaze-and-why-we-should-worry-about-the-johnson-government/
Article
Cawood I (2020) Corruption and the Public Service Ethos in Mid-Victorian Administration: The Case of Leonard Horner and the Factory Office. English Historical Review, 135 (575), pp. 860-891. https://doi.org/10.1093/ehr/ceaa249
Article
Birmingham, the "Caucus" and the 1868 general election
Cawood I (2020) Birmingham, the "Caucus" and the 1868 general election. Journal of Liberal History, (105). https://liberalhistory.org.uk/journal-articles/birmingham-the-caucus-and-the-1868-general-election/
Edited Book
Print, Politics and the Provincial Press in Modern Britain
Cawood I & Peters L (eds.) (2019) Print, Politics and the Provincial Press in Modern Britain. Printing History and Culture, 1. Oxford, UK: Peter Lang UK. https://doi.org/10.3726/b13688
Book Chapter
"We must get in front of these blighters": Political Press Culture in the West Midlands, 1918-1925
Brennan J & Cawood I (2019) "We must get in front of these blighters": Political Press Culture in the West Midlands, 1918-1925. In: Cawood I & Peters L (eds.) Print, Politics and the Provincial Press. Printing History and Culture, 1. Oxford: Peter Lang, pp. 119-155. https://doi.org/10.3726/b13688
Article
The Impact of the 1918 Reform Act on the Politics of the West Midlands
Cawood I (2018) The Impact of the 1918 Reform Act on the Politics of the West Midlands. Parliamentary History, 37 (1), pp. 81-100. https://doi.org/10.1111/1750-0206.12339
Article
Life after Joe: Politics and War in the West Midlands, 1914–1918
Cawood I (2017) Life after Joe: Politics and War in the West Midlands, 1914–1918. Midland History, 42 (1), pp. 92-117. https://doi.org/10.1080/0047729x.2017.1311519
Edited Book
Joseph Chamberlain: International Statesman, National Leader, Local Icon
Cawood I & Upton C (eds.) (2016) Joseph Chamberlain: International Statesman, National Leader, Local Icon. London: Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137528858
Book Chapter
Joseph Chamberlain: His Reputation and Legacy
Cawood I (2016) Joseph Chamberlain: His Reputation and Legacy. In: Cawood I & Upton C (eds.) Joseph Chamberlain: International Statesman, National Leader, Local Icon. London: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 229-243. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137528858_11
Book Chapter
Joseph Chamberlain and the Birmingham Satirical Journals, 1876-1911
Cawood I & Upton C (2016) Joseph Chamberlain and the Birmingham Satirical Journals, 1876-1911. In: Cawood I & Upton C (eds.) Joseph Chamberlain: International Statesman, National Leader, Local Icon. London: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 176-210. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137528858_9
Article
'True to his principles'? John Bright, Liberalism and Irish Home Rule 1886-1889
Cawood I (2014) 'True to his principles'? John Bright, Liberalism and Irish Home Rule 1886-1889. Journal of Liberal History, (85), pp. 10-19. https://liberalhistory.org.uk/journal-articles/true-to-his-principles/
Book Chapter
The Persistence of Liberal Unionism in Irish Politics, 1886-1912
Cawood I (2014) The Persistence of Liberal Unionism in Irish Politics, 1886-1912. In: Doherty G (ed.) The Home Rule Crisis, 1912-14. Cork Studies in the Irish Revolution. Cork, RoI: Mercier Press, pp. 333-352. https://www.mercierpress.ie/irish-books/the-home-rule-crisis-1912-14/
2023-24
HISU9X6 - History Dissertation Preparation for Honours History (module co-ordinator)
HISU9L6 - Religion, Denomination and Prejudice in Britain 1780-1914 (module co-ordinator)
HISU9C7 - Corruption, Public Service and the Common Good in Britain, 1800-1914 (module co-ordinator)
