Katharine is an AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Award researcher in musicology at the University of Southampton, where her research examines musical instrument collectors in the Early Music Revival, particularly the early keyboard collector Raymond Russell (1922-1964).

Her PhD thesis traces the intersections between collecting, harpsichord development, revival and sexuality in the first half of the 20th century through the lens of Raymond’s life, career and social networks.  She is a recipient of the Louise Dyer Award 2017 for British music research.
Katharine’s research career began in 2014 when she joined The Making of the Modern Harpsichord project at the University of Southampton, supervised by Professors Jeanice Brooks and Laurie Stras and by James Rothwell (Senior Curator) and Louise Govier (Visitor Experience, then General Manager at Mottisfont Abbey) from the National Trust.  

Katharine’s work interrogates the role of Raymond Russell and his collection in the evolution of interest in the harpsichord in the first half of the 20th century.  She has examined primary sources including the archives of Raymond’s collection at the University of Edinburgh; his personal files at Eton College and Downing College, Cambridge; and his mother Maud Russell’s diaries, with kind permission of the Russell family. The past family home of Mottisfont has also provided a wealth of resources in the form of photo albums, scrapbooks and family books.  This detailed research has led to a comprehensive picture of Russell’s biography, the cultural milieu that influenced his early interests and career path.  Click here for further information about the project and here for an early blog based on her work.

Future Research

After completion of her thesis in 2021 Katharine plans an examination of the role of gender and queer networks both in the Early Music Revival, and as part of a close investigation of the community surrounding Edward Dent in Cambridge, from 1890, that saw an intense interest in early keyboard instruments.

Work with the Heritage Sector

Katharine has shared her research well beyond the realms of academia through her work with the National Trust and her subject’s links to further heritage institutions.  She has presented her work at the Cheltenham Music Festival, the Old Operating Theatre Museum & Herb Garret, and via events at Mottisfont Abbey, Hampshire, and the National Trust Knowledge Exchange Programme for their staff and volunteers. 

Raymond’s own interests extended well beyond harpsichords, into the history of medicine, surgery and architecture. These combined interests led to his discovery of the site of the oldest surviving operating theatre in Europe, since restored and turned into the Old Operating Theatre Museum a further heritage institution, alongside St Cecilia’s Hall and Mottisfont Abbey, that would benefit from acquiring details and materials related to Raymond’s work.

In 2017 Katharine was given the chance to work with National Trust staff at Mottisfont to develop interpretive material that could represent the life and work of Raymond Russell within the property.  This work was featured on the first floor of the house for a year from March 2018.  A National Trust property provided a fantastic environment to design and implement ways to present musicological and collections related research to the public, and engaged a new audience not only in Raymond Russell’s story, but also that of the harpsichord in the 20th century.

Check out my page about the Mottisfont Interpretation Layer to see how Raymond’s life story was told within the property.