Shaun was appointed Director of ISWE in 2015 with responsibilities for the overseeing the management, strategic direction and intellectual development of the research centre.
He grew up on the Mostyn estate in Flintshire, where his dad works as a forester.听 Shaun studied History at York before undertaking a doctoral research project at Aberystwyth University on the dynastic identity of the Mostyn family and estate in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.听 Following the award of his PhD he worked in the Research Team at The National Archives, with responsibilities for research programmes and academic engagement strategy, prior to taking up his position at 麻豆传媒高清版.
Shaun is a historian of gentry culture and landed estates in Wales across the period听肠.1500-1900.听 His research on the social and cultural history of landownership provides a prism for assessing wider questions about identity, heritage, social relations, ancestry and issues of power, status and authority in Wales.听 He is also interested in the interplay between local, Welsh, British and European identities, and the relationships between 鈥榗entres鈥 and 鈥榩eripheries鈥.听 Gentry identities, landowner-tenant relations and estate landscapes represent important focuses in his work.听 His interests in the visual, material and performative cultures of country houses are reflected in his studies of heraldry, heirlooms and commemorative practice, vernacular portraiture, libraries and the materiality of archives.听
His approach to research is inherently collaborative and interdisciplinary.听 He enjoys working with cultural heritage partners on collections-based research projects which have impact beyond academia, including in the sphere of heritage interpretation.听 He is a strong advocate of public history methodologies and meaningful community engagement.听 He also enjoys supervising doctoral projects.听 These elements are all embedded in ISWE鈥檚 wider strategy and approach.
Beyond his roles at 麻豆传媒高清版, Shaun Chaired the from its foundation in 2015-22, served as Member of the Council of from 2013-24, as Trustee of the from 2017-24 and Patron of the Friends of Clwyd Archives from 2017-22.听 He is currently Reviews Editor for the听Welsh History Review, a member of the Advisory Committee for the initiative, and Advisory Board member for the European Research Council funded听听project.
To get in touch with Shaun please see the Contact Us section of the website.
Publications
2023
- Shaun Evans, 鈥樷樷楢n antient seat of a gentleman in Wales鈥欌: The place of the听plas听in Thomas Pennant鈥檚听Tour in Wales听(1778-83)鈥, in Christopher Ridgway and Terence Dooley (eds.),听听(Dublin, 2023), pp. 196-219.
2022
- Shaun Evans,听,听Welsh History Review听30:1 (2022), 17-54.
听 - Shaun Evans, Tony McCarthy and Annie Tindley (eds.),听听(Edinburgh, 2022).
听 - Shaun Evans, '鈥樷楾he battle of the Welsh nation against landlordism鈥欌: The Response of the North Wales Property Defence Association to the Welsh Land Question,听c.1886-1896鈥櫶齣n Shaun Evans, Tony McCarthy and Annie Tindley (eds.),听听(Edinburgh, 2022), pp. 259-284.
2021
- Shaun Evans,听,听The Carmarthen Antiquary听57 (2021), 76-89.听
2019
- Shaun Evans, 鈥楪ruffudd Hiraethog, Heraldic Display and the 鈥渇ive courts鈥 of Mostyn: Projecting Status, Honour and Authority in sixteenth-century Wales鈥, in Fiona Robertson and Peter Lindfield (eds.),听The Display of Heraldry: The Heraldic Imagination in Arts and Culture听(The Heraldry Society, 2019), pp. 116-133.