Dr. Olivia Formby

Biography

Olivia Formby is a Research Fellow specializing in Early Modern History at the University of Cambridge. Her research focuses on the intersections of religion, medicine, and emotions in sixteenth and seventeenth-century England. Formby's work aims to develop new understandings of how ordinary people, including categories often deemed 'silent' such as children, experienced the upheavals and continuities of the period. She has presented her findings at various academic conferences across Australia, Germany, Sweden, and the United Kingdom and has adapted her research for wider audiences, including undergraduate and secondary school teachers. Currently, she is co-hosting the 'Age of Health, 1500-1800' postgraduate Early Career Research conference at St John's College. Formby holds a PhD from Cambridge, supervised by Professor Alexandra Walsham, where her dissertation entitled 'Infants' Emotions in Early Modern England' utilized medical and religious literature to shed new light on the emotional, spiritual, and social agency of the youngest members of society. Previously, she completed her undergraduate studies and MPhil at the University of Queensland, where she received the University Medal and the History Honours Research Prize. Her MPhil project was funded by an Australian Postgraduate Award and explored the emotional communities during the plague in Early Modern England. Her forthcoming project at Emmanuel College will investigate 'Children’s Language Development in Early Modern England'.

Research Interests