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Rachel (Hamilton) Peacock is a third year PhD candidate working under the supervision of Dr. Sandra den Otter. Her research interests include nineteenth-century Britain, the British monarchy, gender, print culture and media, and mental health. Her thesis studies nearly 100 individuals who intruded on ¹ú²ú91ÓÈÎ︣ÀûÔÚÏß¹Û¿´ Victoria's privacy over the course of her reign (1837-1901), and whom we would today call "stalkers." This project considers how these intrusions and the media coverage they received factored into broader debates about gender, mental illness, policing, and the public's relationship with and reconceptualization of the British monarchy.

Since January 2024, Rachel has worked as a research assistant for the SSHRC-funded project "Thinking Historically for Canada's Future." Her responsibilities include conducting historical and socio-political analyses of social studies curriculum from Yukon, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut. 

Rachel is currently completing a summer internship with the Bibliography of British and Irish History (BBIH). Her internship is focused on the history of health and medicine. 

Rachel also serves as a regular contributor to Synapsis: A Health Humanities Journal: 

You can follow Rachel's research on Instagram: @royalintruders. 

 

Publications 

"'': Jane Austen's Novels and ¹ú²ú91ÓÈÎ︣ÀûÔÚÏß¹Û¿´ Victoria's Domestic Bliss." Persuasions no. 46 (2024): 246-255. 

 

Online Publications

"'': Fictional Representations of the Women and Influence of ¹ú²ú91ÓÈÎ︣ÀûÔÚÏß¹Û¿´ Victoria's Court, 1839-1847." The Court Observer. 21 May 2025. 

"'': Gender and Madness in Victorian Britain." Synapsis: A Health Humanities Journal. 21 May 2025. 

", 'Reflections on British Royalty: Mass Observation and the Monarchy, 1937-2022.'" H-Albion. 24 December 2024. 

": Inspired and Outraged by Alice Rothchild." Synapsis: A Health Humanities Journal. 17 December 2024. 

"." Broadsides (blog), North American Conference on British Studies, 21 June 2024. 

 

Conference Papers 

"A Maniac Who Threatened the ¹ú²ú91ÓÈÎ︣ÀûÔÚÏß¹Û¿´": Gender, Mental Illness, and ¹ú²ú91ÓÈÎ︣ÀûÔÚÏß¹Û¿´ Victoria's Privacy. Paper presented at the North American Conference on British Studies, Denver, Colorado, 16 November 2024. 

"'Another Visitor to the Palace': Gender, Mental Illness, and Intruders on the British Royal Family's Privacy, 1837-1900." Paper presented at the 22nd Annual Women's and Gender History Symposium, Urbana-Champaign, Illinois (online), 3 March 2024. 

"'Another Candidate for Royal Audience': Gender, Rights of Access, and ¹ú²ú91ÓÈÎ︣ÀûÔÚÏß¹Û¿´ Victoria's Stalkers in the Media, 1837-1840." Paper presented at the Northeast Conference on British Studies, Halifax, Nova Scotia, 14 October 2023. 

"'The ¹ú²ú91ÓÈÎ︣ÀûÔÚÏß¹Û¿´'s Last Lunatic Lover': Mental Illness in Popular Representations and Memories of ¹ú²ú91ÓÈÎ︣ÀûÔÚÏß¹Û¿´ Victoria's Stalkers, 1837-1841." Paper presented at the 20th Annual McGill-¹ú²ú91ÓÈÎ︣ÀûÔÚÏß¹Û¿´'s Graduate Conference in History, Kingston, Ontario (online), 29 April 2023.