Welcome to the Citizens project, led by Royal Holloway, University of London, charting the history of liberty, protest and reform from Magna Carta to the Suffragettes and beyond.

Scroll down to discover more...

"Citizens will be an exciting and vibrant addition to the educational and heritage landscape of the UK."

Dr Emma Peplow, The History of Parliament Trust

"Citizens will be a history resource of significant importance, not only for AQA students, but for the British History community in general."

Eoin MacGabhann, Head of Curriculum, History, AQA

"Working together to increase awareness, access and use of our combined democratic heritage could not be more topical or important."

Janneke Geene, Acting Director, People's History Museum

Citizens is a three year and a half year Heritage Fund supported project led by Royal Holloway, University of London.

Working with partners and supporting organisations including the AQA exam board, The National Archives, the People's History Museum, the UK Parliament, the History of Parliament Trust and the Historical Association, the project aims to help school and college students and adult learners gain a better understanding of the development of the relationship between the citizen and the state in Britain over the last 800 years.

By charting the journey from feudalism and serfdom to democracy and equality, the project will reveal how, in different periods, the state has responded to challenges to its authority and how change was brought about.

In so doing, the project will help students to construct an understanding of the rights and responsibilities of the citizen both in the past and present.

Steven Franklin

Project Officer

Steven Franklin is a current PhD student at Royal Holloway. His thesis focuses on the Public History of Magna Carta. Steven completed both his undergraduate degree and MA in Public History at Royal Holloway and in 2015 co-curated Egham Museum's Magna Carta exhibition and was instrumental in the delivery of Royal Holloway's Magna Carta MOOC.

Dr Matthew Smith

Project Director

Matthew Smith is a Senior Lecturer in Public Humanities in the School of Humanities at Royal Holloway. Prior to his current role, Matthew was the Magna Carta Legacy Project Manager and a Senior Fellow in Public History at Royal Holloway and, between 2011 and 2016, Curator of Egham Museum.

Claire Kennan