Rachel Winchcombe

I am a cultural historian of early America with particular interests in Indigenous histories, food history, and environmental history. My first monograph, Encountering Early America (2021), demonstrated that the sixteenth century - often dismissed as a period of inconsequential colonial failure - was in fact a crucial era of assessment, adaptation, and experimentation that laid important foundations for the later British Empire. I completed my PhD at the University of Manchester in 2017, after which I worked as a Research Associate on the AHRC‑funded project How We Used to Sleep. Between 2017 and 2020, I was a temporary Lecturer in Early Modern History at the University of Manchester before moving to the University of Leeds to take up an ISSF Wellcome Research Fellowship in September 2020. I returned to Manchester in May 2021 as a Leverhulme Early Career Research Fellow and was appointed Lecturer in Early Modern History in May 2022.

My current research develops new insights into colonial foodways and Anglo‑Indigenous relations, showing how archaeological evidence and Indigenous knowledge systems reshape our understanding of early colonial food provisioning and its cultural and environmental legacies. As part of this work, I have published in leading journals including The English Historical Review, Global Food History, and Renaissance Studies. I am the recipient of the Arthur Miller Journal Article Prize for excellence in American Studies, awarded by the British Association for American Studies, and my research on early colonial food practices was commended by the Sophie Coe Prize jury, the leading award for food scholarship. My work has also been supported by major research grants and international fellowships from the Huntington Library, the Omohundro Institute, the British Academy (Mid‑Career Fellowship), and the Leverhulme Trust (Early Career Fellowship).

Beyond my academic research, I have developed a strong public profile. My work has appeared in widely read outlets such as History Today and History Workshop, and I have contributed to high‑profile media including the BBC World Service’s The Forum. I have also supported creative projects such as the Arts Council‑funded animated film The Red Dragon, providing historical insight for a Shakespearean performance at sea. Through the How We Used to Sleep project, I delivered public engagement activities with the National Trust, including interactive exhibitions, and developed freely available teaching resources for the Historical Association.