Hannah Deasy

Can you tell us about your PhD? 

I am looking at the experiences of boy choristers at Exeter Cathedral in the 18th century.

I was a girl chorister at Exeter Cathedral as a child, and I remember standing in the choir stalls wondering about the generations of choristers who had performed before me. I wanted to know about their lives, how the Cathedral looked then, and how the music might have sounded. Twenty years later, I decided to find out.

I chose the 18th century because it is a fascinating period of time and there is massive gap in music history in the 18th century in terms of church choral music.

What stage are you at in your PhD?

I am a part-time Music PhD student, about half way through. This means that I have done around three and a half years, with another three and a half to four years left.

Have any interesting findings emerged from your PhD?

My aim is to create micro-histories. Rather than looking at ‘choristers’ as a generic term that includes anyone and everybody, I am looking at individuals from the 1660s to late 1700s.

One fascinating example is a chorister called Robert Hodge. He sounds like an absolute nightmare, having ended up in jail three times, one time for debauchery. Yet, he is still selected as the only chorister who is sent to the Chapel Royal to study under the composer, Henry Purcell. There is a fantastic letter which Purcell sends to the Cathedral effectively saying, ‘I had to pay so much money for the chaos this boy caused, can you pay me back?’

I have also identified the point in time when schoolmaster, John Bradford was appointed in the local grammar school for the choristers. This allowed the Cathedral to outsource their grammar education rather than doing it in-house. I can see the exact books that the boys used to study, and I can see that the Cathedral paid for them. I even know the names of the boys that used them to study. I am probably the only person in 300 years to know this.

What jobs do you do alongside your PhD?

I am a singing teacher with 35 pupils under the age of 11 in a local Catholic school near Hammersmith. They are hysterical and keep me on my toes. I also have a church administrative job in Putney, and that's about three days a week. I also sing in a church choir every Sunday.

Luckily I like being busy, and I think I am better as a busy person.

Why did you choose King’s to do your PhD?

I was an undergraduate at King’s, and the supervisors and lecturers truly inspired me. I had a lot of fun working with them, and my supervisor has always been a kind and caring soul. I found out about her work - she's a medievalist and the way she writes is in line with how I'd like to write myself.

Have you had any challenges during your PhD?

Cathedrals keep detailed records of every Dean and Chapter meeting, going back hundreds of years, with the 16th century records being in Latin. I can sing Latin quite happily as a classically trained singer, but my recall when I am transcribing isn’t as quick as I would like. I am in discussions with my supervisor to hopefully get some support in translating it!

Also, I am missing some records that I would have loved to use. When the local school began educating the boys, some records were moved there. In the Blitz of the 1940s the school was bombed and the records were lost, so now we only have what the Dean in the Chapter discussed . Not having those records was a bit of a sucker punch, I should have expected it, but it is hard nonetheless.

How do you manage to pace yourself when working full time and doing a PhD?

I make sure I get out and about in London. I go to the Institute of Historical Research for their evening lectures and talks, the timings work well with my jobs.

Making time around my jobs for working on my PhD has been the hardest thing. I use school holidays for my work, and evenings. But sometimes when you are exhausted from all the teaching you have done all term, it is important to prioritise having a break. Finding the balance is something I am working on, and I am in a better place now than I was a year ago.

What skills have you used to manage your time during your PhD?

I have learnt to set myself boundaries and be very strict with them. I usually find it easier to set boundaries than to keep them, but I am learning to do better.

Often it is about having open conversations with the people who care about you. Saying things like ‘on Monday night after work I will be in the library for three hours, so don’t expect any communication from me.’ Nine times out of ten, people completely respect you for that.

Then you can actually enjoy the time that you do have with them, rather than thinking about work. Because, the worst thing is when your head wants to be at work when you are with the people you love, or when you are at work feeling guilty about not spending time with family and friends.

I wish I had I clocked this a wee bit earlier and been able to say ‘this is assigned PhD time’ and given myself permission to be a bit selfish with it. What you are undertaking is large, you can’t do it on a whim, and I don't think you should underestimate how much of you it will take to get through it.

Why did you choose to do your PhD part time?

I began during the end of the COVID pandemic. I was based in Devon and had a very steady job. Because of the pandemic access to resources was more limited, so my supervisor suggested part-time for six months. As funding is limited, I stayed part-time when I moved to London.

I spent my undergraduate studying Music at King's, and I have a master's in History from UCL. So moving back to London was actually always the plan. It was a very comfortable move when I got around to it.

Have you managed to find a post graduate community while working and studying?

My department have been really good at making sure they include me and get me involved in things but working during the day can make it quite hard.

I need to find my community after work in the evenings or at weekends. I have been discussing this with the Head of Postgraduate Study in Music as how involved I can be depends on timings of events or discussions.

For example, I particularly value the music colloquium that is held on a Wednesday afternoon. They bring in guest speakers and afterwards there are cake and drinks. It is a great time to catch up with my PhD community. Unfortunately, it moved a bit earlier which meant I couldn’t attend. A lot of people voiced their concerns about the change of timing, and so it is moving back to a time I can attend. I am very excited to get back to it.

What is your proudest moment during your PhD?

A very proud moment was when I won the People’s Choice Award in the King’s Three Minute Thesis competition in 2023. The competition was good fun, but also a challenge.

With music, so much terminology is not in common use, so I delved into the storytelling aspect of my thesis. I had to practice a lot with different people in my life to see what worked. You haven’t got time to stumble, you need to walk out on that stage and have complete faith in yourself.

I would have said this was my proudest moment so far, but two days ago I presented at my first conference and got some excellent laughs for my jokes. Everyone who presents at the conference will also be published, so that is very exciting!

Have you had any support through your PhD?

My supervisor has been very supportive, for which I feel very lucky. We have been able to have honest conversations about time management and what things work and don't work.

The Music Department at Kings have also been wonderful. They are very chatty, smiley and happy to be a sounding board for ideas. The challenge is making sure I have enough time to spend with them, I am planning to do this more frequently if work allows.

My parents have been supportive too. I come from a very tight knit family, but none of my family are academics. During COVID, I told my Mum I needed a job change. Mum asked what I wanted to do, and when I told her, she said ‘that sounds like a PhD, so why aren’t you doing it?’ She got me and for that I am grateful.

I am lucky that my friends have always known me as busy. They know I will put my head down for six months, but I make sure I put time in the diary to go for drinks or brunch.

What advice would you give someone starting a part-time PhD now?

It can be very easy to isolate yourself with all the things you need to balance. But actually finding time to go out and see friends is really important. It is also vital to find moments of headspace, time for reflection and for the things that bring you joy. Even if your PhD is the thing that is bringing you joy, you still need some time away from it to allow it to grow.

Make sure you don’t miss the amazement of what is going on around you, be that social events or even appreciating a new part of London. From King’s, even walking down the South Bank is a pretty cool way to spend your time.