Geography
Dr Humphrey Southall
Reader in Geography
Geography
Buckingham Building, Lion Terrace, Portsmouth, Hants, PO1 3HE
Profile
Humphrey graduated from the University of Cambridge in 1976, and then spent a year as a Special Student at Harvard University. He returned to Cambridge from 1977-9, studying for his PhD, then moved to a lectureship at Queen Mary College, London University. He was awarded his PhD in 1984 and was promoted to a Readership at Queen Mary in 1995. He moved from Queen Mary to Portsmouth in 2000.
Research Interests
Humphrey's work centres in the construction of the Great Britain Historical GIS, a major resource bringing together historical statistics, texts and mapping. Total funding up to 2008 is £2.2m., and construction of the system has required the development of new methodologies. The resulting system has been used to support research in many fields, including health care, environmental management and Humphrey's own work on long-run socio-economic change in Britain, and the development of the north-south divide. The GBH GIS is also a popular resource for local history researchers, accessed via the web site A Vision of Britain through Time.
Humphrey is currently a member of the Office of National Statistics Academic Advisory Group for the 2011 Census, and of the National Archives' Authority Records Committee.
For more information, see www.port.ac.uk/research/gbhgis
Teaching
Humphrey currently coordinates two units:
- Introduction to Historical Geography
- Historical Geography of the North-South Divide
Research Supervision
I am happy to supervise research on any topics in historical geography, and would suggest any prospective student to contact me by email.
Recent Publications
More recent publications