Suzannah Lipscomb
Suzannah Lipscomb is a British historian and professor emerita at the University of Roehampton. Born on 7 December 1978, she is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, the Higher Education Academy and the Society of Antiquaries, and she writes a regular column for History Today. She also hosts the Not Just the Tudors podcast on History Hit and works as a royal historian for NBC.
Her research focuses on the 16th century, with interest in both English and French history. She explores religious, gender, political, social, and psychological history, and has written about British and European witch trials.
Lipscomb grew up in Surrey near Hampton Court Palace, which she says sparked her lifelong fascination with the Tudors. She studied at Nonsuch High School for Girls, Epsom College, and the University of Oxford (Lincoln College and Balliol College). She earned her PhD in 2009 with a thesis on disciplined women in Reformation Languedoc, supervised by Robin Briggs. While completing her doctorate, she worked as a curator at Hampton Court Palace, helping to organise major exhibitions for Henry VIII’s anniversary in 2009.
Her career has included roles at the University of East Anglia, the New College of the Humanities, and the University of Roehampton, where she became a professor of history in January 2019. She has also been a governor of Epsom College and a trustee of the Mary Rose Trust since December 2020.
Lipscomb has received several awards, including the Nancy Lyman Roelker Prize in 2012 for a journal article on women in 16th-century France, and a Special Commendation from the Social History Society in 2021 for her book The Voices of Nîmes. In 2022 she was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. Her work in media includes many documentaries and programmes on Tudor history and other periods, as well as a steady stream of podcasts and TV projects. She started her own podcast, Not Just The Tudors, in 2021 and has hosted other history series such as The Royals: A History of Scandals and Step Into The Past with the National Trust.
On a personal note, she is married to actor Tom Hutch, and they have a child and a dog.
Lipscomb continues to share historical scholarship with broad audiences, helping people understand the past in an engaging and accessible way.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 03:15 (CET).