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Ruth Ellen Goodman (born 5 October 1963) is a British freelance historian of the
early modern period, specialising in offering advice to museums and heritage attractions.
[ She is a specialist in British social history and after presenting the 2005 television series '']Tales from the Green Valley
''Tales from the Green Valley'' is a British historical documentary TV series in 12 parts, first shown on BBC Two from 19 August to 4 November 2005. The series, the first in the historic farm series, made for the BBC by independent production c ...
,''[ went on to participate in several BBC historic farm series. She occasionally presents features for '']The One Show
''The One Show'' is a British television magazine and chat show programme. Broadcast live on BBC One weeknights at 7:00 pm, it features topical stories and studio guests. It is currently co-hosted by Alex Jones, Jermaine Jenas, and Ronan K ...
'', and she co-presented '' Secrets of the Castle'' in 2014, and ''24 Hours in the Past
''24 Hours in the Past'' is a BBC One living history TV series first broadcast in 2015. Six celebrities were immersed in a recreation of impoverished life in Victorian Britain. Each of the four episodes represented 24 hours living and working in ...
'' (2015).
Early life
She was born in Cardiff
Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...
and went to Westbury primary school and Fearnhill School
Fearnhill School is a mixed secondary school and sixth form located in Letchworth, Hertfordshire, England.
Admissions
Fearnhill School (formerly Letchworth Grammar School) is a foundation comprehensive school located in Letchworth Garden Ci ...
in Letchworth
Letchworth Garden City, commonly known as Letchworth, is a town in the North Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England. It is noted for being the first garden city. The population at the time of the 2011 census was 33,249.
Letchworth ...
. "School...was rather pedestrian...I became a very poor student, simply going through the motions, and my academic record at both school and university indeed lacks lustre."
Career
Goodman "couldn't get a job after university", so she trained for a job as railway ticket clerk, for British Rail, working at Chester railway station, got pregnant, and only lasted a year because she could not go back to work, part-time, after giving birth.
Goodman has been a consultant to the Victoria & Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...
and the film ''Shakespeare in Love
''Shakespeare in Love'' is a 1998 romantic period comedy-drama film directed by John Madden, written by Marc Norman and playwright Tom Stoppard, and produced by Harvey Weinstein. It stars Gwyneth Paltrow, Joseph Fiennes, Geoffrey Rush, Colin ...
''. She is a member of the Tudor Group, a re-enactment organisation for the Tudor period. As a result of her social history research, she has stopped using detergents in her washing machine, never eats factory farmed food and sometimes cooks on an open wood fire.[
Since participating in ''Tales of the Green Valley'' in 2005, she has been a presenter on the ]BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
television educational documentary series ''
Victorian Farm
''Victorian Farm'' is a British historical documentary TV series in six parts, first shown on BBC Two in January 2009, and followed by three Christmas-themed parts in December of the same year. The series, the second in the BBC historic farm s ...
'', ''
Victorian Pharmacy'', ''
Edwardian Farm'', ''
Tudor Monastery Farm'', ''
Wartime Farm
''Wartime Farm'' is a British historical documentary TV series in eight parts in which the running of a farm during the Second World War is reenacted, first broadcast on BBC Two on 6 September 2012. The series, the fourth in the historic farm se ...
'', ''
Wartime Farm Christmas'', ''
Secrets of the Castle'', and
Full Steam Ahead'. Goodman participated in the 2011 series of ''
Celebrity Masterchef
''MasterChef'' is a competitive cooking reality show produced by Endemol Shine UK and Banijay and broadcast in 60 countries around the world. In the UK, it is produced by the BBC. The show initially ran from 1990 to 2001 and was revived in 2 ...
''. Since 2015, Goodman has presented segments within the BBC television series ''
Inside the Factory''.
In 2007, the
Weald and Downland Living Museum
The Weald and Downland Living Museum (formerly known as the Weald and Downland Open Air Museum until January 2017) is an open-air museum in Singleton, West Sussex. The museum is a registered charity.
The museum covers , with over 50 historic bu ...
Historic Clothing Project was founded by Hannah Tiplady, Head of Interpretation, consulted by Goodman and historical costumier Barbara Painter.
In 2022, Goodman was featured in ''A Farm Through Time'' with brothers
Rob and Dave Nicholson, a three-part series shown on
Channel 5 that explores how
farming
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peopl ...
practices have changed over the years. Prior to ''A Farm Through Time'' she had appeared with the brothers on one of their nightly ''...on the Farm'' programmes at Cannon Hall Farm, discussing alcoholic brews from the past.
Personal life
She lives in Buckinghamshire and is married to Tudor reenactor and musician Mark Goodman (who participated in one episode of ''Tudor Monastery Farm''). Their two daughters, Eve and Catherine have made appearances with their mother on television.
Goodman was awarded an honorary degree in 2012 by
Bishop Grosseteste University College, Lincoln, for her contribution to history education.
Goodman, for a period of three months, followed a Tudor body cleansing regime, no one complained or noticed a smell.
Publications
* ''How to be a Tudor: A Dawn-to-Dusk Guide to Everyday Life'' (2016).
* ''How to be a Victorian'' (2014).
* ''How to Behave Badly in Elizabethan England: A Guide for Knaves, Fools, Harlots, Cuckolds, Drunkards, Liars, Thieves, and Braggarts'' (2018).
* ''How to Behave Badly in Renaissance Britain'' (2018).
* ''The Domestic Revolution: How the Introduction of Coal into Victorian Homes Changed Everything'' (2020).
References
External links
*
*
BBC History Magazine podcast, August 2008(
MP3
MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany, with support from other digital scientists in the United States and elsewhere. Origin ...
)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goodman, Ruth
1963 births
British historians
British women historians
British television presenters
Living people
People associated with Bishop Grosseteste University
People educated at Fearnhill School
People from Aylesbury Vale
People from Letchworth
Social historians
British women television presenters