Dr Claire Hubbard-Hall

Dr Claire Hubbard-Hall is a leading historian and author specialising in secret intelligence and women’s history. She also writes and speaks on the subjects of dress and disguise and secret gadgetry.

Her debut book Her Secret Service (published in the US as Secret Servants of the Crown) examines the role of women in Britain’s secret services throughout the twentieth century. For the first time, she tells the extraordinary story of Kathleen Pettigrew, the MI6 ‘secretary’ who inspired Ian Fleming’s Miss Moneypenny character in the James Bond novels and films.

Claire has held lecturing posts in several British universities and is an honorary Associate Professor of Intelligence History at Bishop Grosseteste University, where she worked for nearly 14 years leading the undergraduate Military History programme.

A founding Board member of the Women’s Intelligence Network, Claire is committed to promoting and supporting research on women, and by women, in the field of intelligence. She is a strong supporter of heritage sites and museums devoted to the history of espionage. She is currently a trustee of the Medmenham Collection.

She lives in Lincoln with her husband and family.

Praise for Her Secret Service:

‘Groundbreaking’ – Sunday Times

‘Bold’ – The Spectator

‘Compelling…rich in colour’ – Financial Times

Claire is an experienced public speaker, appearing on radio and television. Claire can offer talks on a range of subjects relating to the history of women in British intelligence, including the following:

• In Search of the Real Miss Moneypenny
• Her Secret Service – The Forgotten Women of British Intelligence
• The Life of MI5’s First Female Officer – Jane Archer
• MI5’s Greatest Agent – Olga Gray
• The Secret Lives of MI6 Female Spies