Sonny Elliott

Sonny Elliott is a PhD Researcher who joined the Global Sustainability Institute (GSI) as part of the CC-EE CDP. His research focuses on the ‘Great Yarmouth Voices’ Collection (an archive of over 350 oral histories) housed at the Time and Tide Museum of Great Yarmouth Life and explores past transformations in coastal livelihoods.  

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Background

Sonny joined the GSI in October 2025 as part of the AHRC ‘Collections & Communities in the East of England’ Collaborative Doctoral Programme, linking together the GSI and the Time and Tide Museum of Great Yarmouth Life.

The research, titled Changing Coastal Livelihoods: Oral History and Lived Experiences of Transformation in Great Yarmouth, seeks to establish how transformations at the intersection of coastal livelihoods and socio-economic and ecological changes are narrated in recent history, and how these reflect and construct Great Yarmouth as a place. The collection covers stories from the (very) late 19^th century up until the present day, all speaking to the relationship local people have had to the coast and sea.

This research is supervised by Dr Melanie Rohse and Dr Lara Houston at the GSI, and Johanna Jones and Colin Stott at Norfolk Museums Service.

Research interests

• Oral history
• Social history
• Work and class
• Memory
• Democratising heritage

Qualifications

• BA Anthropology and African Studies, University of Birmingham
• MSc Ancient Cultures, University of Glasgow