Dr Todd Gray

Dr Todd Gray MBE was born in New England and has lived in Britain since undertaking his undergraduate studies in London. He has become Devon’s best-known historian partly through his research being frequently highlighted by local, regional and national media. Gray has published more widely on Devon than any other historian. It is distinguished by the use of original sources and by it being rooted in place. He has introduced some particularly challenging topics to Devon including looting in the 1940s, child abuse in 1624, the rise of fascism in the 1930s, African enslavement and slave-owning, the British Empire and the waterwog, Exeter’s version of the golliwog. He has written questions for Mastermind, was awarded an MBE in 2014 for services to Devon’s heritage and was granted the Freedom of Exeter in 2018 for his work on the city’s history. Recent publications include Exeter's Lost Buildings, Destruction from 1800 to 1899 (2023), Voices of Empire in Exeter, 1575 - 1996 (2024, in two volumes) and Waterwogs and the Contested History of the Golliwog (forthcoming, 2025).