Liza Picard

Liza Picard (born 1927) is an English historian specialising in the history of London.

Early life

Liza Picard was born in 1927. She read law at the London School of Economics after which she was called to the bar by Gray's Inn when she was 21. She did not practise as a barrister, although she did write a book called Questions and Answers on Private International Law for which she was paid £25.

Career

Picard worked for the office of the Solicitor of Inland Revenue until her retirement in 1987. Upon retirement Picard began researching the history of Restoration London, publishing a book on the subject in 1997. Three years later, she published a similar volume on Dr. Johnson's London; one on Elizabeth's London followed in 2003, and one on Victorian London in 2005. Her latest book, Chaucer's People, a social history of England in the fourteenth century, was published in October 2017. Her books place great emphasis on citing contemporary diaries so that she may "speak with the voice of the times". Picard told The Guardian: "I am not a properly trained historian. I am a lawyer by trade, and an inquisitive, practical woman by character."

Selected publications

• Questions and Answers on Private International Law. 1948
• Restoration London. Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, 1997. ISBN 0-297-81900-3
• Dr. Johnson's London. Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, 2000. ISBN 0-297-84218-8
• Elizabeth's London. Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, 2003. ISBN 0-297-60729-4
• Victorian London. Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, 2005. ISBN 0-297-84733-3
• Chaucer’s People. Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, 2017. ISBN 978-0297-60903-2