Lorraine Paterson is a Research Associate in History at the University of Leicester where she works on a Leverhulme Trust funded project. Her focus has been on intra-colonial transport and descent among non-European prisoners, convicts and exiles sent between sites of the French empire, drawing on her expertise in the languages and histories of the countries of French Indochina. Her publications in this field include articles in the International Review of Social History and the Journal of Global Slavery.