Doris Mary Stenton, Lady Stenton, (1894–1971) was an English historian of the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

Life

Born Doris Mary Parsons, she was the daughter of John Parsons and his wife Amelia Wadhams. She was their only child and was born in

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

, on 27 August 1894. Her father was a cabinet-maker. She attended the Abbey School in Reading before entering the

University College In a number of countries, a university college is a college institution that provides tertiary education but does not have full or independent university status. A university college is often part of a larger university. The precise usage varies ...

at Reading in 1912. She earned a first-class London degree in 1916. In 1919 she married

Frank Stenton Sir Frank Merry Stenton, FBA (17 May 1880 – 15 September 1967) was an English historian of Anglo-Saxon England, and president of the Royal Historical Society (1937–1945). The son of Henry Stenton of Southwell, Nottinghamshire, he was edu ...

, who held the first chair of history at Reading and was already known as a medievalist.Major
Stenton, Doris Mary, Lady Stenton (1894–1971)
''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' Even before her marriage, however, Stenton had begun work on the transcription of the

charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the rec ...

s of the

cathedral chapter According to both Catholic and Anglican canon law, a cathedral chapter is a college of clerics ( chapter) formed to advise a bishop and, in the case of a vacancy of the episcopal see in some countries, to govern the diocese during the vacancy. In ...

Lincoln Cathedral Lincoln Cathedral, Lincoln Minster, or the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Lincoln and sometimes St Mary's Cathedral, in Lincoln, England, is a Grade I listed cathedral and is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Lincoln. Constructio ...

. This project led to the first of Stenton's editorial jobs, the edition of ''The Earliest Lincolnshire Assize Rolls, A.D. 1202–1209'' which was published by the

Lincoln Record Society Lincoln Record Society is a British text publication society founded in 1910 which edits and publishes historic records relating to Lincolnshire and the Diocese of Lincoln. The ancient diocese covered not only Lincolnshire, but also Leicester ...

in 1926. Another fruit of the Lincoln project was the revival of the Pipe Roll Society, which had become dormant. In 1922, the Stentons, along with Canon Foster of Lincoln Cathedral and Leonard Owen began discussions that revived the society. Further conversations led to Doris Stenton being appointed organising secretary of the society in 1923. It was mainly due to her efforts that the society became an important publishing source for medieval historians. In 1948 Stenton earned a Doctor of Letters degree from Reading, and in 1953 she was elected a

Fellow of the British Academy Fellowship of the British Academy (FBA) is an award granted by the British Academy to leading academics for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences. The categories are: # Fellows – scholars resident in the United Kingdom # C ...

(FBA). She also was known as Lady Stenton from 1948, when her husband was knighted. Other honours included honorary doctorates from

Glasgow University , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

and

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

and being selected as an honorary fellow at St Hilda's College at Oxford. She became a senior lecturer in the history department at Reading in 1952 and a reader in that department in 1955. Up until Frank Stenton's death in 1967, both Stentons were engaged in numerous writing projects, but after her husband's death, Stenton concentrated on completing the third edition of his ''Anglo-Saxon England'' as well as issuing a collected edition of his papers. She completed that in 1971. She was troubled by deafness in her last years, and died on 29 December 1971 at Reading after an illness that lasted a week. She was buried at

Halloughton Halloughton is a village in Nottinghamshire, England, 9 miles west of Newark-on-Trent. It lies in the civil parish of Southwell, Nottinghamshire, Southwell and the district of Newark and Sherwood. Most of the property there was owned by the Chu ...

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

, on 5 January 1972 in the same grave as her husband. Both Stenton and her husband were devoted to the study of history, with both being known and esteemed for their historical studies.

Selected bibliography

* ''The Earliest Lincolnshire Assize Rolls, A.D. 1202–1209'', published in 1926 by the

as its 22nd volume * ''Rolls of the Justices of the Eyre for Lincolnshire, 1218–19 and Worcestershire, 1221'', published in 1934 by the

Selden Society The Selden Society is a learned society and registered charity concerned with the study of English legal history. It functions primarily as a text publication society, but also undertakes other activities to promote scholarship within its sphere ...

as its 53rd volume * ''Rolls of the Justices in Eyre for Yorkshire in 3 Henry III'', published in 1937 * ''Rolls of the Justices in Eyre for Gloucestershire, Warwickshire and Staffordshire (recte Shropshire), 1221, 1222'', in 1940 * ''Pleas before the King or his Justices, 1198–1202'', in four volumes between 1952 and 1968 * ''English Society in the Early Middle Ages (1066–1307)'', published in 1951 as the third volume for the

Pelican Pelicans (genus ''Pelecanus'') are a genus of large water birds that make up the family Pelecanidae. They are characterized by a long beak and a large throat pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped-up contents before s ...

History of England * ''English Justice between the Norman Conquest and the Great Charter 1066–1215: the Jayne Lectures for 1963'': the Jayne Lectures were given to the American Philosophical Society. * ''The English Woman in History'', published in 1957

Citations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stenton, Doris Mary 1894 births 1971 deaths 20th-century British women writers 20th-century English historians Academics of the University of Reading British medievalists British women historians Fellows of the British Academy Legal historians Wives of knights Women medievalists