Edith Holt Whetham (27 December 1911 – 28 January 2001) was an English lecturer and

agricultural economist Agricultural economics is an applied field of economics concerned with the application of economic theory in optimizing the production and distribution of food and fiber products. Agricultural economics began as a branch of economics that specif ...

Early life

Edith Holt Whetham was born on 27 December 1911, the daughter of William Cecil Dampier Whetham, a Cambridge-educated scientist and agricultural academic, and his wife Catherine Durning Holt, a daughter of Liverpool merchant

Robert Durning Holt Robert Durning Holt (11 October 1832 in Liverpool – 10 December 1908) was an English cotton-broker and local politician. He was Mayor of Liverpool and the first Lord Mayor of Liverpool (1892–1893). Holt was the youngest of five sons o ...

who had also pursued an education at Cambridge. She had one brother and four sisters, including

Margaret Anderson (indexer) Margaret Dampier Anderson (née Whetham; 1900–1997) was a British biochemist and scientific indexer. She published four scientific articles in the 1920s before marrying in 1927 and began indexing books beginning in 1960. Life Margaret Whetha ...

. Whetham's family owned a small

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

, and also inherited a small estate in

Hilfield Hilfield is a small, scattered village and civil parish in west Dorset, England, situated under the scarp face of the Dorset Downs south of Sherborne. Dorset County Council's 2013 estimate of the parish population is 50. Hilfield parish churc ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...

where they spent family vacations. Whetham suffered from hearing loss after a fall when she was an infant. She was educated at home and later at

Downe House School Downe House School is a selective independent girls' day and boarding school in Cold Ash, a village near Newbury, Berkshire, for girls aged 11–18. The ''Good Schools Guide'' described Downe House as an "Archetypal traditional girls' full ...

near Newbury. In 1930, she enrolled in

Newnham College Newnham College is a women's constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1871 by a group organising Lectures for Ladies, members of which included philosopher Henry Sidgwick and suffragist campaigner Millice ...

, where her mother had studied. She took classes in economics, attending the lectures of

John Maynard Keynes John Maynard Keynes, 1st Baron Keynes, ( ; 5 June 1883 – 21 April 1946), was an English economist whose ideas fundamentally changed the theory and practice of macroeconomics and the economic policies of governments. Originally trained in ...

. Although she passed her degree examinations, it was not until 1998 that she was conferred with her full degree because she had studied at a time when Cambridge did not permit women to participate in graduation ceremonies.

Career

Whetham began work as a resident scholar at the

Ministry of Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister ...

, where she was an agricultural economist. Three years later, she moved to the journal, ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Eco ...

''. During World War II, she worked in the

Ministry of Food An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister ...

and the Cabinet Office's civil history department. Following the war, Whetham returned to

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

.. She was a Fellow of Newnham College and held the Gilbey lecturership in History and Economics of Agriculture until 1963. In 1952, Whetham published the book, ''British Farming 1939–1949'', a major study of the change in farming practices in England. She resigned from Cambridge in 1963 and took up a position at

Ahmadu Bello University Ahmadu Bello University Zaria is a federal government research university in Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria. ABU was founded on 4 October 1962, as the pioneer university in Northern Nigeria. It was founded and named after the Sardauna of Sokoto, A ...

Zaria Zaria is a List of Nigerian cities by population, metropolitan city in Nigeria which at the present time lies within four (4) local government areas in Kaduna State, Kaduna state; it happens to be the capital city to the Zazzau, Zazzau Emirate ...

, Nigeria, as a visiting Professor of Economics, later becoming a full professor there. Her interests had moved to the agricultural needs and economies of the developing world. Whetham's later publications, sometimes co-authored, included ''London Milk Trade 1900–1930'' (1960), ''A History of British Agriculture (1846–1914)'' (1964), ''Cooperation, Land Reform, and Land Settlement: Report on a Survey in Kenya, Uganda, Sudan, Ghana, Nigeria and Iran'' (1968), ''The Economics of African Countries'' (1969), ''Agricultural Marketing in Africa'' (1972) ''and Beef, Cattle and Sheep 1910–1940'' (1976). She single-handedly wrote the eighth volume of the

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press A university press is an academic publishing hou ...

series ''

The Agrarian History of England and Wales ''The Agrarian History of England and Wales'' is an academic work, published by Cambridge University Press, which in 8 volumes covers the period from the origins to 1939. Vols. 1, 5 and 7 are each in two parts. Joan Thirsk Irene Joan Thirsk, ...

'' (1978). In 1966, Whetham was appointed to the executive of the Agricultural Economics Society and in 1971 she was elected as its president. She also held various posts with the

British Agricultural History Society British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

and served as its president for a period until 1979. Whetham died on 28 January 2001 in Cambridge.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whetham, Edith Holt 1911 births 2001 deaths Alumni of Newnham College, Cambridge British writers British women historians Women in agriculture Holt family The Economist people Ahmadu Bello University faculty Fellows of Newnham College, Cambridge People educated at Downe House School British civil servants