David G. Hey (18 July 1938 – 14 February 2016) was an English historian, and was an authority on surnames and the

local history Local history is the study of history in a geographically local context, often concentrating on a relatively small local community. It incorporates cultural history, cultural and social history, social aspects of history. Local history is not mer ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

. Hey was the president of the

British Association for Local History The British Association for Local History (BALH) is a membership organisation that exists to promote the advancement of public education through the study of local history and to encourage and assist the study of local history throughout Great Bri ...

, and was a published author of several books on local history and the derivation of surnames.

Early life

Hey was born to George and Florence (née Batty) Hey in Catshaw. He had two younger siblings, Ernest and Barbara. When he was eleven years old the family moved to

Penistone Penistone ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England, which had a population of 13,270 at the 2021 census. Historic counties of England, Historically in ...

, where he attended

Penistone Grammar School Penistone Grammar School (PGS) is a large co-educational secondary school with a sixth form located in Penistone, South Yorkshire, England. Founded in 1392, it is amongst the List of the oldest schools in the United Kingdom, oldest extant scho ...

. He graduated from the University College of North Staffordshire in 1960.

Career

He taught at Matlock College of Education. During this teaching stint, he received a master's degree and doctorate from

Leicester University The University of Leicester ( ) is a public research university based in Leicester, England. The main campus is south of the city centre, adjacent to Victoria Park. The university's predecessor, University College, Leicester, gained university ...

, finishing his studies in 1971. Hey's doctoral adviser was

W. G. Hoskins William George Hoskins (22 May 1908 – 11 January 1992) was an English local historian who founded the first university department of English Local History. His great contribution to the study of history was in the field of landscape history. ...

. Four years later, he left a research fellowship at Leicester to join the faculty of

Sheffield University The University of Sheffield (informally Sheffield University or TUOS) is a public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Its history traces back to the foundation of Sheffield Medical School in 1828, Firth College in 1879 ...

. In 1992 he became a chair professor and, in 1994, the dean of extramural studies. Hey was president of the

and the British Agricultural History Society, and led the

British Record Society The British Record Society is a British learned society that focuses on publishing historic records, or, more specifically, indexes to such records. In recent years, the Society has concentrated on the publication of name indexes to English proba ...

as council chair. Hey's interest in local history led to books on the town of

and city of

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

, and also the counties of

and

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

. His research into surnames, which grew from local history, determined that many rare names originated in the 13th century, and that most people with such surnames still lived close to the area from where their surname came. Linking genetic studies with surname prevalence indicated that people did not move as much as social scientists thought at the time. On 12 April 2014, Hey delivered a Marc Fitch Lecture on "The Origins and Spread of Derbyshire Surnames."

Personal life

Hey married Pat Wilkinson in 1970 and had two children, Jonathan and Emma. He died on 14 February 2016 from a brain tumor at the age of 77.

Selected publications

*1996: ''The Oxford Companion to Local and Family History''. Oxford University Press. (as editor) *1997 (published online 2003):
iew/10.1093/acref/9780198600800.001.0001/acref-9780198600800 The Oxford Dictionary of Local and Family History
' *1998: ''A History of Sheffield''. Carnegie Publishing. *2002: ''A History of Penistone and District''. Wharncliffe Books. *2003: ''Journeys in Family History: Exploring Your Past, Finding Your Ancestors'', PRO Publications. *2005: ''A History of Yorkshire''. Carnegie Publishing. *2008: ''Derbyshire: a History''. Carnegie Publishing.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hey, David 1938 births 2016 deaths 20th-century English historians British university and college faculty deans Alumni of Keele University Alumni of the University of Leicester Academics of the University of Sheffield People from Penistone People educated at Penistone Grammar School 21st-century English historians Local historians of England Historians of Yorkshire