Jonathan David Chambers (13 October 1898 – 11 April 1970) was a British

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

.''Transactions of the Thoroton Society of Nottinghamshire'', Volumes 74-75, (1971), p. 7.

Early life and career

Chambers was born at Haggs Farm in

Underwood, Nottinghamshire Underwood is a hilltop village within the civil parish of Selston in the English ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire. The village is a ward of Ashfield with a population of 2,953 taken at the 2011 Census. It stands in a former coal mining are ...

, the son of a small

farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer mig ...

.G. E. Mingay, 'J. D. Chambers, 1898-1970', ''The Agricultural History Review'', Vol. XIX (1971), pp. 24 and 64. He was educated at

University College, Nottingham , mottoeng = A city is built on wisdom , established = 1798 – teacher training college1881 – University College Nottingham1948 – university status , type = Public , chancellor ...

and graduated in 1919. Afterwards, he was English master at

Ashby Grammar School Ashby School, formerly known as Ashby Grammar School, is a co-educational day secondary school and sixth form in Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire, England. The school is situated in the centre of Ashby on two sites. History Ashby Grammar Schoo ...

and then lecturer in history at the University College's Department of Adult Education.Academic Papers of Jonathan D. Chambers (1898-1970), Professor of Economic and Social History, University of Nottingham
, University of Nottingham website, retrieved 13 December 2020. He received his PhD in 1927 and during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he returned to Ashby Grammar School. In 1946 he was appointed head of Economic History at the University College (from 1948 the University of Nottingham) and from 1958 until 1965 he was Nottingham University's first Chair of Economic History.

Writings and assessment

He penned a groundbreaking study of

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 ...

squirearchy The landed gentry, or the ''gentry'', is a largely historical British social class of landowners who could live entirely from rental income, or at least had a country estate. While distinct from, and socially below, the British peerage, th ...

, published in 1932 as ''Nottinghamshire in the Eighteenth Century: A Study of Life and Labour under the Squirearchy''. The second edition was published in 1966. His most active period was 1953–1966, when he contributed important essays and articles, such as that on 'Enclosure and Labour Supply', as well as two books: ''The Workshop of the World: British Economic History from 1820–1880'' (1961; 2nd ed. 1968) and ''The Agricultural Revolution, 1750–1880'' (1966, with

G. E. Mingay Gordon Edmund Mingay (1923 – 3 January 2006) was a British historian. Early life He was born in Long Eaton, Derbyshire and grew up in Chatham. His education was interrupted by the Second World War and he entered the Royal Navy in 1942. He served ...

). Chambers' ''

Festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

'' was published in 1967, titled ''Land, Labour, and Population in the Industrial Revolution''. G. E. Mingay, one of Chambers' students, paid tribute to him after his death:

Everything that Chambers produced was carefully considered, thoroughly researched, and beautifully written: he belonged to that sadly unfashionable school who regard history as a form of literature; and in his hands it always was. ... s contributions have undoubtedly made a permanent impact on the general history of agrarian change and population growth in this country. Perhaps his greatest influence, however, was a personal one. He presided over, and inspired a department of Economic and Social History which although never large in numbers has proved one of the most fruitful in the country. His teaching was always vital, his enthusiasm unbounded and infectious. He had the gift of bringing his subject alive and of making it absorbing to even the most casual of listeners. In private life his extraordinary range of interests, his love of music and literature, his enormous sense of fun, and fabulous fund of stories made him the liveliest of friends and the centre of any gathering. It was impossible to feel dull or depressed in his company.

Works

*''Nottinghamshire in the Eighteenth Century: A Study of Life and Labour under the Squirearchy'' (London: King, 1932; 2nd ed., Cass, 1966). *(with E. I. Abell) ''The Story of Lincoln: An Introduction to the History of the City'' (Lincoln, City of Lincoln Education Committee, 1939; 2nd ed. with additions and corrections, S. R. Publishers Ltd, 1971). *''Dictators: An Introductory Study in the Social Origins of Dictatorship'' (London: Nelson, 1941). *''Modern Nottingham in the Making'' (Nottingham: Nottingham Journal Ltd, 1945). *''The Workshop of the World: British Economic History from 1820–1880'' (London: Oxford University Press, 1961; Japanese translation, 1965-66; 2nd ed. (Oxford Paperbacks, University Series), 1968). *(with G. E. Mingay) ''The Agricultural Revolution, 1750–1880'' (London: Batsford, 1966). *(with P. J. Madgwick) ''Conflict and Community: Europe since 1750'' (London: Philips, 1968). *(with S. D. Chapman) ''The Beginnings of Industrial Britain'' (Cambridge: University Tutorial Press, 1970). *''Population, Economy and Society in Pre-Industrial England'', ed. W. A. Armstrong (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1972).

Early life and career

Writings and assessment

Works

Notes

Further reading