James Camlin Beckett (8 February 1912 – 12 February 1996) was a Northern Irish historian.Richard Froggatt,
James Camlin Beckett (1912–1996)
, ''Dictionary of Ulster Biography''.

Early life

Beckett was a native of Belfast, where he received his education at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution (where he was a contemporary of

R. B. McDowell Robert Brendan McDowell (14 September 1913 – 29 August 2011) was an Irish historian. He was a Fellow Emeritus and a former Associate Professor of History at Trinity College Dublin. He was born in Belfast. He was referred to colloquially as ...

) and

Queen's University Queen's or Queens University may refer to: *Queen's University at Kingston, Ontario, Canada *Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK **Queen's University of Belfast (UK Parliament constituency) (1918–1950) **Queen's University of Belfast ...

.Alvin Jackson, 'J. C. Beckett: Politics, Faith, Scholarship' ''Irish Historical Studies'' Vol. 33, No. 130 (Nov., 2002), p. 132. He initially read English literature before transferring to Modern History and in 1934 he graduated with First Class Honours. A. T. Q. Stewart, 'James Camlin Beckett 1912-1996', ''History Ireland'', Vol. 4, No. 2 (Summer, 1996), pp. 5-6.

Academic career

After his graduation he taught at Belfast Royal Academy and completed an MA degree under the supervision of T. W. Moody. His MA dissertation was published by Faber under the title ''Protestant Dissent in Ireland 1687–1780'' and was the second volume in the 'Studies in Irish History' series, of which Moody was co-editor. In 1945 he joined the history faculty of Queen's University, where he was to spend the majority of his career. Initially a lecturer, he received promotion to a readership in 1952. During 1955–56 he was a Fellow Commoner at

Peterhouse, Cambridge Peterhouse is the oldest constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England, founded in 1284 by Hugh de Balsham, Bishop of Ely. Today, Peterhouse has 254 undergraduates, 116 full-time graduate students and 54 fellows. It is quite ...

. In 1958 Queen's University awarded him a personal chair in Irish history, which he held until he retired in 1975 and assumed

emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

status. Beckett was also the Cummings Lecturer at McGill University in 1976 and the Mellon Professor at Tulane University in 1977. He was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Literature by the University of Ulster, the

National University of Ireland The National University of Ireland (NUI) ( ga, Ollscoil na hÉireann) is a federal university system of ''constituent universities'' (previously called ''university college, constituent colleges'') and ''recognised colleges'' set up under t ...

and Queen's University. Beckett served on the

Royal Commission on Historical Documents Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a ci ...

from 1960 until 1986. ''The Making of Modern Ireland'', published in 1966, is considered his master-work and it became a standard textbook in schools and colleges. The book was groundbreaking in that it presented the findings of a critical generation of Irish historians and was, according to David Quinn, "not only learned but cool, objective, unimpassioned and yet always alive and compassionate as well". He was a member of the Church of Ireland.Alvin Jackson, 'J. C. Beckett: Politics, Faith, Scholarship', p. 141.

Works

*''Protestant Dissent in Ireland, 1687–1780'' (1948). *''A Short History of Ireland'' (1952). *''Ulster since 1800: A Political and Economic Survey'' (1954). *''Ulster since 1800: A Social Survey'' (1957). *''Queen's, Belfast 1845–1949: The History of a University'' (with T. W. Moody, 1959). *''The Making of Modern Ireland'' (1966). *''Belfast: Origins and Growth of an Industrial City'' (1967). * ''The Ulster Debate: Report of a Study Group of the Institute for the Study of Conflict'' (1972), with

Brian Crozier Brian Rossiter Crozier (4 August 1918, in Shire of Cloncurry, Queensland – 4 August 2012) was a historian, propagandist and journalist. He was also one of the central staff members of a secret propaganda department belonging to the UK Fo ...

and

Robert Moss Robert Moss, born in Melbourne ( Victoria) in 1946, is an Australian historian, journalist and author and the creator of Active Dreaming, an original synthesis of dreamwork and shamanism. Biography Early life and education Moss survived sev ...

. London: The Bodley Head for the Institute for the Study of Conflict. . *''The Anglo-Irish Tradition'' (1976) *''The Cavalier Duke: A Life of James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormond, 1610–1688'' (1990).

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beckett, J. C. 1912 births 1996 deaths Historians from Northern Ireland Writers from Belfast 20th-century Irish historians 20th-century British male writers 20th-century British writers Male non-fiction writers from Northern Ireland