William Henry Stevenson (7 September 1858 – 22 October 1924), who wrote as W. H. Stevenson, was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

historian and philologist who specialized in Anglo-Saxon England. Stevenson was born in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

and went to school in Hull. As a young man he was a researcher for the Nottingham Borough Council and became a contributor to the ''

English Historical Review ''The English Historical Review'' is a bimonthly peer-reviewed academic journal that was established in 1886 and published by Oxford University Press (formerly Longman). It publishes articles on all aspects of history – British, European, and ...

''. Having worked for many years on early charters, in May 1898 Stephenson delivered the Sandars Lectures at Cambridge on the subject of 'The Anglo-Saxon Chancery'. A pioneer of Anglo-Saxon studies, Stevenson's ''

magnum opus A masterpiece, ''magnum opus'' (), or ''chef-d’œuvre'' (; ; ) in modern use is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, ...

'' was his edition of

Asser Asser (; ; died 909) was a Welsh monk from St David's, Dyfed, who became Bishop of Sherborne in the 890s. About 885 he was asked by Alfred the Great to leave St David's and join the circle of learned men whom Alfred was recruiting for his ...

's ''Life of King Alfred'', published in 1904, and in the sixteen years between 1892 and 1908 he edited for the

Public Record Office The Public Record Office (abbreviated as PRO, pronounced as three letters and referred to as ''the'' PRO), Chancery Lane in the City of London, was the guardian of the national archives of the United Kingdom from 1838 until 2003, when it was ...

eleven volumes of calendars of

Close Rolls The Close Rolls () are an administrative record created in medieval England, Wales, Ireland and the Channel Islands by the royal chancery, in order to preserve a central record of all letters close issued by the chancery in the name of the Crown. ...

.A. L. Poole, 'William Henry Stevenson', in ''Dictionary of National Biography, 1922–1930'' (Oxford, 1937), pp. 811–812 A

fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

and librarian of St John's College, Oxford, from 1904 until his death, he was the mentor of

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 ...

. One of Stevenson's greatest strengths was a faultless knowledge of the important languages of his period.

A discovery regarding Shakespeare

In 1905, while working on records kept at

Belvoir Castle Belvoir Castle ( ) is a faux historic castle and stately home in Leicestershire, England, situated west of the town of Grantham and northeast of Melton Mowbray. The Castle was first built immediately after the Norman Conquest of 1066 an ...

, Stevenson discovered evidence that in March 1613 (a few months before the Globe theatre burnt down during a performance of Henry VIII),

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

and

Richard Burbage Richard Burbage (c. 1567 – 13 March 1619) was an English stage actor, widely considered to have been one of the most famous actors of the Globe Theatre and of his time. In addition to being a stage actor, he was also a theatre owner, entr ...

, who had some skill as a portrait painter, were each paid forty-four shillings in gold for creating and painting the

Earl of Rutland Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form ''jarl'', and meant "chieftain", particular ...

’s emblem. This decorative emblem was to be used at a festive tournament later that month at

Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London. The road forms the first part of the A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea. It is the main thoroughfare running south from Trafalgar Square towards Parliament Sq ...

in London to mark the accession of

King James I James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until hi ...

ten years earlier.
'New Shakespeareana''. Vol V, no. 2. Shakespeare Society of New York. Shakespeare Press. April 1906. page 54

Major publications

*
Calendar of the Records of the Corporation of Gloucester
' (Gloucester, 1893) *''Calendar of the Close Rolls Preserved in the Public Record Office: Edward II, 1313-1327'', 3 volumes (London, 1893-1898); Edward III, 1327-1373, 2 volumes (London, 1896-1898); Edward I, 1272-1307, 5 volumes (London, 1900-1908) *''Records of the Borough of Nottingham: 1625–1702'' (1900) *''Asser's Life of King Alfred: together with the Annals of Saint Neots erroneously ascribed to Asser'' (Oxford 1904) *''A Contemporary Description of the Domesday Survey'' (1907) *''Early Scholastic Colloquies edited by the late W. H. Stevenson'' (1929) *''The Early History of St John's College, Oxford, by the late W. H. Stevenson'' (1939) *''Records of the Borough of Leicester: Being a Series of Extracts from the Archives of the Corporation of Leicester, 1509–1603''

Notes

External links

*Harald Kleinschmidt
A bibliography of the writings of W. H. Stevenson
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stevenson, W. H. 1858 births 1924 deaths 19th-century English historians Anglo-Saxon studies scholars Fellows of St John's College, Oxford 20th-century English historians Writers from Nottingham