George Sidney Roberts Kitson Clark (14 June 1900 – 8 December 1975) was an English historian, specialising in the nineteenth century.

Historian

George Kitson Clark was educated at

Shrewsbury School Shrewsbury School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13 –18) in Shrewsbury. Founded in 1552 by Edward VI by Royal Charter, it was originally a boarding school for boys; girls have been admitted into ...

and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

. He lived the life of a bachelor don as Fellow of Trinity from 1922 to 1975. He was Reader in Constitutional History from 1954 to 1967. He is known as a revisionist historian of the

Repeal of the Corn Laws The Corn Laws were tariffs and other trade restrictions on imported food and corn enforced in the United Kingdom between 1815 and 1846. The word ''corn'' in British English denotes all cereal grains, including wheat, oats and barley. They we ...

G. D. H. Cole George Douglas Howard Cole (25 September 1889 – 14 January 1959) was an English political theorist, economist, and historian. As a believer in common ownership of the means of production, he theorised guild socialism (production organised ...

identified a "Kitson Clark" school of historians revising the assessment of the

Anti-Corn Law League The Anti-Corn Law League was a successful political movement in Great Britain aimed at the abolition of the unpopular Corn Laws, which protected landowners’ interests by levying taxes on imported wheat, thus raising the price of bread at a tim ...

and the

Chartists Chartism was a working-class movement for political reform in the United Kingdom that erupted from 1838 to 1857 and was strongest in 1839, 1842 and 1848. It took its name from the People's Charter of 1838 and was a national protest movement, ...

. He delivered the

Ford Lectures The Ford Lectures, technically the James Ford Lectures in British History, are an annual series of public lectures held at the University of Oxford on the subject of English or British history. They are usually devoted to a particular historical ...

in 1959–60, speaking on "The Making of Victorian England".

Jack Plumb Sir John (Jack) Harold Plumb (20 August 1911 – 21 October 2001) was a British historian, known for his books on British 18th-century history. He wrote over thirty books. Biography Plumb was born in Leicester on 20 August 1911. He was educate ...

, who disliked Kitson Clark, describes him as a reformer of the History Tripos and obstacle to

Lewis Namier Sir Lewis Bernstein Namier (; 27 June 1888 – 19 August 1960) was a British historian of Polish-Jewish background. His best-known works were ''The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III'' (1929), ''England in the Age of the Ameri ...

, with various swipes.

Family

He was the son of the engineer Edwin Kitson Clark and brother of Mary Kitson Clark.Obituary, Mary Kitson Clark
/ref> His paternal grandfather was E. C. Clark, Regius Professor of Civil Law at the University of Cambridge.

Works

*''Guide for Research Students Working on Historical Subjects'' (1958) *''Making of Victorian England'' (1962) *''Peel and the Conservative Party'' (1964) *''An Expanding Society: Britain 1830-1900'' (1967) *''The Critical Historian'' (1967) *''Churchmen and the Condition of England 1832–1885'' (1973) *''Portrait of an Age'' (1977) editor

References

*Robert Robson (editor) (1967), ''Ideas and Institutions of Victorian Britain: Essays in honour of George Kitson Clark''

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kitson Clark, George 1900 births 1975 deaths Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge 20th-century English historians