Robin Bush (historian)
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Robin James Edwin Bush (12 March 1943 – 22 June 2010) was the resident
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 ...
for the first nine series of
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
's
archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
series ''
Time Team ''Time Team'' is a British television programme that originally aired on Channel 4 from 16 January 1994 to 7 September 2014. It returned online in 2022 for two episodes released on YouTube. Created by television producer Tim ...
'', appearing in 39 episodes between 1994 and 2003. He also presented eight episodes of '' Time Team Extra'' in 1998. For twelve years Bush was a Liberal Democrat member of
Somerset County Council Somerset County Council is the county council of Somerset in the South West of England, an elected local government authority responsible for the most significant local government services in most of the county. On 1 April 2023 the county counc ...
and served as chairman of the council from 2001 until 2005. He also held other positions in public life.


Early life

Bush was born in
Hayes, Middlesex Hayes is a town in west London, historically situated within the county of Middlesex, and now part of the London Borough of Hillingdon. The town's population, including its localities Hayes End, Harlington and Yeading, was recorded as 83,564 i ...
. His father was originally a schoolmaster and then a training college lecturer in
Mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...
. Bush attended
Exeter School Exeter School is an independent co-educational day school for pupils between the ages of 7 and 18 in Exeter, Devon, England. In 2019, there were around 200 pupils in the Junior School and 700 in the Senior School. History The School traces its ...
in
Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...
between 1950 and 1962, and it was here aged 13 that he first became interested in historical research while studying the school's history. His first two research papers were published by
the Devonshire Association The Devonshire Association (DA) is a learned society founded in 1862 by William Pengelly and modelled on the British Association, but concentrating on research subjects linked to Devon in the fields of science, literature and the arts. History ...
before he left school.Channel 4 'Time Team' interview
/ref> He won a Trevelyan Scholarship, followed by a Stapledon Exhibition and later still a State Scholarship, to read
History History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...
at
Exeter College, Oxford Exeter College (in full: The Rector and Scholars of Exeter College in the University of Oxford) is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England and the fourth-oldest college of the un ...
(1962–65), taking his BA in Modern History in 1965 and an MA in 1984. Among his contemporaries at Oxford were the poet
Craig Raine Craig Anthony Raine, FRSL (born 3 December 1944) is an English contemporary poet. Along with Christopher Reid, he is a notable pioneer of Martian poetry, a movement that expresses alienation with the world, society and objects. He was a fellow of ...
, the journalist
Tariq Ali Tariq Ali (; born 21 October 1943) is a Pakistani-British political activist, writer, journalist, historian, filmmaker, and public intellectual. He is a member of the editorial committee of the ''New Left Review'' and ''Sin Permiso'', and con ...
, the
Marquess of Hartington A marquess (; french: marquis ), es, marqués, pt, marquês. is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman wi ...
and the psephologist Professor
Ivor Crewe Sir Ivor Martin Crewe DL FAcSS (born 15 December 1945) was until 2020 the Master of University College, Oxford, and President of the Academy of Social Sciences. He was previously Vice-Chancellor of the University of Essex and also a Professo ...
. A keen amateur actor, he also appeared on stage at the
Oxford Playhouse Oxford Playhouse is a theatre designed by Edward Maufe and F.G.M. Chancellor. It is situated in Beaumont Street, Oxford, opposite the Ashmolean Museum. History The Playhouse was founded as ''The Red Barn'' at 12 Woodstock Road, North Oxfor ...
with
Monty Python Monty Python (also collectively known as the Pythons) were a British comedy troupe who created the sketch comedy television show '' Monty Python's Flying Circus'', which first aired on the BBC in 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four ...
actor
Terry Jones Terence Graham Parry Jones (1 February 1942 – 21 January 2020) was a Welsh comedian, director, historian, actor, writer and member of the Monty Python comedy team. After graduating from Oxford University with a degree in English, Jones and ...
.


Archivist and historian

In 1965 he was appointed assistant archivist at Surrey Record Office at
Kingston upon Thames Kingston upon Thames (hyphenated until 1965, colloquially known as Kingston) is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable as ...
before moving to Somerset Record Office in 1967 where he spent the rest of his working life. From 1970 to 1978 Bush was assistant editor of the ''
Somerset Victoria County History The ''Somerset Victoria County History'' is an encyclopaedic history of the county of Somerset in England, forming part of the overall Victoria County History of England founded in 1899 in honour of Queen Victoria. With ten volumes published in t ...
'', writing much of the content of three of its volumes. Later he returned to the Record Office as Deputy County Archivist until taking early retirement in 1993. Bush wrote his first book in 1977, and produced volumes on the history of
Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England, with a 2011 population of 69,570. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century monastic foundation, Taunton Castle, which later became a priory. The Normans built a castle owned by the ...
,
Exmouth Exmouth is a harbor, port town, civil parishes in England, civil parish and seaside resort, sited on the east bank of the mouth of the River Exe and southeast of Exeter. In 2011 it had a population of 34,432, making Exmouth the List of town ...
and
Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...
, followed by a series of books on the county of
Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...
. He researched emigration from the South West of England to
New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
between 1620 and 1645, which led to the publication of three further books in
Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
. Bush made six speaking tours to the United States, during one of which he met President
George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...
at the
White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...
. In 1987 he explained Somerset's archives to HM the Queen and the
Duke of Edinburgh Duke of Edinburgh, named after the city of Edinburgh in Scotland, was a substantive title that has been created three times since 1726 for members of the British royal family. It does not include any territorial landholdings and does not produc ...
. From 1984 to 1996 he had a weekly spot on
BBC Radio Bristol BBC Radio Bristol is the BBC's local radio station serving Bristol, Bath and North & North East Somerset. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at Broadcasting House in Bristol. According to RAJAR, the stati ...
and then
BBC Somerset BBC Radio Somerset is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Somerset. It broadcasts on FM, AM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios in the Blackbrook area of Taunton. According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly a ...
, on which he told stories of local history and folklore.


Television appearances

Bush became involved with the ''
Time Team ''Time Team'' is a British television programme that originally aired on Channel 4 from 16 January 1994 to 7 September 2014. It returned online in 2022 for two episodes released on YouTube. Created by television producer Tim ...
'' programmes through his long friendship with
Mick Aston Michael Antony Aston (1 July 1946 – 24 June 2013) was an English archaeologist who specialised in Early Medieval landscape archaeology. Over the course of his career, he lectured at both the University of Bristol and University of Oxford and ...
when Aston was Somerset's first county field
archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
. Aston had previously discussed the idea of devising an archaeological television programme with
Tony Robinson Sir Anthony Robinson (born 15 August 1946) is an English actor, author, broadcaster, comedian, presenter, and political activist. He played Baldrick in the BBC television series ''Blackadder'' and has presented several historical documentaries ...
, and a pilot episode was set up. Through helping to devise the programme's format with producer Tim Taylor, Bush was invited to take part in the pilot which was shot at
Dorchester-on-Thames Dorchester on Thames (or Dorchester-on-Thames) is a village and civil parish in Oxfordshire, about northwest of Wallingford and southeast of Oxford. The town is a few hundred yards from the confluence of the River Thames and River Thame. A c ...
in October 1992. Although the pilot programme was never screened, the idea was good enough to persuade Channel 4 to commission a four programme series of ''Time Team'', which was filmed in 1993 and broadcast the following year. Bush also appeared in
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
's series '' Joe Public'', for which he researched the loss of a hat jewel by
Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...
. Bush appeared regularly as resident historian on ''Revealing Secrets'' (55 episodes) for Multi Media, transmitted on Channel 4 on weekdays from 26 March to 4 July 2001. As a solo presenter Bush filmed a series of six half-hour programmes entitled ''The West at War'', broadcast in 2005, which examined the impact of war on the South West of England from
Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
times to the present day for
ITV Westcountry ITV Westcountry, formerly known as Westcountry Television and Carlton Westcountry, was the ITV franchise holder for the south west of England, covering Cornwall, Devon, Isles of Scilly, southern and western Somerset and western Dorset. The com ...
.


Personal life

Bush lived in Taunton with his wife, Hilary Margaret Marshall, whom he married in 1993. By an earlier marriage to the late Iris Maude Reed he had two children and two grandchildren. He was Chairman of the
Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society The Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society was founded in 1849. The Society bought Taunton Castle in 1874, and leases it to Somerset County Council to house the Museum of Somerset. A substantial proportion of the items held by the Mus ...
(1983–84), then President of Taunton Amateur Operatic Society (TAOS), 1985–2009. He performed regularly in amateur dramas, musicals and grand opera productions throughout West Somerset, and in 1991, 1994 and 1997 he helped to judge the grand finals of the World Public Speaking and Debating Championships.


Political life

From May 1997 until June 2009 Bush served as a
Liberal Democrat Several political party, political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democracy, liberal democratic ideology. Active parties Former parties ...
member of
Somerset County Council Somerset County Council is the county council of Somerset in the South West of England, an elected local government authority responsible for the most significant local government services in most of the county. On 1 April 2023 the county counc ...
, serving as chairman of the council from 2001 until 2005. He was also vice chairman of the county's Information and Leisure Board (1998–2000) and vice chairman of the Community, Leisure and Information Review Committee (2000–2001), chairman of the Regulation (Planning) Committee (2005–07) and chairman of both the Somerset Cultural Forum and Somerset Cultural Executive (2003–09). Bush was vice chairman of the South West Museums Council (1998–2000) and served as a board member of Culture South West, Arts Council England South West and the South West Museums, Libraries and Archives Council. He was a member of the council and court of the
University of Bristol , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...
and of the courts of the
University of Bath (Virgil, Georgics II) , mottoeng = Learn the culture proper to each after its kind , established = 1886 (Merchant Venturers Technical College) 1960 (Bristol College of Science and Technology) 1966 (Bath University of Technology) 1971 (univ ...
and the
University of Exeter The University of Exeter is a public university , public research university in Exeter, Devon, England, United Kingdom. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School of Min ...
. He was one of four patrons of Wessex Actors Company, with the
Marquess of Bath Marquess of Bath is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1789 for Thomas Thynne, 3rd Viscount Weymouth. The Marquess holds the subsidiary titles Baron Thynne, of Warminster in the County of Wiltshire, and Viscount Weymouth ...
, Lord Tom King and the late
Ned Sherrin Edward George Sherrin (18 February 1931 – 1 October 2007) was an English broadcaster, author and stage director. He qualified as a barrister and then worked in independent television before joining the BBC. He appeared in a variety of ra ...
, 2002 to 2010. Bush was also patron o
Apple AM : Taunton Hospital Radio
which serves the patients of Musgrove Park Hospital, Taunton. He was president of the Somerset Art Gallery Trust and the Somerset Youth Partnership, and vice president and trustee of the Somerset Community Foundation.


Death

Robin Bush died on 22 June 2010, aged 67, after a long period of illness. He is buried in the churchyard of St Nicholas's Church,
Corfe Corfe is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated below the Blackdown Hills south of Taunton in the Somerset West and Taunton district. The village has a population of 253. History The parish of Corfe was part of the Taunton ...
, in Somerset.


Works


Books and monographs

*''Victoria County History of Somerset'': **(with R.W. Dunning) vol iii (Oxford University Press, 1974) **(with R.W. Dunning) vol iv (OUP, 1976) **(with R.W. Dunning and Mary Siraut) vol v (OUP, 1983) *''The Book of Taunton'' (Barracuda Books, 1977) *''The Book of Exmouth'' (Barracuda Books, 1978) *''The Book of Wellington'' (with Gillian Allen, Barracuda Books, 1983) *''Jeboult's Taunton'' (Barracuda Books, 1983) *''The Archaeology of Taunton'' ed. Peter Leach, four principal chapters by Robin Bush (Western Archaeological Trust, Excavation Monograph no.8, 1984), pp. 11–16, 59–63, 75–79, 104–106. *''The Story of the County Hotel'', Taunton (1987) *''Shields and Wall Plate Carving in the Church of St Mary'', Ashill (1987) *''A Taunton Diary, 1787–1987'' (Barracuda Books, 1988) *''The Story of Taunton Castle'' (Somerset Archaeological Society, 1988) *''Somerset, a Portrait in Colour'' (Dovecote Press, 1989) *''Somerset Stories'' (Dovecote Press, 1990) *''Your Somerset Family'' (Somerset County Council. 1992) *''Somerset, the Complete Guide'' (Dovecote Press, 1994) *''Somerset Villages'' (Dovecote Press, 1995) *''Search for the Passengers of the Mary and John'', 1630, ed. Burton Spear: :*vol 25 New Ancestral Discoveries – part 1 (Ohio, 1996) :*vol 26 New Ancestral Discoveries – part 2 (Ohio, 1997) :*vol 27 New Ancestral Discoveries – part 3 (Ohio, 1999) *''Somerset Bedside Book'' (Dovecote Press, 1997) *Chapter on 'The Age of Elegance' in ''Somerset: the Millennium Book'', ed. Tom Mayberry and Hilary Binding (Somerset Books, 1999) *''Aesop's Fables, A Choral Cycle'', verse libretto by Robin Bush, composer Douglas Coombes (Lindsay Music, 2001).


Papers in journals

*'The Rev John Lempriere, DD, in Devon' in ''Transactions of the Devonshire Association'', xciii (1961), pp. 228–249. *'Exeter Free Grammar School, 1633–1809' in ''Trans. of Devonsh. Assoc''. xciv (1962), pp. 363–410. *'Exeter during the Civil War and Interregnum' in ''Devon & Cornwall Notes & Queries'', xxix (1962–3) pp. 80–87, 102–09, 132–39, 171–76. *'George Passemer, a Devonshire Antiquary' in ''Devon & Cornwall N. & Q''. xxix (1964), pp. 241ff. *'Nettlecombe Court. 1. The Trevelyans and other residents' in ''Field Studies Journal'', iii/2 (1970), pp. 275–87. *'The Tudor Tavern, Fore Street, Taunton' in ''Proceedings of the Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society'', cxix (1976), pp. 15–20. *'West Newton Manor Farm' n North Pethertonin ''Proc. Som. Arch. Nat. Hist. Soc.'' cxxiii (1980), pp. 55–64. *'Somerset, England, Records and American Descendants' in ''Connecticut Nutmegger'', vol 19 (1986), pp. 386–396. *'The Blake Ancestry of Elizabeth Saunders, wife of Henry Wolcott,' in ''Connecticut Nutmegger'', vol 22 (1989), pp. 11–12.


Recordings

*Four audiocassettes of lectures to the 'All American Conference' of the (USA) Federation of Genealogical Societies delivered at Fort Wayne, Indiana, published in the US by audiotapes.com (1991). *''An Archivist Abroad'' (FW-52). *''An Archivist's Casebook - The Pleasures and Pitfalls of English Genealogy'' (FW-93). *''Brought to Book - English Quarter Sessions and their Records'' (FW-232). *''Courts and Copyhold - the English Manor and its Records'' (FW-34) Double audiocassettes of Robin Bush retelling ''Tales of Old Somerset'' (1995), Halsgrove Productions, Tiverton, Devon. Compact Disc of ''Aesop's Fables, a Choral Cycle'', verse libretto by Robin Bush, composer Douglas Coombes' (Lindsay Music, 2001).


References


External links


Bush
on the ''
Time Team ''Time Team'' is a British television programme that originally aired on Channel 4 from 16 January 1994 to 7 September 2014. It returned online in 2022 for two episodes released on YouTube. Created by television producer Tim ...
'' website
Bush on ''Time Team Live'' in 2001Detailed biography
on the 'Unofficial Time Team' website

in ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...
'' 24 June 2010
Obituary
in ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' 7 July 2010 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bush, Robin 1943 births 2010 deaths English historians English television presenters People educated at Exeter School Alumni of Exeter College, Oxford English archivists Liberal Democrats (UK) councillors Members of Somerset County Council Time Team Historians of Somerset