Barbara Strang née Barbara Mary Hope Carr later Lady Strang (20 April 1925 – 11 April 1982) was a British English language scholar.

Life

Strang was born in

Penge Penge () is a suburb of South East London, England, now in the London Borough of Bromley, west of Bromley, north east of Croydon and south east of Charing Cross. History Penge was once a small hamlet, which was recorded under the name Pence ...

in 1925 in London. Her parents were Frederick and Amy Carr. Her schooling was affected by the war as her convent school in Croydon was moved to Wales and for her first year at

King's College, London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

she was attending lectures in Bristol. She married Colin Strang who was a lecturer and the heir apparent to his father's barony. She established her name when her first publication ''Modern English Structure'' in 1962 became a standard work. Two years later she became the first Professor of English Language and General Linguistics at the

University of Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a UK public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is a red brick univer ...

in 1964. This was the first chair of its kind in England, just as she was one of the first women to hold such a post. It was a novel appointment and her new department established an international reputation. In 1970 she published ''A History of English''.

Death and legacy

Strang died suddenly of a brain hemorrhage at her home in

Morpeth Morpeth may refer to: *Morpeth, New South Wales, Australia ** Electoral district of Morpeth, a former electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in New South Wales * Morpeth, Ontario, Canada * Morpeth, Northumberland, England, UK ** Morpeth (UK ...

in 1982. In 1988 a collection of essays on English linguistics was published in her memory. Her university named the ''Barbara Strang Teaching Centre'' after her.

Works

* ''Modern English Structure''. London: E. Arnold, 1962. * ''A History of English''. London: Methuen, 1970.

References

1925 births 1982 deaths People from Penge Academics of Newcastle University British baronesses {{UK-linguist-stub