Michael George Brock (9 March 1920 – 30 April 2014) was a British historian who was associated with several

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

colleges during his academic career. He was

Warden A warden is a custodian, defender, or guardian. Warden is often used in the sense of a watchman or guardian, as in a prison warden. It can also refer to a chief or head official, as in the Warden of the Mint. ''Warden'' is etymologically ident ...

Nuffield College, Oxford Nuffield College () is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is a graduate college specialising in the social sciences, particularly economics, politics and sociology. N ...

, from 1978 to 1988.

Youth and education

Michael Brock was born in

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is southeast of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 88,000 as of 2023. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, charte ...

, Kent, England. His parents were Sir Laurence Brock, a civil servant for the British government, and Margery (née Hodder-Williams). He had an older brother, Patrick, and younger sister, Janet. Brock was educated at a preparatory school and then, from 1934,

Wellington College, Berkshire Wellington College is a co-educational public school providing education for boarding and day pupils in the village of Crowthorne, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. Wellington is a registered charity and currently educates roughly 1,100 pu ...

. In 1938, he joined Corpus Christi College,

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

, to study

Classics Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

. In 1940 during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he joined the

Middlesex Regiment The Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1966. The regiment was formed, as the Duke of Cambridge's Own (Middlesex Regiment), in 1881 as part of the Childers Re ...

of the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

. In 1943, he fell ill in North Africa and returned to

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

as an

adjutant Adjutant is a military appointment given to an Officer (armed forces), officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of “human resources” in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed ...

. He rejoined Corpus Christi College in September 1945, but decided to study

modern history The modern era or the modern period is considered the current historical period of human history. It was originally applied to the history of Europe and Western history for events that came after the Middle Ages, often from around the year 1500, ...

instead of Classics, gaining a

first class degree The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure used for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied, sometimes with significant var ...

in 1948.

Career

Brock continued after 1948 at Corpus Christi College until 1966, serving as a junior research fellow, senior tutor, proctor, librarian, and dean. He then became Deputy President to Sir

Isaiah Berlin Sir Isaiah Berlin (6 June 1909 – 5 November 1997) was a Russian-British social and political theorist, philosopher, and historian of ideas. Although he became increasingly averse to writing for publication, his improvised lectures and talks ...

at Wolfson College, a new graduate college at Oxford. He held a visiting professor position at the

Hebrew University The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. It is the second-ol ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

, Israel. Brock and his wife Eleanor moved to

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

, Italy, to work collaboratively on editing letters written by

H. H. Asquith Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith (12 September 1852 – 15 February 1928) was a British statesman and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1908 to 1916. He was the last ...

, a former British Liberal Prime Minister, which were stored in Rome. The letters were written before and during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

to the socialite

Venetia Stanley Venetia Anastasia, Lady Digby ( Stanley; December 1600 – 1 May 1633) was a celebrated beauty of the Stuart period (England), Stuart period and the wife of a prominent courtier and scientist, Sir Kenelm Digby. She was a granddaughter of Tho ...

(1887–1948), the daughter of Lord Stanley. On his to England, in 1977 Brock briefly joined the

University of Exeter The University of Exeter is a research university in the West Country of England, with its main campus in Exeter, Devon. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School of ...

to oversee a merger with

St Luke's College of Education St Luke's Campus is a small university campus which is part of the University of Exeter. The School of Sport and Health Sciences, the Graduate School of Education, and the Medical School are all based at St Luke's. St Luke's is also home to th ...

. In 1978, he returned to Oxford to become

Nuffield College Nuffield College () is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is a graduate college specialising in the social sciences, particularly economics, politics and sociology. N ...

, succeeding Sir

Norman Chester Sir Daniel Norman Chester, CBE (27 October 1907 – 20 September 1986) was a British political economist and academic administrator. He was the warden of Nuffield College, Oxford, from 1954 to 1978. Early life and education Chester was born in 1907 ...

. Brock edited volumes 6 and 7 of ''The History of the University of Oxford'', published by

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

. Until 2000, he sat on the

Hebdomadal Council The Hebdomadal Council was the chief executive body for the University of Oxford from its establishment by the Oxford University Act 1854 until its replacement, in the Michaelmas term of 2000, by the new University Council. Chaired by the Vice- ...

, the executive council of Oxford University. In 1988, Brock left Nuffield College to become Warden of St George's House at

Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a List of British royal residences, royal residence at Windsor, Berkshire, Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, about west of central London. It is strongly associated with the Kingdom of England, English and succee ...

for five years.

Honours

In 1981, Brock was appointed a CBE. In 1983 he became a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820 by King George IV to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the RSL has about 800 Fellows, elect ...

. He was also a Fellow of the

Royal Historical Society The Royal Historical Society (RHS), founded in 1868, is a learned society of the United Kingdom which advances scholarly studies of history. Origins The society was founded and received its royal charter in 1868. Until 1872 it was known as the H ...

. His former college, Corpus Christi College, established the Michael Brock Junior Research Fellowship in his honour.

Selected books

* * * * *

Personal life

Michael Brock married Eleanor Morrison on 28 July 1949 in

Dufftown Dufftown ( ) is a burgh in Moray, Scotland. While the town is part of the historic Mortlach parish, the town was established and laid out in the early 19th century as part of a planned new town settlement. The town has several listed 19th centur ...

, Scotland. They lived in

Merton Street Merton Street is a cobbled street in central Oxford, England.Merton Street< ...

, central

, and their first child, George, was born in 1951. The couple moved to

Linton Road Linton Road is a road in North Oxford, England. Location At the western end is the Banbury Road. At the eastern end is Wolfson College, Oxford, Wolfson College, a graduate college of the University of Oxford. To the north at the eastern end, ...

North Oxford North Oxford is a suburban part of the city of Oxford in England. It was owned for many centuries largely by St John's College, Oxford and many of the area's Victorian architecture, Victorian houses were initially sold on leasehold by the co ...

, in 1952. Their second child, David, was born in 1955, and their third child, Paul, was born in 1959. In 2014, Michael Brock died in Oxford.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brock, Michael 1920 births 2014 deaths People from Bromley Military personnel from the London Borough of Bromley People educated at Wellington College, Berkshire Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Oxford British Army personnel of World War II 20th-century English historians 21st-century English historians Fellows of Corpus Christi College, Oxford Fellows of Wolfson College, Oxford Academics of the University of Exeter Wardens of Nuffield College, Oxford Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Fellows of the Royal Historical Society Middlesex Regiment officers Historians of the University of Oxford