Sir George Norman Clark, (27 February 1890 – 6 February 1979) was an English historian, academic and

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 ...

officer. He was the Chichele Professor of Economic History at the

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 ...

from 1931 to 1943 and the Regius Professor of Modern History at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

from 1943 to 1947. He served as the provost of

Oriel College, Oxford Oriel College () is Colleges of the University of Oxford, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title for ...

, from 1947 to 1957.

Early life and education

Clark was born on 27 February 1890 in Halifax, Yorkshire, England, to James Walker Clark and his wife Mary Clark (née Midgley). He was educated at Bootham School, a private

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

, and at

Manchester Grammar School The Manchester Grammar School (MGS) is a highly Selective school, selective Private_schools_in_the_United_Kingdom, private day school for boys aged 7-18 in Manchester, England, which was founded in 1515 by Hugh Oldham (then Bishop of Exeter). ...

, a

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...

in Manchester. In 1908, he matriculated into

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and aro ...

, to study classics as a Brackenbury Scholar. In 1911, he achieved a first class in '' Literae Humaniores''. He then changed to modern history and graduated in 1912 with a first class honours Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree. In 1912, he was elected to a prize fellowship at

All Souls College, Oxford All Souls College (official name: The College of All Souls of the Faithful Departed, of Oxford) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Unique to All Souls, all of its members automatically become fellows (i.e., full me ...

, and spent time abroad learning foreign languages.

Career

Military service

Clark had been a member of the

Officers' Training Corps The University Officers' Training Corps (UOTC), also known as the Officers' Training Corps (OTC), are British Army reserve units, under the command of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, which recruit exclusively from universities and focus on ...

attached to the

during his studies. On 26 August 1914, he was commissioned into the Post Office Rifles,

, as a second lieutenant. On 27 May 1915, he was promoted to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

. During the early part of

World War I 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 ...

, he was wounded twice. In May 1916, while fighting in the

Battle of Vimy Ridge The Battle of Vimy Ridge was part of the Battle of Arras, in the Pas-de-Calais department of France, during the First World War. The main combatants were the four divisions of the Canadian Corps in the First Army, against three divisions of ...

, he was taken

prisoner A prisoner, also known as an inmate or detainee, is a person who is deprived of liberty against their will. This can be by confinement or captivity in a prison or physical restraint. The term usually applies to one serving a Sentence (law), se ...

by the Germans. At the time of his capture, he held the rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

. He was held in

Gütersloh Gütersloh () is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, in the region of Ostwestfalen-Lippe and the administrative region of Detmold (administrative region), Detmold. Gütersloh is the administrative centre for a Gütersloh (distric ...

and

Krefeld Krefeld ( , ; ), also spelled Crefeld until 1925 (though the spelling was still being used in British papers throughout the Second World War), is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany. It is located northwest of Düsseldorf, its c ...

, and spent his time learning languages. He was also involved in writing plays for fellow prisoners to perform, one of which was performed postwar at the

Haymarket Theatre The Theatre Royal Haymarket (also known as Haymarket Theatre or the Little Theatre) is a West End theatre in Haymarket, London, Haymarket in the City of Westminster which dates back to 1720, making it the third-oldest London playhouse still in ...

, London. He was released at the end of hostilities and returned to Britain.

Academic career

Having been elected a

Fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

, in 1912, Clark's academic career truly started in 1919 when he was elected a Fellow and lecturer of

. In 1930, he edited and provided a preface to the work ''Europe from 800 to 1789'', the final and posthumous publication of historian H. W. C. Davis. He became the inaugural Chichele Professor of Economic History at the

in 1931 (with the accompanying

ship at All Souls), a post he held until 1943. From then until 1947 he was Regius Professor of Modern History at

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

and a fellow of

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, 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 ...

. Between 1947 and 1957, he was Provost of

. Clark wrote a general

introduction Introduction, The Introduction, Intro, or The Intro may refer to: General use * Introduction (music), an opening section of a piece of music * Introduction (writing), a beginning section to a book, article or essay which states its purpose and g ...

to the second edition of the '' Cambridge Modern History'' (1957), criticising the belief of some historians (in particular Lord Acton who had edited the first edition over half a century earlier) that eventually it would be possible to write an "ultimate history", rather they should expect their works to be built on and superseded by later historians. He stated that "knowledge of the past has come down through one or more human minds, has been processed by them, and therefore cannot consist of elemental and impersonal atoms which nothing can alter..." Between the 1930s and 1960s, Clark was the editor overseeing the '' Oxford History of England'' series and wrote Volume X: ''The Later Stuarts, 1660–1714'' (1934), which was the first of the series to be published. His ''The Seventeenth Century'' appeared in 1929, and he wrote numerous other monographs. He was twice editor of the '' English Historical Review''. Clark delivered the Wiles Lectures in the Queen's University of Belfast in October 1956. They were published as ''War and Society in the Seventeenth Century'' (Cambridge UP, 1958).

Honours

He was knighted in the 1953 Coronation Honours List. Clark was elected

Fellow of the British Academy Fellowship of the British Academy (post-nominal letters FBA) is an award granted by the British Academy to leading academics for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences. The categories are: # Fellows – scholars resident in t ...

(FBA) in 1936. He was a Foreign Member of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

. In 1953 he was elected an honorary fellow of

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, George 1890 births 1979 deaths Military personnel from Halifax, West Yorkshire British Army personnel of World War I London Regiment officers British World War I prisoners of war Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Fellows of All Souls College, Oxford Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge British economic historians People educated at Manchester Grammar School Chichele Professors of Economic History Historians of England Honorary Fellows of Trinity College Dublin Presidents of the British Academy Provosts of Oriel College, Oxford People educated at Bootham School Members of the University of Cambridge faculty of history Fellows of the British Academy Knights Bachelor World War I prisoners of war held by Germany British male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century English dramatists and playwrights 20th-century English historians 20th-century English male writers Regius Professors of History (Cambridge)