Rosalind Mary Mitchison
FRSE (11 April 1919 – 19 September 2002) was a 20th-century English
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 st ...
and academic who specialised in Scottish
social history. She was affectionately known as "Rowy" Mitchison.
Life
Rosalind Mary Wrong was born in
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
. Her father,
Edward Murray Wrong
Edward Murray Wrong (14 April 1889 – 15 February 1928) was a Canadian-born historian, vice-president of Magdalen College, Oxford (1924–25).
Biography
Known as Murray, he was the son of Canadian historian George MacKinnon Wrong, and of Sophi ...
, and his father,
George MacKinnon Wrong
George MacKinnon Wrong (June 25, 1860 – June 29, 1948) was a Canadian clergyman and historian.
Life and career
Born at Grovesend in Elgin County, Canada West (now Ontario), he was ordained in the Anglican priesthood in 1883 after attendin ...
, were both historians. Her brother was
Oliver Wrong.
She was educated at
Dragon School
("Reach for the Sun")
, established = 1877
, closed =
, type = Preparatory day and boarding school and Pre-Prep school
, religion = Church of England
, president =
, head_label = Head
, head = Emma Goldsm ...
in
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
then studied history at
Lady Margaret Hall and went to the
University of Manchester
, mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity
, established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univ ...
as an assistant lecturer, working under
Sir 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 ...
, in 1943.
In 1953 her husband was appointed to a professorship at the
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...
and they moved to Scotland. Mitchison taught history, initially part-time, at Edinburgh until 1957. In 1962 she began teaching at the
University of Glasgow
, image = UofG Coat of Arms.png
, image_size = 150px
, caption = Coat of arms
Flag
, latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis
, motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita
, ...
where she remained until 1967, latterly as a full-time lecturer. Her first work, ''Agricultural Sir John'' (1962), broke new ground in the history of 18th-century Scotland, hitherto mainly studied, when studied at all, from the perspective of the
Acts of Union 1707 or the
Scottish Enlightenment.
She returned to the University of Edinburgh in 1967 as a
Reader
A reader is a person who reads. It may also refer to:
Computing and technology
* Adobe Reader (now Adobe Acrobat), a PDF reader
* Bible Reader for Palm, a discontinued PDA application
* A card reader, for extracting data from various forms of ...
, and was by 1981
Emeritus Professor
''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...
of Social History, a post she held until 1986.
In 1994 she was elected a Fellow of the
Royal Society of Edinburgh. Her proposers were
T. C. Smout, D Stevenson,
T. M. Devine,
Michael Francis Oliver,
Charles Kemball and
D. E. R. Watt.
She died in hospital in
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...
on 19 September 2002.
Family
In 1947, while Tutor at
Lady Margaret Hall, she married
zoologist
Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and d ...
John Murdoch Mitchison, son of
Naomi Mitchison and
Dick Mitchison
Gilbert Richard Mitchison, Baron Mitchison, (23 March 1894 – 14 February 1970) was a British Labour politician.
Born in Staines, Mitchison was educated at Eton College and New College, Oxford, and became a barrister ( called to the bar in 1 ...
. They had four children, three daughters and one son.
Books and publications
* ''Agricultural Sir John''. The life of Sir John Sinclair of Ulster 1754–1835 Geoffrey Bles 1962
* ''British population change since 1860'' prepared for the Economic History Society Macmillan 1977
* Coping with Destitution: Poverty and Relief in Western Europe (Joanne Goodman Lecture) University of Toronto Press 1992
* ''Economy and society in Scotland and Ireland 1500–1939'' edited by Rosalind Mitchison and Peter Roebuck John Donald 1988
* ''Essays in eighteenth-century history''. From the English Historical Review / arranged by Rosalind Mitchison. Longmans Green & Co.1966
* ''Girls in trouble : sexuality and social control in rural Scotland, 1660–1780'' with
Leah Leneman. Scottish Cultural Press 1998
* ''History of Scotland'' Routledge 3rd revised edition 2002
* ''Life in Scotland'' Batsford 1978
* ''Lordship to patronage : Scotland 1603–1745.'' Edinburgh University Press 1990
* ''Old Poor Law in Scotland : the experience of poverty, 1574–1845''. Edinburgh University Press 2000
* ''People and society in Scotland. 1, 1760–1830'' / edited by T.M. Devine and Rosalind Mitchison. John Donald 1988/2006
* ''Regional levels of Scottish illegitimacy, 1660–1770'' 1983
* ''Roots of nationalism studies in northern Europe'' edited by Rosalind Mitchison John Donald 1979/1980
* ''Scotland in the age of improvement : essays in Scottish history in the eighteenth century'' edited by
N.T. Phillipson and Rosalind Mitchison. Edinburgh University Press New Edition 1997
* ''Sin in the city : sexuality and social control in urban Scotland, 1160–1780'' with
Leah Leneman Scottish Cultural Press 1998
* ''Why Scottish history matters'' editor, Rosalind Mitchison Saltire Society 1999
Sources
*
*
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchison, Rosalind
1919 births
2002 deaths
Academics of the University of Edinburgh
Academics of the University of Glasgow
Social historians
Alumni of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford
Historians of Scotland
Academics from Greater Manchester
20th-century English historians