John Habakkuk

(Redirected from H. J. Habbakuk) British economic historian This article is about the economic historian. For other uses, see Habakkuk (disambiguation).

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SirJohn HabakkukFBA FRHistS
Born	(1915-05-13)13 May 1915 Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales
Died	November 3, 2002(2002-11-03) (aged 87) Chew Stoke, Somerset, England
Nationality	British
Occupation(s)	Historian, academic and university administrator
Title	Chichele Professor of Economic History
Spouse	Mary Richards
Children	4

Academic background
Alma mater	St John's College, Cambridge
Doctoral advisor	John Clapham
Academic work
Institutions	Pembroke College, Cambridge All Souls College, Oxford Jesus College, Oxford University College of Swansea
Notable students	Ian Byatt Roderick Floud Patrick K. O'Brien

Sir Hrothgar John Habakkuk (13 May 1915 – 3 November 2002) was a British economic historian.

Biography

Habakkuk was born in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, the son of Evan and Anne Habakkuk. He was named "Hrothgar" after Hroðgar in Beowulf, which his father was reading at the time of his birth. However, he came to be known as John when he started to travel to the United States, and when he was knighted he found it easier to call himself "Sir John" than "Sir Hrothgar". His surname was assumed by a seventeenth-century forebear after the prophet Habakkuk, it being a Welsh custom at that time to take patronymics from the Bible.

He was educated at Barry County School and St John's College, Cambridge (scholar and Strathcona Student, starred first class degree in History 1936). (He was not, as sometimes erroneously stated, connected with Jesus College, Cambridge.) He began to study for a PhD under John Clapham, but his progress was interrupted by the Second World War. In 1938, he was elected a Fellow of Pembroke College, Cambridge, a position he held until 1950. He worked at Bletchley Park 1940–42 and the Board of Trade 1942–46, during which period he still found time to carry out research at the Public Record Office and in the archives of country houses. After World War II, he was from 1946 until 1950 Director of Studies and Librarian of the college and Lecturer in the Faculty of Economics. In 1973, Pembroke College elected him to an Honorary Fellowship. From 1950 until 1960, he was editor, with Michael Postan, of The Economic History Review.

In 1950, he moved to Oxford, where he would remain for the rest of his life. At the age of just thirty-five he had been appointed Chichele Professor of Economic History in the University of Oxford and Professorial Fellow of All Souls College. He held this appointment until 1967, when he became Principal of Jesus College. He also served as Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University (1973–77) and Pro-Vice-Chancellor (1977–84). He retired in 1984 and was Ford Lecturer in the following year. All Souls re-elected him to a fellowship in 1988. He was also President of University College, Swansea from 1975 until 1984 and an honorary fellow of the college from 1991. He was Visiting Professor at Harvard University 1954/5 and at University of California, Berkeley (Ford Research Professor) 1962/3.

Habakkuk was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 1965 and a member of the American Philosophical Society in 1966. He was appointed Knight Bachelor in 1976. In the same year he began a four-year term as President of the Royal Historical Society. He was awarded the degree of Doctor of Letters honoris causa by the Universities of Wales (1971), Cambridge (1973), Pennsylvania (1975), Kent (1978), and Ulster (1988).

He was a member of the Advisory Council on Public Records 1958–70, the Social Science Research Council 1967–71, the National Libraries Committee 1968–69, the Administrative Board of the International Association of Universities 1975–84, and the Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts 1978–90. He was Chairman of the Committee of Vice Chancellors and Principals of the Universities of the United Kingdom 1976–77, the Advisory Group on London Health Services 1980–81, and the Oxfordshire District Health Authority 1981–84. He was president of the Royal Historical Society (1977–1981),

Habakkuk married Mary Richards (died 2002), whom he met during the war and who later studied History at Cambridge, in 1948. They had a son and three daughters. He died, from renal failure and myelodysplasia, at the house of one of his daughters, Little Orchard, Scot Lane, Chew Stoke, in Somerset, England, on 3 November 2002.

Publications

John Habakkuk, Marriage, debt, and the estates system: English landownership 1650–1950 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1994).
John Habakkuk, Population growth and economic development since 1750 (Leicester: Leicester University Press, 1971).
John Habakkuk, Industrial organisation since the Industrial Revolution (Southampton: University of Southampton, 1968).
John Habakkuk, American and British technology in the nineteenth century: the search for labour-saving inventions (Cambridge University Press, 1962).
John Habakkuk et al., Lectures on economic development=Études sur le développement économique (Iktisat Fakültesi nesriyatı no. 101, Istanbul: Faculty of Economics, Istanbul University, and Faculty of Political Sciences, Ankara University, 1958).
H.J. Habakkuk, 'English Landownership, 1680–1740', Economic History Review 1st series 10.1 (February 1940), pp. 2–17.

References

^ F. M. L. Thompson Obituary, The Independent (11 November 2002)
^ Obituary, The Telegraph (18 November 2002)
Marshall, P. J., ed. (2005). "Biographical Memoirs of Fellows III". Proceedings of the British Academy. Vol. 124. p. 91. ISBN 9780197263204.
^ David Landes, Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine vol. 149, no. 1 (March 2005), pp. 99–101.
"Previous Vice-Chancellors". University of Oxford, UK. Archived from the original on 19 April 2014. Retrieved 14 July 2011.
British Academy Deceased Fellows Archived 6 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine
"List of Presidents". Royal Historical Society. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 20 December 2010.

External links

Academic offices
Preceded byJohn Christie	Principal of Jesus College, Oxford 1967–1984	Succeeded bySir Peter North
Preceded byLord Bullock of Leafield	Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University 1973–1977	Succeeded bySir Rex Richards
Preceded byGeoffrey Elton	President of the Royal Historical Society 1977–1981	Succeeded byJ. C. Holt

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v t e Presidents of the Royal Historical Society
1871–1872 George Grote 1873–1878 John Russell, 1st Earl Russell 1878–1891 Henry Bruce, 1st Baron Aberdare 1891–1899 Sir M. E. Grant Duff 1899–1901 Sir Adolphus Ward 1901–1905 Sir George Prothero 1905–1909 William Hunt 1909–1913 William Cunningham 1913–1917 Sir Charles Firth 1917–1921 Sir Charles Oman 1921–1925 Sir John Fortescue 1925–1929 Frederick Tout 1929–1933 Sir Richard Lodge 1933–1937 Sir F. M. Powicke 1937–1945 Sir Frank Stenton 1946–1949 Robert William Seton-Watson 1949–1953 Theodore Plucknett 1953–1957 Hale Bellot 1957–1961 David Knowles 1961–1965 Sir Goronwy Edwards 1965–1969 Robin Humphreys 1969–1973 Sir R. W. Southern 1973–1977 Sir Geoffrey Elton 1977–1981 Sir John Habakkuk 1981–1985 Sir J. C. Holt 1985–1989 Gerald Aylmer 1989–1993 Michael Thompson 1993–1997 Sir Rees Davies 1997–2001 Sir P. J. Marshall 2001–2005 Dame Janet Nelson 2005–2008 Martin Daunton 2009–2012 Colin Jones 2012–2016 Peter Mandler 2016–2020 Margot Finn 2020-present Emma Griffin

Presidents of the Royal Historical Society

1871–1872 George Grote
1873–1878 John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
1878–1891 Henry Bruce, 1st Baron Aberdare
1891–1899 Sir M. E. Grant Duff
1899–1901 Sir Adolphus Ward
1901–1905 Sir George Prothero
1905–1909 William Hunt
1909–1913 William Cunningham
1913–1917 Sir Charles Firth
1917–1921 Sir Charles Oman
1921–1925 Sir John Fortescue
1925–1929 Frederick Tout
1929–1933 Sir Richard Lodge
1933–1937 Sir F. M. Powicke
1937–1945 Sir Frank Stenton
1946–1949 Robert William Seton-Watson
1949–1953 Theodore Plucknett
1953–1957 Hale Bellot
1957–1961 David Knowles
1961–1965 Sir Goronwy Edwards
1965–1969 Robin Humphreys
1969–1973 Sir R. W. Southern
1973–1977 Sir Geoffrey Elton
1977–1981 Sir John Habakkuk
1981–1985 Sir J. C. Holt
1985–1989 Gerald Aylmer
1989–1993 Michael Thompson
1993–1997 Sir Rees Davies
1997–2001 Sir P. J. Marshall
2001–2005 Dame Janet Nelson
2005–2008 Martin Daunton
2009–2012 Colin Jones
2012–2016 Peter Mandler
2016–2020 Margot Finn
2020-present Emma Griffin

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