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Charles Derek Ross (1924–1986) was an English historian of the
Late Middle Ages The late Middle Ages or late medieval period was the Periodization, period of History of Europe, European history lasting from 1300 to 1500 AD. The late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period ( ...
. Originally from
Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...
, he earned a
DPhil A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...
from
Oxford University The University of Oxford is a 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 second-oldest continuously operating u ...
and worked as a lecturer, researcher and ultimately
professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...
at the
University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...
from 1947 until his death in 1986. Specialising in the medieval English nobility,
gentry Gentry (from Old French , from ) are "well-born, genteel and well-bred people" of high social class, especially in the past. ''Gentry'', in its widest connotation, refers to people of good social position connected to Landed property, landed es ...
and royal family, he is considered the major propagator of K. B. McFarlane's ideas on bastard feudalism, and published widely on a plethora of subjects ranging from the biographies of kings to the cartularies of minor abbeys.


Early life

Ross was born in
Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 109,766 in the 2021 census, up from 99,251 in the 2011 census. The city is the administrative centre of the wider Metropolit ...
to Florence Ross and her husband and was educated at the
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 ...
. He began reading History at
Brasenose College, Oxford Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The l ...
in 1942. This was followed by doctoral studies under K. B. McFarlane—"whose work was then transforming historical understanding of later medieval England"—and Ross's resultant
DPhil A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...
was entitled ''The Yorkshire Baronage, 1399–1425''.


Career

Following his doctorate, Ross began working at the
University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...
, where he would remain for the rest of his academic life, in 1947. Originally appointed Assistant Lecturer, he worked beneath David Douglas. Ross's final position at Bristol was as Professor of Medieval History, with a personal
chair A chair is a type of seat, typically designed for one person and consisting of one or more legs, a flat or slightly angled seat and a back-rest. It may be made of wood, metal, or synthetic materials, and may be padded or upholstered in vario ...
. Originally teaching alongside Margaret Sharp (daughter of T.F. Tout), he became reader and then Professor of Medieval History. Ross took early retirement in 1982 but maintained close ties with the University and continued his research. Indeed, he had contracted to write another book shortly before his death, and was attempting to give up drinking to that end.


Publishing

Ross published predominantly on the history of the later medieval English nobility, royalty and the
Wars of the Roses The Wars of the Roses, known at the time and in following centuries as the Civil Wars, were a series of armed confrontations, machinations, battles and campaigns fought over control of the English throne from 1455 to 1487. The conflict was fo ...
. His biographies of ''Edward IV'' from 1974, and ''Richard III'' seven years later were described by ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'' as respectively "scholarly and detailed" and perceptive". They fused easy reading, suitable for a general readership, with the minute approach to detail and sourcing required in a high-end piece of scholarship. The historian DeLloyd J. Guth concluded that the biography was "in the best tradition" of McFarlane, and left the previous work—Cora Scofield's 1926 biography—"flounder ngin a wealth of facts and episodes". Although Colin Richmond believed that it remained less an achievement than Scofield's—if only because it had greater and more plentiful scholarship to work upon—he praised Ross's analysis of political tension. King Edward IV was one of Ross's main royal interests. The other was
Richard III Richard III (2 October 1452 – 22 August 1485) was King of England from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the Plantagenet dynasty and its cadet branch the House of York. His defeat and death at the Battle of Boswor ...
. Before Ross's biography, Edward was seen as a generally successful, relatively modern king, and a worthy precursor to Henry VII, after Ross questioned "Edward’s newly enhanced reputation, the king’s prestige has once more been considerably set back". Ross appreciated the king in a particularly new way. Ross also edited several volumes of essays. For example, in 1970, Ross, Stanley Chrimes and Ralph Griffiths edited the papers presented at the 1970 medieval history colloquium in Cardiff. His friendship with the
Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...
publisher Alan Sutton allowed him to publish several books, including a compilation of his students' and colleagues' 1978 Bristol papers, again under his editorship.


Personal life and marriages

Ross was married twice. His first marriage, to Frances, lasted 23 years; she subsequently moved to
Swansea Swansea ( ; ) is a coastal City status in the United Kingdom, city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, second-largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of ...
. They had two children, Christopher—born shortly after the
Second World War 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 ...
—and a daughter, Miranda. His second wife was Anne Crawford, who had been a student of his at Bristol, and with whom he had a son, James. Crawford agreed to a divorce from Ross in 1985, following Ross’ long-term affair with Pamela Jefferis, whom he had met when she was taking evening classes at the university. Jefferis had separated from her husband over a decade earlier. His divorce from Crawford was made
absolute Absolute may refer to: Companies * Absolute Entertainment, a video game publisher * Absolute Radio, (formerly Virgin Radio), independent national radio station in the UK * Absolute Software Corporation, specializes in security and data risk ma ...
shortly before his death, but about a year before then he shared his apartment with Pamela Jefferis. She was later described as a "responsible and intelligent" woman. By the time Ross was due to retire, he was estranged from his second wife, who remained at their large family home in the Redland area bringing up their son alone. Ross lived in a "large, semi-detached Georgian" apartment in Clifton, in the heart of the university's housing, which he and Jefferis had bought between them in 1984. They apparently planned to marry towards the end of March but continued obstructions in their respective divorces had forced its cancellation twice. The defence suggested that it was these delays that had unbalanced Jefferis. Adding to her stress, Ross had become sicker since November 1985, which had made him harder to live with ("more petulant", it was later reported) and in April she discovered that one of her own children needed a
brain scan Neuroimaging is the use of quantitative (computational) techniques to study the structure and function of the central nervous system, developed as an objective way of scientifically studying the healthy human brain in a non-invasive manner. Incre ...
.


Death

Ross and Jefferis spent the days before his death "drinking heavily", reported the ''
Western Daily Press The ''Western Daily Press'' is a regional newspaper covering parts of South West England, mainly Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Somerset as well as the metropolitan areas of Bath and North East Somerset and the Bristol area. It is published Mon ...
''. Jefferis and Ross had stayed in the flat apart from a "brief" sojourn to a local hostelry. That evening, Thursday, 3 April 1986, at the age of 64, Ross was found dead there. The cause of death was a single stab wound in the back, which was later revealed to have pierced an
artery An artery () is a blood vessel in humans and most other animals that takes oxygenated blood away from the heart in the systemic circulation to one or more parts of the body. Exceptions that carry deoxygenated blood are the pulmonary arteries in ...
. The day before his death furniture and clothes were thrown down the stairs, and neighbours helped Jefferis carry them back up. The following night, she was overheard crying and neighbours called the police, who broke into Ross's flat and found Jefferis next to him, "staring 'vacantly' at her hands". She did not answer questions. A 25-strong police squad carried out house to house inquiries overnight. Jefferis, from Bishopstone, a mother of three and 42 at the time of the killing, was questioned by police on Friday night at
Southmead Southmead is a northern suburb and wards of the United Kingdom, council ward of Bristol, in the south west of England, bordered by Filton in South Gloucestershire and Monks Park, Horfield, Henleaze and Westbury on Trym. It is the location of on ...
police station, and that same morning an
autopsy An autopsy (also referred to as post-mortem examination, obduction, necropsy, or autopsia cadaverum) is a surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse by dissection to determine the cause, mode, and manner of deat ...
was performed by the
Home Office The Home Office (HO), also known (especially in official papers and when referred to in Parliament) as the Home Department, is the United Kingdom's interior ministry. It is responsible for public safety and policing, border security, immigr ...
pathologist. The following Monday she was remanded in custody at the Magistrates' Court for Ross's murder. On Saturday 11 July she was charged and sent to trial. At her trial at
Bristol Crown Court The Bristol Crown Court is a Crown Court venue which deals with criminal cases at Small Street in Bristol, England. The building, which was completed in 1868, was previously used as a main post office before it was converted for judicial use in ...
, Jefferis pled guilty to
manslaughter Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th ce ...
on account of
diminished responsibility In criminal law, diminished responsibility (or diminished capacity) is a potential defense by excuse by which defendants argue that although they broke the law, they should not be held fully criminally liable for doing so, as their mental funct ...
, which plea was accepted by the
prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the adversarial system, which is adopted in common law, or inquisitorial system, which is adopted in Civil law (legal system), civil law. The prosecution is the ...
. Defence counsel argued that it was unlikely the true facts surrounding that night would ever be known, suggesting that Jefferis suffered from such emotional collapse that she had erased all memory of events, a condition recognised by psychiatrists, he claimed. The Prosecution agreed that "mystery still surrounded" those last moments because of the parties' dependency on alcohol. The court heard that she and Ross had been in a relationship—described as often "stormy", as well as "turbulent ndviolent"―since around 1972. Ross's colleagues described how on one occasion he presented to the Homeopathic Hospital with glass in his eye, after his spectacles were smashed during a fight with her; another time, "he went to work limping, saying Mrs Jefferis had driven the car at him". Furthermore, both were apparently
alcoholic Alcoholism is the continued drinking of alcohol despite it causing problems. Some definitions require evidence of dependence and withdrawal. Problematic use of alcohol has been mentioned in the earliest historical records. The World Hea ...
s. Mr Justice Stuart-Smith, presiding, commented that "it is quite clear that alcoholism was at the root of this, it degraded you both... I do not suppose anyone will ever know what led you to putting that knife in him". Jefferis was said to have "cracked" under the strain the relationship put upon her; her defence said that—with the exception of her children—she had "destroyed what mattered to her... most of all". She was sent to prison for four years. A memorial service for Professor Ross was held at the Lord Mayor's Chapel on College Green on 4 July.


Influence and reputation

Ross was an archival historian. ''The Times'' described his
editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, a ...
ial method as being based on a "meticulous concern for detail". ''The Times'' wrote after his death of his "amusing and stimulating" lecturing style and how his teaching inspired many of his students to follow his path. The university's spokesman commented on Ross's various extracurricular activities but emphasised his scholarly achievements. He had an international reputation in his field.


'The Bristol connection'

In 1978, Ross organised a
symposium In Ancient Greece, the symposium (, ''sympósion'', from συμπίνειν, ''sympínein'', 'to drink together') was the part of a banquet that took place after the meal, when drinking for pleasure was accompanied by music, dancing, recitals, o ...
at Bristol with the intention of providing "an informal and friendly gathering" to allow younger scholars the opportunity to present their own
paper Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, Textile, rags, poaceae, grasses, Feces#Other uses, herbivore dung, or other vegetable sources in water. Once the water is dra ...
s. This symposium saw the unofficial foundation of the Bristol connection, a group of former students of Ross's and several contemporary historians. Among the former including Margaret Condon, Keith Dockray, Ralph Griffiths, Michael Hicks—"proud also to be a member of 'the Bristol connection'"—and Tony Pollard. Ross's pupils included Michael Hicks, Anne Crawford and Ralph Griffiths.Chrimes, S.B., Ross, C.D. & Griffiths, R.A. (eds), ''Fifteenth Century England, 1399–1509: Studies in Politics and Society'', Manchester 1972, xii To his students he passed on the approach of McFarlane, particularly that of drawing broad social or political themes from gentry and aristocratic networks. Hicks has called Ross the "founding father" of the 'Bristol connection'. Ross's students and colleagues intended a book of essays to be published in 1986 as a ''
Festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...
'' celebrating Ross's retirement. Edited by Professor Ralph Griffiths and Mr James Sherborne, it was published after Ross's death as a memorium. Ross's obituarist concluded that, personally, "he had a great sense of humour as well as a sharp wit, and he had a fund of good stories". His colleague, Professor Joel T. Rosenthal of SUNY, commented that "Ross's friends are also McFarlane's heirs, and that we are all
Marc Bloch Marc Léopold Benjamin Bloch ( ; ; 6 July 1886 – 16 June 1944) was a French historian. He was a founding member of the Annales School of French social history. Bloch specialised in medieval history and published widely on France in the Middle ...
's grandchildren".


Bibliography

*'Materials for the Study of Baronial Incomes in Fifteenth-Century England,' ''Economic History Review,'' NS, vol.6 no. 2 (1953) (with T.B. Pugh) *'The Estates and Finances of Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick,' ''Dugdale Society Occasional papers'' No. 12 (1956) *C. D. Ross (ed.), '' Cartulary of St. Mark's Hospital Bristol'' (Bristol Record Society Publications, Vol. XXI, Bristol, 1959) *''Fifteenth Century England, 1399-1509: Studies in Politics and Society'', Manchester 1972 (with Stanley Chrimes and Ralph Griffiths) *''Edward IV'' (1974) *''The Wars of the Roses: A Concise History'' (1976) *''Richard III'' (1981)


''Festschriften''

*


Notes


References


Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ross, Charles Derek 1924 births 1986 deaths English manslaughter victims 20th-century English historians Alumni of Brasenose College, Oxford