Sir James Wycliffe Headlam-Morley,

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(24 December 1863 – 6 September 1929) was a British academic historian and classicist. He became a civil servant and government advisor on current foreign policy. He was known as James Wycliffe Headlam until 1918, when he changed his surname to Headlam-Morley by royal licence. He was knighted in 1929 for public service.

Family

He was the second son of Arthur William Headlam (1826–1908), vicar of Whorlton, County Durham, and was the younger brother of Arthur Cayley Headlam (1862–1947),

Bishop of Gloucester The Bishop of Gloucester is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Gloucester, England, Diocese of Gloucester in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers the Gloucestershire, County of Gloucestershire and part ...

. In 1893, he married Elisabeth Charlotta Henrietta Ernestina Sonntag (1866–1950), a German musician and composer who was also known as Else Headlam-Morley. The historian Agnes Headlam-Morley (1902–1986) was their daughter.

Education and career

He was educated at Eton,

King's College, Cambridge King's College, formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, is a List of colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college lies beside the River Cam and faces ...

, and in Germany where he studied with Treitschke and Hans Delbrück. From 1894–1900 he was Professor of Greek and Ancient History at

Queen's College, London Queen's College is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school for girls aged 11–18 with an adjoining prep school for girls aged 4–11 located in the City of Westminster, London. It was founded in 1848 by theologian and social ...

. An influential figure, he worked on propaganda in

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 ...

. At the end of the war, he was appointed as a

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * United ...

specialist on the British Empire Delegation to the Paris Peace Conference. He was involved in the drafting of the

Versailles Treaty The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed on 28 June 1919. As the most important treaty of World War I, it ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allied Powers. It was signed in the Palace of Versailles, exactl ...

, especially regarding Danzig. He effectively sponsored

Arnold J. Toynbee Arnold Joseph Toynbee (; 14 April 1889 – 22 October 1975) was an English historian, a philosopher of history, an author of numerous books and a research professor of international history at the London School of Economics and King's Coll ...

for appointment in 1924 to

Chatham House The Royal Institute of International Affairs, also known as Chatham House, is a British think tank based in London, England. Its stated mission is "to help governments and societies build a sustainably secure, prosperous, and just world". It ...

. He also gathered materials on the diplomatic history of the origins of the war as an official production of the

British government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

and contributed to it though the main editor was Harold Temperley. The historian Anna Cienciala attributes to Headlam and Sidney Edward Mezes, an academic and advisor to

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...

and Executive Director of the Inquiry group, the 1919 proposal to make Danzig a free city. He wrote numerous historical articles for the ''

Encyclopædia Britannica The is a general knowledge, general-knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It has been published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. since 1768, although the company has changed ownership seven times. The 2010 version of the 15th edition, ...

'' editions of 1902 and 1911, signing them "J.W.He."

Works

* ''On Election by Lot at Athens'' (1891); * ''Bismarck and the Foundation of the German Empire'' (1899) (availabl
online
* ''A Short History of Germany and Her Colonies'' (1914) with

Walter Alison Phillips Walter Alison Phillips (21 October 1864 – 28 October 1950) was an English historian, a specialist in the history of Europe in the 19th century. From 1914 to 1939 he was the first holder of the Lecky chair of History in Trinity College Dubli ...

and Arthur William Holland * ''The history of twelve days, July 24 to August 4, 1914'' (1915) * ''The Dead Lands of Europe'' (1917) * ''The German Chancellor and the Outbreak of War'' (1917) * ''The Issue'' (1917) * ''The Peace Terms of the Allies'' (1917) * ''The Starvation of Germany'' (1917) * ''British Documents on the Origins of the War 1898–1914 Volume XI The Outbreak of War Foreign Documents June 28 – August 4, 1914'' (1926) editor * ''Studies in Diplomatic History'' (1930) * ''A Memoir of the Paris Peace Conference 1919'' (1972) edited by Agnes Headlam-Morley, Russell Bryant and Anna Cienciala

References

External links

* * *
The Papers of Sir James Headlam-Morley
held at

Churchill Archives Centre The Churchill Archives Centre (CAC) at Churchill College at the University of Cambridge is one of the largest repositories in the United Kingdom for the preservation and study of modern personal papers. It is best known for housing the papers ...

From lecture notes of Anna M. Cienciala
,

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

, referring several times to Headlam in relation to post-World War I views of Europe
Online article
on the

Molotov–Ribbentrop pact The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, officially the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and also known as the Hitler–Stalin Pact and the Nazi–Soviet Pact, was a non-aggression pact between Nazi Ge ...

, mentioning Headlam's views in the 1920s {{DEFAULTSORT:Headlam, James Wycliffe 1863 births 1929 deaths British historians Alumni of King's College, Cambridge People from County Durham Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Knights Bachelor People educated at Eton College Fellows of King's College, Cambridge