''Barry William Higman (born 30 September 1943) is a retired Australian historian of Caribbean studies who primarily taught at the

University of the West Indies The University of the West Indies (UWI), originally University College of the West Indies, is a public university system established to serve the higher education needs of the residents of 18 English-speaking countries and territories in t ...

from 1971 to 1996. During his career, Higman wrote multiple books, including the 1977

Bancroft Prize The Bancroft Prize is awarded each year by the trustees of Columbia University for books about diplomacy or the history of the Americas. It was established in 1948, with a bequest from Frederic Bancroft, in his memory and that of his brother, d ...

-winning work ''Slave Population and Economy in Jamaica, 1807–1834'', before his retirement from academics in 2014. He was awarded a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

in 1987 and the

Musgrave Medal The Musgrave Medal is an annual award by the Institute of Jamaica in recognition of achievement in art, science, and literature.Webster, Valerie J. (2000), ''Awards, Honors & Prizes, Volume 2'', Gale Group, , p. 447. Originally conceived in 1889 ...

in 1992.

Early life and education

On 30 September 1943, Higman was born in

Wagga Wagga Wagga Wagga (; informally called Wagga) is a major regional city in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, with an urban population of more than 57,003 as of 2021, it is an important agricultural, m ...

, Australia. For his post-secondary education, he graduated from the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

in 1967 with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

before obtaining

Doctor of Philosophy 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 Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

degrees at the

in 1967 and the

University of Liverpool The University of Liverpool (abbreviated UOL) is a Public university, public research university in Liverpool, England. Founded in 1881 as University College Liverpool, Victoria University (United Kingdom), Victoria University, it received Ro ...

in 1971.

Career

Higman began his academic career in 1971 teaching at the University of the West Indies as a lecturer. He took a leave of absence in the late 1970s when he became a fellow at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

in the history department. During his academic career, Higman wrote multiple books focusing on Caribbean history including ''Slave Population and Economy in Jamaica, 1807–1834'', which was awarded the 1977

. Higman resumed his teaching with UWI in the late 1970s and became a history professor with the university in 1983. While working in history, Higman completed a three-year tenure as the history department chair in the mid 1980s and the early 1990s. In 1996, Higman left UWI to become a teacher at the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...

before his retirement in 2014.

Awards and honors

Higman was awarded a

in 1987 for studies in Iberian and Latin American history. Outside of the United States, Higman became a Fellow of the

Royal Historical Society The Royal Historical Society (RHS), founded in 1868, is a learned society of the United Kingdom which advances scholarly studies of history. Origins The society was founded and received its royal charter in 1868. Until 1872 it was known as the H ...

in 1988 and received the

in 1992.

Selected publications

* ''Slave Population and Economy in Jamaica, 1807–1834'' * ''How Food Made History'' * ''A Concise History of the Caribbean'' * ''Plantation Jamaica, 1750-1850: Capital and Control in a Colonial Economy'' * ''Jamaican Food'' * ''Montpelier, Jamaica: A Plantation Community in Slavery and Freedom 1739–1912'' * ''Jamaican Place Names'' * ''Jamaica Surveyed: Plantation Maps and Plans of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Higman, Barry W. 1943 births Academic staff of the Australian National University Academic staff of the University of the West Indies Alumni of the University of Liverpool Bancroft Prize winners Fellows of the Royal Historical Society Living people Recipients of the Musgrave Medal University of Sydney alumni University of the West Indies alumni