Sir Charles Harding Firth (16 March 1857 – 19 February 1936) was a British

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 species; as well as the ...

. He was one of the founders of the

Historical Association The Historical Association is a membership organisation of historians and scholars founded in 1906 and based in London. Its goals are to support "the study and enjoyment of history at all levels by creating an environment that promotes lifelong lea ...

in 1906. Esmond de Beer wrote that Firth "knew the men and women of the seventeenth century much as a man knows his friends and acquaintances, not only as characters but also in the whole moral and intellectual world in which they lived."

Career

Born in Sheffield, Firth was educated at

Clifton College Clifton College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in the city of Bristol in South West England, founded in 1862 and offering both boarding school, boarding and day school for pupils aged 13–18. In its early years, unlike mo ...

and at

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and aro ...

. At university he received the Stanhope prize for an essay on

Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley Richard Colley Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley, (20 June 1760 – 26 September 1842) was an Anglo-Irish politician and colonial administrator. He was styled as Viscount Wellesley until 1781, when he succeeded his father as 2nd Earl of ...

in 1877 and was a member of the exclusive

Stubbs Society The Stubbs Society for Foreign Affairs and Defence, commonly referred to simply as Stubbs Society, is the University of Oxford's oldest officially affiliated paper-reading and debating society (not to be confused with the unaffiliated debating ...

for high-achieving historians. He became lecturer at Pembroke College in 1887, and fellow of

All Souls College All Souls College (official name: The College of All Souls of the Faithful Departed, of Oxford) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Unique to All Souls, all of its members automatically become fellows (i.e., full me ...

in 1901. He was Ford's lecturer in English history in 1900, was elected FBA in 1903 and became

Regius Professor of Modern History at Oxford The Regius Professor of History (until 2011, Modern History) at the University of Oxford is a long-established professorial position. Holders of the title have often been medieval historians. The first appointment was made in 1724. The term "Regi ...

in succession to

Frederick York Powell Frederick York Powell (4 January 1850 – 8 May 1904) was an English historian and scholar. Biography He was born on 4 January 1850 at 43 Woburn Place, Bloomsbury, London, the son of Frederick Powell, a commissariat merchant, and his wife Ma ...

in 1904. Firth's historical work was almost entirely confined to English history during the time of the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

and the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

; and although he is somewhat overshadowed by S. R. Gardiner, who wrote about the same period, his books were highly regarded.

Teaching vs scholarship

Firth was a great friend and ally of T. F. Tout, who was professionalising the History undergraduate programme at

Manchester University The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

, especially by introducing a key element of individual study of original sources and production of a thesis. Firth's attempts to do likewise at Oxford brought him into bitter conflict with the college fellows, who had little research expertise of their own and saw no reason why their undergraduates should be made to acquire such arcane, even artisan, skills, given their likely careers. They saw Firth as a power-seeker for the university professoriate as against the role of the colleges as proven finishing-schools for the country and empire's future establishment. Firth failed but the twentieth century saw universities go his and Tout's way. He was elected a member of the

American Antiquarian Society The American Antiquarian Society (AAS), located in Worcester, Massachusetts, is both a learned society and a national research library of pre-twentieth-century American history and culture. Founded in 1812, it is the oldest historical society in ...

in 1892. He served as president 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 ...

from 1913 to 1917. His letters to Tout are in the latter's collection in the

John Rylands Library The John Rylands Research Institute and Library is a Victorian era, late-Victorian Gothic Revival architecture, neo-Gothic building on Deansgate in Manchester, England. It is part of the University of Manchester. The library, which opened to t ...

Major works

''Life of the Duke of Newcastle''
(1886)
''Scotland and the Commonwealth''
(1895)
''Scotland and the Protectorate''
(1899)

(1900)
''Oliver Cromwell and the Rule of the Puritans in England''
(1900)
''Cromwell's Army: A History of the English Soldier during the Civil Wars, the Commonwealth and the Protectorate''
(1902) (publication of Firth's Ford Lectures given at Oxford, 1900–1901) *The standard edition of Ludlow'
''Memoirs''
(1894). He also edited th
''Clarke Papers''
(1891–1901), and Mrs Hutchinson's ''Memoirs of Colonel Hutchinson'' (1885), and wrote an introduction to the
Stuart Tracts, 1603–1693
' (1903), besides contributions to the ''

Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

''. In 1909 he published ''The Last Years of the Protectorate''. Godfrey Davies, who had been Firth's student and then his research assistant at Oxford between 1910 and 1925, edited and published Firth's posthumously published works.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Firth, Charles Harding 1857 births 1936 deaths 19th-century English historians 20th-century English historians People educated at Clifton College Fellows of All Souls College, Oxford Fellows of Pembroke College, Oxford Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Presidents of the Royal Historical Society People from Ecclesall Knights Bachelor Regius Professors of History (University of Oxford) English legal writers Fellows of the British Academy

Career

Teaching vs scholarship

Major works

See also

References

Further reading

External links