Charles Henry Wilson CBE (16 April 1914 – 1 August 1991) was an English business historian and Professor of

Modern History The modern era or the modern period is considered the current historical period of human history. It was originally applied to the history of Europe and Western history for events that came after the Middle Ages, often from around the year 1500, ...

at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

.Peter Mathias, ‘Wilson, Charles Henry (1914–1991)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 200
accessed 10 Aug 2014
/ref> His best known work is his multi-volume history of

Unilever Unilever PLC () is a British multinational consumer packaged goods company headquartered in London, England. It was founded on 2 September 1929 following the merger of Dutch margarine producer Margarine Unie with British soap maker Lever B ...

, which is credited with establishing

corporate history A corporate history is a historical account of a business or other co-operative organization. Usually it is produced in written format but it can also be published as audio or audiovisually. Thousands of companies across the industrialized world ha ...

as a subject worthy of academic attention in the UK.

Early life and education

Wilson was born in

Market Rasen Market Rasen ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish within the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. The River Rase runs through it east to west, approximately north-east from Lincoln, England, Lincoln, eas ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

to Joseph Edwin Wilson and Louisa Maria ''née'' Berridge. He was educated at De Aston Grammar School. His forebears included small farmers and small businessmen, which contributed to his scepticism of the

Marxism Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflict, ...

that was fashionable during the 1930s. Wilson then went on to study the historical tripos at

Jesus College, Cambridge Jesus College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Jesus College was established in 1496 on the site of the twelfth-century Benedictine nunnery of St Radegund's Priory, Cambridge, St ...

. While at Cambridge, he took part in the music club, as he played viola. Academically he was mentored by Edward Welbourne, a senior tutor of Emmanuel College, to delve into the history of the Dutch trade in

East Anglia East Anglia is an area of the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, with parts of Essex sometimes also included. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, ...

. He stayed at Cambridge for his

postgraduate education Postgraduate education, graduate education, or graduate school consists of Academic degree, academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications usually pursued by higher education, post-secondary students who have ...

through a research fellowship. After briefly serving in the

British Admiralty The Admiralty was a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of the Government of the United Kingdom that was responsible for the command of the Royal Navy. Historically, its titular head was the Lord High Admiral of the ...

, Wilson returned to Cambridge.

Academic career

Wilson's main academic contributions were to the field of

business history Business history is a historiographical field which examines the history of firms, business methods, government regulation and the effects of business on society. It also includes biographies of individual firms, executives, and entrepreneurs ...

, particularly corporations and trade. The first two volumes of his three-volume history of

were published in 1954. The series critically examined the history of Unilever, a British-Dutch consumer-goods corporation. He analyzed the stages of growth, its adaptation to market preferences, and its expansion throughout the 20th century. The book marked a shift in the way business history was studied, engaging with the study of

entrepreneurs Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entreprene ...

and intra-firm dynamics. The study was commissioned by Geoffrey Heyworth, chairman of Unilever, to write a large-scale, independent, academic study of the business. In addition to

, Wilson also challenged the conceptual paradigm around

mercantilism Mercantilism is a economic nationalism, nationalist economic policy that is designed to maximize the exports and minimize the imports of an economy. It seeks to maximize the accumulation of resources within the country and use those resources ...

. In contrast with the orthodox views of Swedish

economic historian Economic history is the study of history using methodological tools from economics or with a special attention to economic phenomena. Research is conducted using a combination of historical methods, statistical methods and the application of ...

Eli Heckscher, Wilson sought to analyse the underlying political issues which supported mercantilist policies. Wilson was professor of modern history at the

from 1965 to 1979, and served as chair for 11 of those years. Wilson later taught at the

European University Institute The European University Institute (EUI) is an international postgraduate and post-doctoral research-intensive university and an intergovernmental organisation with juridical personality, established by its founding member states to contribu ...

Florence, Italy Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence was a centre of medieval European t ...

from 1975 to 1981, where he was professor of history and civilization, and later head of the department. Wilson was honored with the Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in 1981. He also served as a Fellow of the Royal Danish Academy (1970), Fellow of the Royal Academy of Belgium (1973), Vice 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 ...

(1981–1986). He received honorary degrees from the

, the

University of Groningen The University of Groningen (abbreviated as UG; , abbreviated as RUG) is a Public university#Continental Europe, public research university of more than 30,000 students in the city of Groningen (city), Groningen, Netherlands. Founded in 1614, th ...

(1964), and the University of Louvain (1977).

Personal life

Wilson married Angela Marshman, a solicitor's secretary, on 21 October 1939. Together they had one daughter. The couple divorced, and Wilson subsequently married Alena Emilie Horesovska, a school teacher from

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

, on 23 March 1972. During the postwar period, Wilson was a political conservative. He died on 1 August 1991 in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Publications

* Charles Wilson, ''Anglo-Dutch commerce & finance in the eighteenth century'' Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...

, 1941. * Charles Wilson, ''The history of Unilever. A study in economic growth and social change''. 2 vols. London: Cassell & Company, 1954. Ed. Cassell 1970: * Charles Wilson, ''Profit and power and mercantilism'', 1957 * Charles Wilson, ''England's apprenticeship, 1603–1763'', London: St. Martin's Press, 1965. * Charles Wilson, ''The Age of Expansion: Europe and the World, 1559–1660'' (ed. H. Trevor Roper, 1968) * Charles Wilson, ''The Dutch Republic and the Civilisation of the Seventeenth Century'' (1968) * Charles Wilson, ''The Transformation of Europe, 1558–1648'' (1976) * Charles Wilson, ''Introduction to the Sources of European Economic History, 1500–1800'' (with G. Parker, 1977) * Charles Wilson, ''Cambridge Economic History of Europe'', vols. 4 and 5 (with E. E. Rich) (1967, 1977) * Charles Wilson, ''New Cambridge Modern History'', vols. 7 and 11 (1957, 1962) * Charles Wilson, ''Australia, 1788–1988: the Creation of a Nation'' (1987)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Charles 1914 births 1991 deaths People from Market Rasen Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge 20th-century Royal Navy personnel Academic staff of the European University Institute Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of the British Academy English expatriates in Australia Fellows of Jesus College, Cambridge 20th-century English historians People educated at De Aston School Business historians Royal Navy sailors Military personnel from Lincolnshire

Early life and education

Academic career

Personal life

Publications

See also

References