Robert Jeremy Adam Inch Catto (27 July 1939 – 17 August 2018) was a British historian who was a

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and

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Oriel College, Oxford Oriel College () is Colleges of the University of Oxford, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title for ...

between 1970 and 2006. His research interests lay in the politics and religion of later medieval England. In a piece in ''

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'' to commemorate his retirement in June 2006,

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MP described him as "the quintessential Oxford don ... if one were to devour C. P. Snow, '' Goodbye, Mr. Chips'' and '' Porterhouse Blue'', there is a smattering of Catto in each." He died of cancer on 17 August 2018 at the age of 79.

Academic career

Catto was born on 27 July 1939 in

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

to Archibald and Grace Catto. His father was a businessman who operated a rubber plantation in

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and his mother was a teacher; his uncle Thomas Catto was

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between 1944 and 1949. Catto was educated at the Royal Grammar School, Newcastle upon Tyne before winning a Brackenbury Scholarship to study history 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 ...

, where he graduated with first-class honours. He held a master's degree ( M.A.) and a doctorate ( D.Phil.) From 1964 to 1969 he was employed as a tutor at Hatfield College, Durham. During this time he became acquainted with Mark Lancaster and

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, who were then art students in nearby Newcastle. At Oriel College, Catto held a variety of posts, including senior dean, vice provost, steward of the Senior Common Room and editor of the college ''Record''. Within the Faculty of History he served as director of graduate studies, and he was also a senior librarian of the

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for 30 years.

Personal life

Catto met his partner, John Wolfe, in 1961 in

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. They remained together until Catto's death and entered into a civil partnership in 2017. After Catto's retirement in 2006 they lived together in Eydon,

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, though he continued to visit

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several times a week. A

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since the age of 17, in retirement he became closely involved with his local church.

Publications

* (ed. with T. A. R. Evans)
''The History of the University of Oxford Volume I: The Early Oxford Schools''
(28 June 1984)

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* (ed. with T. A. R. Evans)
''The History of the University of Oxford Volume II: Late Mediaeval Oxford''
(17 December 1992)

* "The King's Government and the Fall of Pecock 1457–58" in ''Rulers and Ruled in Late Mediaeval England'' (ed. R. E. Archer and Simon Walker), (Hambledon, 1995) pp. 201–222 * (ed. with L. Mooney), ''The Chronicle of John Somer'', OFM (Camden Miscellany 34, 1997) * 'Currents of religious thought and expression' in Cambridge Medieval History (ed. M. C. E. Jones), Vol 6 (Cambridge, 2000) pp. 42–65

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Catto, Jeremy 1939 births 2018 deaths People educated at the Royal Grammar School, Newcastle upon Tyne Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Academics of Durham University Fellows of Oriel College, Oxford Historians of the University of Oxford British LGBTQ historians 20th-century English historians 21st-century English historians 20th-century English male writers 21st-century English male writers 20th-century English LGBTQ people 21st-century English LGBTQ people English medievalists Historians of Christianity Writers from Newcastle upon Tyne Deaths from cancer in England