Kate Norgate (8 December 1853 – 17 April 1935) was a British historian. She was one of the first women to achieve academic success in this sphere, and is best known for her history of England under the Angevin kings and for coining the name

Angevin Empire The Angevin Empire (; ) was the collection of territories held by the House of Plantagenet during the 12th and 13th centuries, when they ruled over an area covering roughly all of present-day England, half of France, and parts of Ireland and Wal ...

to describe their domains. She was self-educated in the Victorian era when higher education was generally denied to women. Her obituary in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' described her as "the most learned woman historian of the pre-academic period."

Early life

Norgate was the only child of bookseller Frederic Norgate (1817–1908), a partner in Messrs Williams and Norgate, and Fanny, daughter of John Athow, a stonemason and surveyor. Her paternal grandfather was the journalist and writer Thomas Starling Norgate, through whom she came into contact with a group of writers operating in Norwich. She became a friend of the historians

John Richard Green John Richard Green (12 December 1837 – 7 March 1883) was an English historian. Early life Green was born on 12 December 1837, the son of a tradesman in Oxford, where he was educated, first at Magdalen College School, and then at Jesus C ...

and his wife

Alice Stopford Green Alice Stopford Green (30 May 1847 – 28 May 1929) was an Irish historian, nationalist, and member of the first Seanad Éireann. Early life She was born Alice Sophia Amelia Stopford in Kells, County Meath. Her father Edward Adderley Stopford ...

, who were particularly influential on her development. When J. R. Green died, Norgate helped his widow in editing much of his work.

Career

Norgate spent fifteen years in producing her first work, ''England under the Angevin Kings'' (1887) which was regarded as authoritative. Later writing included ''John Lackland'' (1902), and ''Richard the Lion Heart'' (1924). Although her writing was popular with the public, scholars were increasingly critical of a lack of reference to primary sources. Norgate contributed 44 entries 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 1929 she was elected an honorary fellow of

Somerville College, Oxford Somerville College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. It began admitting men in 1994. The colle ...

, "belated recognition" in the face of having outlived most of her contemporaries and her popularity, dying largely forgotten. Kate Norgate never married; she lived at Jasmine Cottage, 2 Church Lane,

Gorleston-on-Sea Gorleston-on-Sea (), historically and colloquially known as Gorleston, is a seaside town in the borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England. It lies to the South of Great Yarmouth, on the opposite side of the mouth of the River Yare. Historic ...

, near

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth ( ), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside resort, seaside town which gives its name to the wider Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. Its fishing industry, m ...

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

, from 1921 until her death in 1935. On 13 April 2024 a blue plaque was installed on her former home (now known as 58 Church Lane following re-numbering in c.1937) by the Great Yarmouth Local History & Archaeological Society.

Works

* Kate Norgat
''England under the Angevin Kings''
In Two Volumes- Originally Published: London (1887). * J.R. Green, M. A. Edited by Mrs. J.R. Green and Miss Kate Norgate. '' Green's "Short History," Illustrated
A Short History Of The English People
'' In four volumes. New-York: Harper & Brothers. (1895). * Kate Norgate, ''The Alleged Condemnation of King John by the Court of France in 1202'' Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, New Series, Vol. 14, (1900), pp. 53–67 * Kate Norgate
''John Lackland''
(1902) Macmillan (See

John, King of England John (24 December 1166 – 19 October 1216) was King of England from 1199 until his death in 1216. He lost the Duchy of Normandy and most of his other French lands to King Philip II of France, resulting in the collapse of the Angevin Empi ...

.) * Kate Norgate
''The Minority of Henry the Third''
(1912) * Kate Norgate,
Richard the Lion Heart
' (1924). * Kate Norgate, ''Philip of France Wins the French Domains of the English Kings (1202–1204)'' Research paper(1912).

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Norgate, Kate 1853 births 1935 deaths 19th-century British historians British women historians 19th-century British women writers 20th-century British historians 20th-century British women writers Fellows of Somerville College, Oxford