Paul Langford (20 November 1945 – 27 July 2015) was a British historian. From 2000 until late 2012 he was the rector of

Lincoln College, Oxford Lincoln College (formally, The College of the Blessed Mary and All Saints, Lincoln) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Lincoln was founded in 1427 by Richard Flemin ...

, succeeded by Professor

Henry Woudhuysen Henry Ruxton Woudhuysen, (born 24 October 1954), is a British academic specialising in Renaissance English literature. He was the Rector of Lincoln College, Oxford from 2012 to 2024. He was previously Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Humaniti ...

. Educated at

Monmouth School Monmouth School was a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (Independent school (United Kingdom), independent boarding school, boarding and day school, day school) for boys in Monmouth, Wales. The school was founded in 1614 with a beques ...

and

Hertford College, Oxford Hertford College ( ), previously known as Magdalen Hall, is a colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on Catte Street in the centre of Oxford, directly opposite the main ga ...

, Langford was elected to a

junior research fellowship After completing a postgraduate degree, one of the options is to pursue a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) program. These Ph.D programs cost money and time. To help a scholar there are many Research Fellowship Schemes in India funded by either a gov ...

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 Lincoln College in 1969, becoming a tutorial fellow in 1970. He was a

lecturer Lecturer is an academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. They may also conduct re ...

at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

from 1971 to 1994, being elected a reader in modern history in 1994 and becoming a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

in 1996. Having served as a member of the Humanities Research Board from 1995, in 1998 he was appointed chairman and chief executive of the newly established

Arts and Humanities Research Board The arts or creative arts are a vast range of human practices involving creative expression, storytelling, and cultural participation. The arts encompass diverse and plural modes of thought, deeds, and existence in an extensive range of me ...

, "dashing around the country, successfully selling the idea that research in the arts and humanities should be as fully and imaginatively funded as research in the social or natural sciences." He held this post until returning to Oxford to take up the rectorship of Lincoln College in 2000. Langford was 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 ...

from 1979, a fellow of the

British Academy The British Academy for the Promotion of Historical, Philosophical and Philological Studies is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the sa ...

from 1993 and was made an

honorary fellow Honorary titles (professor, president, reader, lecturer) in academia may be conferred on persons in recognition of contributions by a non-employee or by an employee beyond regular duties. This practice primarily exists in the UK and Germany, as ...

of Hertford College in 2000. In 2002, the

University of Sheffield The University of Sheffield (informally Sheffield University or TUOS) is a public university, public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Its history traces back to the foundation of Sheffield Medical School in 1828, Fir ...

awarded him an honorary

Doctor of Letters Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or '), also termed Doctor of Literature in some countries, is a terminal degree in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. In the United States, at universities such as Drew University, the degree ...

. His notable publications include ''A Polite and Commercial People. England 1727-1783'', the first volume to be published in the ''

New Oxford History of England The ''New Oxford History of England'' is a book series on the history of the British Isles. It is the successor to the ''Oxford History of England'' (1934–86). Eleven volumes were published between 1989 and 2010, with several volumes still to c ...

''. Langford married Margaret Edwards in 1970 and they had one son: Hugh. He was a

freeman Freeman, free men, Freeman's or Freemans may refer to: Places United States * Freeman, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Freeman, Illinois, an unincorporated community * Freeman, Indiana, an unincorporated community * Freeman, South Dako ...

of the

Worshipful Company of Haberdashers The Worshipful Company of Haberdashers, one of the Great Twelve City Livery Companies, is an ancient merchant guild of London associated with the silk and velvet trades. History and functions The Haberdashers' Company received its first ro ...

Selected writings

* P. Langford, The First Rockingham Administration, 1765–6 (Oxford, 1973) * P. Langford, The Excise Crisis: Society and Politics in the Age of Walpole (Oxford, 1975) * P. Langford, The Eighteenth Century, 1688–1815 (London, 1976) * P. Langford and W. B. Todd (eds.), The Writings and Speeches of Edmund Burke, vol. 2 “Party, Parliament, and the American War, 1766–1774.” (Oxford, 1981) * P. Langford, A Polite and Commercial People: England 1727–1783 (Oxford, 1989) * P. Langford, Public Life and the Propertied Englishman 1689–1798 (Oxford, 1991) * P. Langford, Eighteenth-Century Britain: a Very Short Introduction (Oxford, 2000)

References

External links

Paul Langford profile

''Debrett's People of Today''

''Biographical Memoir of Paul Langford as Fellow of the British Academy''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Langford, Paul 1945 births 2015 deaths People educated at Monmouth School for Boys Alumni of Hertford College, Oxford Fellows of Lincoln College, Oxford Rectors of Lincoln College, Oxford Historians of the University of Oxford Fellows of the British Academy Fellows of the Royal Historical Society People from Bridgend 20th-century Welsh historians 21st-century Welsh historians 20th-century Welsh male writers 21st-century Welsh male writers Political historians