Robin Lyndsey Storey (1927 – 4 July 2005), usually cited as R. L. Storey, was an English

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 ...

specialising in

late medieval The late Middle Ages or late medieval period was the period of European history lasting from 1300 to 1500 AD. The late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period (and in much of Europe, the Renai ...

English political and church history.

Early years

Robin Storey was born in 1927 in Northumberland and educated at

Whitley Bay Grammar School Whitley may refer to: Places ;United Kingdom *Whitley, Berkshire, a suburb of Reading *Whitley, Cheshire, a village near Warrington *Whitley, Coventry, a suburb of Coventry, West Midlands *Whitley, Essex, near Birdbrook *Whitley, Wigan, Greater Ma ...

. He did

National Service National service is a system of compulsory or voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act ...

at the close of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in the RAF, which took him to the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

.Jones, M. & McHardy, A., 'In Memoriam', ''Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeology Society'', 3rd ser. 6 (2006), 287 He studied

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, ...

New College, Oxford New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...

and from 1948, moved to the

University of Durham Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by royal charter in 1837. It was the first recognised university to ...

to carry out doctoral research into the career of Thomas Langley,

Bishop of Durham The bishop of Durham is head of the diocese of Durham in the province of York. The diocese is one of the oldest in England and its bishop is a member of the House of Lords. Paul Butler (bishop), Paul Butler was the most recent bishop of Durham u ...

as both '

statesman A statesman or stateswoman is a politician or a leader in an organization who has had a long and respected career at the national or international level, or in a given field. Statesman or statesmen may also refer to: Newspapers United States ...

and bishop,' which was submitted in January 1954. At Durham he was a member of

St Cuthbert's Society St Cuthbert's Society, colloquially known as Cuth's, is a colleges of Durham University, college of Durham University. It was founded in 1888 for students who were not attached to the existing colleges. St Cuthbert's Society is a Bailey college, ...

Career

In 1953 Storey joined the

Public Record Office The Public Record Office (abbreviated as PRO, pronounced as three letters and referred to as ''the'' PRO), Chancery Lane in the City of London, was the guardian of the national archives of the United Kingdom from 1838 until 2003, when it was m ...

Chancery Lane Chancery Lane is a one-way street that forms part of the City of London#Boundary, western boundary of the City of London. The east side of the street is entirely within the City, where he met his future wife. His employment provided him with the opportunity for research that would later form the basis of his studies of the Wardens of the Scottish Marches and the last years of the

House of Lancaster The House of Lancaster was a cadet branch of the royal House of Plantagenet. The first house was created when King Henry III of England created the Earldom of Lancasterfrom which the house was namedfor his second son Edmund Crouchback in 1267 ...

, partly at least on the suggestion of his colleagues. This research was eventually published in 1966 as ''The End of The House of Lancaster'' by

Manchester University Press Manchester University Press is the university press of the University of Manchester, England, and a publisher of academic books and journals. Manchester University Press has developed into an international publisher. It maintains its links with t ...

. In this, Storey proposed that the fall of the Lancastrian regime, and the beginning of the

Wars of the Roses The Wars of the Roses, known at the time and in following centuries as the Civil Wars, were a series of armed confrontations, machinations, battles and campaigns fought over control of the English throne from 1455 to 1487. The conflict was fo ...

were to be found in 'the compulsions of bastard feudalism', and, in Stores' own words, ' 'the escalation of private feuds' by the nobility. By 1962 he had joined the

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public research university in Nottingham, England. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. Nottingham's main campus (University Park Campus, Nottingh ...

, where he would stay for the next 28 years, finally retiring as

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 ...

of English Medieval History. Notably, he was concurrently both

Dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean * Dean Sw ...

of his department and chair of his

AUT AUT may refer to the following. Locations *Austria (ISO 3166-1 country code) *Agongointo-Zoungoudo Underground Town, Benin * Aktio–Preveza Undersea Tunnel, Greece *Airstrip on Atauro Island, East Timor (IATA airport code) Organizations *Arri ...

branch.

Support for local historical societies

Storey was both

treasurer A treasurer is a person responsible for the financial operations of a government, business, or other organization. Government The treasury of a country is the department responsible for the country's economy, finance and revenue. The treasure ...

(1958–1965) and general editor (1969–79 and 1994–2003) of the Canterbury and York Society, as well as a councillor for 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 ...

, the Thoroton Society, and the

Lincoln Record Society Lincoln Record Society is a British text publication society founded in 1910 which edits and publishes historic records relating to Lincolnshire and the Diocese of Lincoln. The ancient diocese covered not only Lincolnshire, but also Leicesters ...

. Having joined the

Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society The Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society, founded in 1866, is a local historical, antiquarian, archaeological and text publication society and registered charity covering the modern county of Cumbria. Aims The soc ...

the year he moved to London, writing for them frequently, particularly on the ecclesiastical institutions and law and order issues of the fifteenth century

North West England North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of 7,4 ...

., as well as for other societies further afield.Storey, R. L., 'Bastard Feudalism Revisited', ''Bulletin of the Manorial Society of Great Britain'', 3 (1983), 7–15.

Publications

Books

* ''The Register of Thomas Langley bishop of Durham 1406–1437'' 4 vols, (Durham, 1956–61) * ''The End of the House of Lancaster'' (Manchester, 1966) * ''The Reign of Henry VII'' (Blandford, 1968) * ''The Register of Gilbert Welton, Bishop of Carlisle 1353–1362'' (Woodbridge, 1999) * ''The Register of Thomas Appleby, Bishop of Carlisle: 1363–1395'' (Woodbridge, 2006)

Articles

* "Marmaduke Lumley, Bishop of Carlisle, 1430–1450', ''Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society'', NS 55 (1955), 112–31 * "The Wardens of the Marches of England towards Scotland, 1377–1489", ''English Historical Review'', 72 (1957), 593–615 * "Episcopal King Makers in the Fifteenth Century", in Dobson, R. (ed.), ''The Church, Politics and Patronage in the Fifteenth Century'', pp. 82–98 * "The universities during the Wars of the Roses", in Williams, D. (ed.), ''England in the Fifteenth Century'' (Woodbridge, 1987), pp. 315–327 * "The First Convocation, 1257?", in P. R. Coss and S. Lloyd (eds), ''Thirteenth Century England III'' (Woodbridge, 1991)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Storey, R.L. 1927 births 2005 deaths English historians Alumni of New College, Oxford Alumni of St Cuthbert's Society, Durham Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Academics of the University of Nottingham