Reginald Ralph Darlington, FBA, FSA,

FRHistS 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 ...

(6 November 1903 – 30 May 1977) was an English historian."Darlington, Reginald Ralph"
''

Who Was Who ''Who's Who'' is a reference work. It has been published annually in the form of a hardback book since 1849, and has been published online since 1999. It has also been published on CD-ROM. It lists, and gives information on, people from around ...

'' (online ed.,

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 2007). Retrieved 16 March 2021.

Early life and education

Born in 1903, Darlington was raised in

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

. He attended

Ranelagh School Ranelagh School is a Church of England day school in Berkshire close to the centre of Bracknell. The school was founded by Lord Ranelagh in 1709. Admissions Attendance is limited to Church of England children whose parents attend church at lea ...

Bracknell Bracknell () is a town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, the westernmost area within the Greater London Built-up Area, Greater London Urban Area and the administrative centre of the borough of Bracknell Forest. It lies to the east of Re ...

before studying at the

University College, Reading The University of Reading is a public research university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as the University Extension College, Reading, an extension college of Christchurch College, Oxford, and became University College, ...

, to complete the external BA offered by the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

; it was awarded in 1924. He remained a student at the college for three more years. There, he was taught by the eminent medievalists Frank and Doris Stenton, who were formative influences on him and became good friends. Under Stenton, Darlington completed a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

on the '' Vita Wulfstani'', which was awarded in 1930.

Career, research and honours

Darlington had been appointed an assistant

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 Bedford College for Women in 1927. He was appointed to a readership at the

in 1936. In 1939, he moved to

University College, Exeter The University of Exeter is a research university in the West Country of England, with its main campus in Exeter, Devon. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School of ...

, to take up its first

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 ...

ship of history. He moved to

Birkbeck College, London Birkbeck, University of London (formally Birkbeck College, University of London), is a public research university located in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. Established in 1823 as the London Mechanics' ...

, in 1945 to be professor of history there; he remained there until retiring in 1969. Darlington's key works include editions of medieval documents:

William of Malmesbury William of Malmesbury (; ) was the foremost English historian of the 12th century. He has been ranked among the most talented English historians since Bede. Modern historian C. Warren Hollister described him as "a gifted historical scholar and a ...

's ''Vita Wulfstani'' ( Camden Series, 1928), ''The Cartulary of Darley Abbey'' (1945), ''The Glapwell Charters'' (1957–59), (with P. M. Barnes and F. C. Slade) ''The Winchcombe Annals 1049–1181'' (1962), and ''The Cartulary of Worcester Cathedral Priory'' (1968). His notes for an edition of the so-called ''chronicle'' of

Florence of Worcester __NOTOC__ Florence of Worcester (; died 1118) was a monk of Worcester, who played some part in the production of the '' Chronicon ex chronicis'', a Latin world chronicle which begins with the creation and ends in 1140.Keynes, "Florence". The natu ...

(now attributed to a monk called

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

) were destroyed in a bombing raid in 1942; although he was able to do much work on the project afterwards, he did not complete it before his death. His work was continued by Patrick McGurk and a full edition of ''The Chronicle of John of Worcester'' appeared in three volumes in the

Oxford Medieval Texts ''Oxford Medieval Texts'' (OMT), published by Oxford University Press, is a series of critical editions and translations of primary sources written during the Middle Ages. Focusing on works written in medieval Latin, it provides authoritative a ...

series in 1995. Darlington also wrote articles and chapters, but no

monograph A monograph is generally a long-form work on one (usually scholarly) subject, or one aspect of a subject, typically created by a single author or artist (or, sometimes, by two or more authors). Traditionally it is in written form and published a ...

, though his inaugural lecture at Birkbeck was published as ''Anglo-Norman Historians'' (1947). Darlington was elected 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 ...

(1928), the Society of Antiquaries (1946) and 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 ...

(1954). He delivered the Creighton Lecture at the University of London in 1962, served as vice-president of the

Pipe Roll Society The Pipe rolls, sometimes called the Great rollsBrown ''Governance'' pp. 54–56 or the Great Rolls of the Pipe, are a collection of financial records maintained by the English Exchequer, or Treasury, and its successors, as well as the Exchequ ...

from 1969 to 1976,Brown (1980), p. 435. and was elected a fellow of Birkbeck College in 1970. Darlington died on 30 May 1977.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Darlington, R. R. 1903 births 1977 deaths Alumni of the University of Reading Academics of Bedford College, London Academics of the University of London Academics of the University of Exeter Academics of Birkbeck, University of London Fellows of the British Academy Fellows of the Royal Historical Society Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London