William Henry Page (4 September 1861 – 3 February 1934) was a prolific and pioneering British historian and editor. For the last three decades of his life he was general editor of the ''
Victoria County History
The Victoria History of the Counties of England, commonly known as the Victoria County History (VCH), is an English history project which began in 1899 with the aim of creating an encyclopaedic history of each of the historic counties of Englan ...
''.
Life
William Page was born at his family's house at Norfolk Square,
Paddington
Paddington is an area in the City of Westminster, in central London, England. A medieval parish then a metropolitan borough of the County of London, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Paddington station, designed b ...
, London on 4 September 1861, the fifth of six children of merchant Henry Page and Georgina (née Forrester). He was privately schooled locally at Dr Westmacott's School and then entered
Westminster School
Westminster School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Westminster, London, England, in the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It descends from a charity school founded by Westminster Benedictines before the Norman Conquest, as do ...
, where his education was cut short by the death of his father in 1875. The family moved to "a genteel part" of
Lewisham
Lewisham ( ) is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the Historic counties of England, historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified in ...
, and Page was articled to a civil engineer. Page had two older brothers, one of whom moved to Australia; having completed his articles, in about 1881 Page followed him to take up an engineering post with the Government of Queensland. Page returned to London in 1884.
Page's eldest sister married the record agent and
antiquarian
An antiquarian or antiquary () is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artefacts, archaeological and historic si ...
William John Hardy, who employed Page from 1885. The business later became the partnership of Page and Hardy, with an office in
Lincoln's Inn
The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, commonly known as Lincoln's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for Barrister, barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister ...
.
In 1886 Page married Kate Marion Rowe. They settled in Forest Hill and had a daughter (Dorothy) and a son (Ivan).
As a record agent Page frequented 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 ...
at its then premises in
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,Thomas Duffus Hardy had been deputy keeper since 1861, succeeded by Hardy's father William Hardy. Page developed an interest in historical records, was elected to the Society of Antiquaries in 1887 and published his first article the next year.
Early historical works: Northumberland and Hertfordshire
Page initially concentrated his historical interest on
Northumberland
Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...
. His first article, published in 1888, was about the Northumbrian palatinates and regalities. He followed this with editions of three early
assize
The assizes (), or courts of assize, were periodic courts held around England and Wales until 1972, when together with the quarter sessions they were abolished by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent Crown Court. The assizes ex ...
County Durham
County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...
, Northumberland and
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...
(1897).
Page started to work on aspects of the history of Hertfordshire, where his brother-in-law and sister lived. In 1896 he moved to St Albans, where in 1897 he became assistant secretary of the St Albans Architectural and Archaeological Society. In the same year he helped the archaeological excavation of the churchyard of St Michael's parish church and in 1898–1902 helped the Rev. C.V. Bicknell to excavate the forum of Verulamium. Also in 1898 Page helped to found the Hertfordshire County Museum. Page remained a member of the St Albans Architectural and Archaeological Society after he later moved away from Hertfordshire.
''Victoria County History''
In 1899 Laurence Gomme and H. Arthur Doubleday launched the ''Victoria County History'' through Archibald Constable & Co, in which Doubleday was a partner. Doubleday formed the County History Syndicate, Ltd. to run the project. A friend of Page, J. Horace Round, recommended Page to Doubleday as a suitable local editor for the VCH's Hertfordshire volumes. Round recommended that a model parish history be drafted and circulated to the VCH's other editors. Page prepared the history of Wheathampstead in Hertfordshire, which was completed and circulated to VCH editors before the end of 1900. ''A History of the County of Hertford, Volume 1'' was published in 1902 with Page named as co-editor.
In 1902 Page gave up his partnership with W. J. Hardy and became joint general editor of the VCH. Page helped Doubleday to set the VCH's founding principles: a co-operative project in which nationally reputable historians would contribute according to their various specialisms, using the new disciplines of archaeology and economic history as well as
palaeography
Palaeography (American and British English spelling differences#ae and oe, UK) or paleography (American and British English spelling differences#ae and oe, US) (ultimately from , , 'old', and , , 'to write') is the study and academic disciplin ...
and the systematic study of surviving ancient buildings, and covering all counties of England in a systematic and uniform style. Page and Doubleday wrote and circulated a full and detailed ''Guide'' for VCH writers, apparently in 1903.
In 1904 Doubleday left Constable & Co. and Page took over as general editor of the VCH. The VCH moved into offices adjoining Constable's in James Street (later Orange Street) off Haymarket and Page moved from St Albans to a mansion block overlooking
Battersea Park
Battersea Park is a 200-acre (83-hectare) green space at Battersea in the London Borough of Wandsworth in London. It is situated on the south bank of the River Thames opposite Chelsea, London, Chelsea and was opened in 1858.
The park occupies ...
Hampstead
Hampstead () is an area in London, England, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, located mainly in the London Borough of Camden, with a small part in the London Borough of Barnet. It borders Highgate and Golders Green to the north, Belsiz ...
.
Frederick Smith's sponsorship
The VCH published a number of volumes in its early years but progress with documenting the topography of parishes was slow. In 1907 the VCH's main financial supporter withdrew in dissatisfaction and Page was obliged to lay off staff. By 1909 the VCH had negotiated support from the soldier, businessman and politician Frederick Smith of the
W H Smith
WH Smith plc, trading as WHSmith (also written WH Smith and formerly as W. H. Smith & Son), is a British retailer, with headquarters in Swindon, England, which operates a chain of railway station, airport, port, hospital and motorway service st ...
family, and Page was able to rehire the staff.
Page expanded the VCH staff so that by 1915 it included four sub-editors, four architectural historians and more than 40 research and clerical workers. Most of the latter were young women who had recently completed degree courses at Oxford, Cambridge, London or the Scottish universities. Oxford and Cambridge did not allow women to graduate until 1920 and 1921 respectively, although they allowed them to sit examinations and receive their full results. Under Page, the VCH became one of the relatively few employers to offer women graduate-level employment. However, the VCH's work on architectural history remained the preserve of a team of young men.
Page joined the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England as an assistant commissioner in 1909 and became a commissioner in 1921. For the Commission he wrote historical summaries for the county inventories for Hertfordshire (published in 1911),
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...
(published in two volumes in 1912 and 1913) and
Essex
Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...
(published in four volumes between 1916 and 1913).
The
First World War
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
induced a greater crisis for he VCH. Sales rapidly declined, staff left to join the armed services or take other war work and Page was obliged to suspend the project until the end of the War. Page instead spent the war editing a four-volume history of the kings and queens of England that was published from 1917 to 1922, and a two-volume economic history published in 1919.
Post-war economic conditions did not support resumption of the VCH project on its pre-war scale so The County History Syndicate was dissolved in 1920 and Page continued work unsalaried. In 1922 he secured the resumption of support from Frederick Smith, who was by now the 2nd Viscount Hambleden. Page moved home again, this time to the new development of Middleton-on-Sea in West Sussex. He took with him 14 tons of VCH materials and had a wooden building large enough to house them all erected in his garden. He continued work on editor's expenses only and still without a salary.
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 ...
's
Institute of Historical Research
The Institute of Historical Research (IHR) is a British educational organisation providing resources and training for historical researchers. It is part of the School of Advanced Study in the University of London and is located at Senate Hou ...
and in 1922 it provided the VCH with an office in its temporary accommodation in Malet Street, London. However Page made little use of it and continued to work mostly from his garden headquarters in Middleton-on-Sea.
In 1931 Page's daughter Dorothy married Sir Richard Gregory, the editor of ''
Nature
Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...
''. In 1932 the University of Oxford awarded Page an honorary '' D. Litt.''
In 1931 the Viscount Hambleden withdrew his family's support for the VCH. Page bought the rights to the name early in 1932 and transferred both ownership and management of the project to the IHR in 1933. The IHR created a VCH Committee, which elected Page as its first chairman and appointed him to continue as editor. However, in February 1934 Page died at home in Middleton at the age of 72.
Page was succeeded by the economic historian L.F. Salzman, who had been on the VCH staff since 1904. The VCH's ''A History of the County of Berkshire, Volume 2'', published in 1935, included an obituary and portrait photograph of Page.
Achievements at the VCH
Under Page's editorship the VCH published 89 volumes including 10 complete county sets. A number of further volumes were in preparation at the time of his death, and under Page the VCH was further advanced at completing general articles on topography. This helps to explain how Page's name appears as an editor of a number of volumes published after his death, including '' History of the County of Rutland'', Volume 2 (1935), ''A History of the County of Huntingdon'', Volume 2 (1936), ''A History of the County of Oxford'', Volume 1 (1939), ''A History of the County of Warwick'', Volume 2 (1947), ''A History of the County of Hertford'', Volume 4 (1971), A ''History of the County of Sussex'', Volume 2 (1973), ''A History of the County of York'', Volume 3 (1974) and ''A History of the County of Suffolk'', Volume 2 (1975).