Charles Ross (historian)

For other people with the same name, see Charles Ross (disambiguation).

Charles Derek Ross (1924 – 1986) was an English historian of the Late Middle Ages. Originally from Yorkshire, he earned a DPhil from Oxford University and worked as a lecturer, researcher and ultimately professor at the University of Bristol from 1947 until his death in 1986. Specialising in the medieval English nobility, gentry and royal family, he is considered the major propagator of K. B. McFarlane's ideas on bastard feudalism and published widely on a plethora of subjects ranging from the biographies of kings to the cartularies of minor abbeys.

Early life

Ross was born in Wakefield and educated at the grammar school. He began reading History at Brasenose College, Oxford in 1942. This was followed by doctoral studies under K. B. McFarlane—"whose work was then transforming historical understanding of later medieval England"—and Ross's resultant DPhil was entitled The Yorkshire Baronage, 1399–1425.

Career

Following his doctorate, Ross began working at the University of Bristol, where he would remain for the rest of his academic life, in 1947. Originally appointed Assistant Lecturer, he worked beneath David Douglas. Ross's final position at Bristol was as Professor of Medieval History, with a personal chair.

Originally teaching alongside Margaret Sharp (daughter of T.F. Tout), he became reader and then Professor of Medieval History Originally teaching alongside Margaret Sharp (daughter of T.F. Tout), he became reader and then Professor of Medieval History

She taught jointly with a much younger man, Charles Ross, who was a 15th-century historian, and I opted to do the special subject which they taught together—I suppose looking back on it, as far as we were concerned quite easily, but from their point of view it was probably rather difficult, because he was very young and she was in the latter stages of her career. But they did it extremely well.

Ralph A. Griffiths recalling Ross and Sharp's joint Special Subject at Bristol.

Ross took early retirement in 1982 but maintained close ties with the University and continued his research. Indeed, he had contracted to write another book shortly before his death.

Publishing

Ross published predominantly on the history of the later medieval English nobility, royalty and the Wars of the Roses. His biographies of Edward IV from 1974, and Richard III seven years later were described by The Times as respectively "scholarly and detailed" and perceptive". They fused easy reading, suitable for a general readership, with the minute approach to detail and sourcing required in a high-end piece of scholarship. One of Ross's main interests, and the subject of one of his major monographs, was Richard III. Ross appreciated the king in a particularly new way. Ross also edited several volumes of essays. For example, in 1970, Ross, Stanley Chrimes and Ralph Griffiths edited the papers presented at the 1970 medieval history colloquium in Cardiff. His friendship with the Gloucestershire publisher Alan Sutton allowed him to publish several books, including a compilation of his students' and colleagues' 1978 Bristol papers, again under his editorship.

Personal life and death

Ross was married twice. His second wife was Anne Crawford, with whom he had a son, James. Ross remained at Bristol until his death. For about a year before then he shared his apartment with Pamela Jefferis—variously described as an insurance agent, a financial consultant—and both were now divorcees.

Westbourne Place, Clifton, Bristol, as seen in May 2019, Professor Ross's last residence

By the time Ross was due to retire, he was estranged from his second wife, although she also lived in the city. Ross lived in a "large, semi-detached Georgian" apartment in Clifton, in the heart of the university's housing. Ross and Jefferis planned to marry towards the end of March but continued obstructions in their respective divorces had forced a cancellation. The defence suggested that it was these delays that had unbalanced Jefferis.

Death

On the evening of Thursday, 3 April 1986, at the age of 64, Ross was found dead there. The cause of death was a single stab wound in the back, which was later revealed to have pierced an artery. Witnesses later told how she was overheard crying in his flat on the night of his death. Neighbours called the police, who broke into Ross's flat and found Jefferis next to him, "staring 'vacantly' at her hands". A 25-strong police squad carried out house to house inquiries overnight.

Jefferis, from Bishopstone, a mother of three and 42 at the time of the killing, was questioned by police on Friday night at Southmead police station, and that same morning an autopsy was performed by the Home Office pathologist. The following Monday she was remanded in custody at the Magistrates' Court for Ross's murder. On Saturday 11 July she was charged and sent to trial.

At her trial at Bristol Crown Court, Jefferis pled guilty to manslaughter on account of diminished responsibility, which plea was accepted by the prosecutor. Defence counsel argued that it was unlikely the true facts surrounding that night would ever be known, suggesting that Jefferis suffered from such emotional collapse that she had erased all memory of events, a condition recognised by psychiatrists, he claimed. The Prosecution agreed that "mystery still surrounded" those last moments because of the parties' dependency on alcohol. The court heard that she and Ross had been in a relationship—described as often "stormy", as well as "turbulent [and] violent"―for around 12 years by the time of his death. Furthermore, both were apparently alcoholics. Mr Justice Stuart-Smith, presiding, commented that "it is quite clear that alcoholism was at the root of this, it degraded you both ... I do not suppose anyone will ever know what led you to putting that knife in him". Jefferis was said to have "cracked" under the strain the relationship put upon her; her defence said that—with the exception of her children—she had "destroyed what mattered to her ... most of all". She was sent to prison for four years. A memorial service for Professor Ross was held at the Lord Mayor's Chapel on College Green on 4 July.

Influence and reputation

Ross was an archival historian. The Times described his editorial method as being based on a "meticulous concern for detail". The Times wrote after his death of his "amusing and stimulating" lecturing style and how his teaching inspired many of his students to follow his path. He had an international reputation in his field.

'The Bristol connection'

In 1978, Ross organised a symposium at Bristol with the intention of providing "an informal and friendly gathering" to allow younger scholars the opportunity to present their own papers. This symposium saw the unofficial foundation of the Bristol connection, a group of former students of Ross's and several contemporary historians. Among the former including Margaret Condon, Keith Dockray, Ralph Griffiths, Michael Hicks—"proud also to be a member of 'the Bristol connection'—and Tony Pollard.

Ross's pupils included Michael Hicks, Anne Crawford and Ralph Griffiths. To his students he passed on the approach of McFarlane, particularly that of drawing broad social or political themes from gentry and aristocratic networks. Hicks has called Ross the "founding father" of the 'Bristol connection'.

Ross's students and colleagues intended a book of essays to be published in 1986 as a Festschrift celebrating Ross's retirement. Edited by Professor Ralph Griffiths and Mr James Sherborne, it was published after Ross's death as a memorium.

Ross's obituarist concluded that, personally, "he had a great sense of humour as well as a sharp wit, and he had a fund of good stories". his colleague, Professor Joel T. Rosenthal of SUNY, commented that "Ross's friends are also McFarlane's heirs, and that we are all Marc Bloch's grandchildren .

Bibliography

• 'Materials for the Study of Baronial Incomes in Fifteenth-Century England,' Economic History Review, NS, vol.6 no. 2 (1953) (with T.B. Pugh)
• 'The Estates and Finances of Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick,' Dugdale Society Occasional papers No. 12 (1956)
• Fifteenth Century England, 1399-1509: Studies in Politics and Society, Manchester 1972 (with Stanley Chrimes and Ralph Griffiths)
• Edward IV (1974) ISBN 0-413-28680-0
• The Wars of the Roses: A Concise History (1976) ISBN 0-500-25049-9
• Richard III (1981) ISBN 0-413-29530-3

References

Sources

• Carpenter, C. (1997). The Wars of the Roses: Politics and the Constitution in England, c. 1437–1509. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-31874-7.
• Clark, L.; Fleming, P., eds. (2020). "List of Contributors". Rulers, Regions and Retinues: Essays Presented to A. J. Pollard. The Fifteenth Century. Vol. XVIII. Woodbridge: Boydell & Brewer. pp. 183–184. ISBN 978-1-78327-563-2.
• Daily Telegraph (5 April 1986a). "Woman Quizzed on Stabbing". Daily Telegraph. OCLC 49632006.
• Daily Telegraph (7 April 1986b). "Tutor Murder Charge Remand". Daily Telegraph. OCLC 49632006.
• Daily Telegraph (12 April 1986c). "Tutor Murder Charge". Daily Telegraph. OCLC 49632006.
• Daily Telegraph (1 November 1986d). "Four Years for Lover who Killed Historian". Daily Telegraph. OCLC 49632006.
• Dockray, K.; Fleming, P. (2003). "Authority and Subversion: A Conference on Fifteenth-century England Held at the University of the West of England, St. Matthias Campus, Bristol, 6-8 September 2001". In Clark, L. (ed.). Authority and Subversion. The Fifteenth Century. Vol. III. Woodbridge: Boydell & Brewer. pp. 1–4. ISBN 978-1-84383-025-2.
• Hewett, C. (4 April 1986). "Stab Murder of Professor". Evening Post. OCLC 50857379.
• Hicks, M. A. (1995). Bastard Feudalism. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-31789-896-2.
• Home News (1 November 1986a). "Historian killed by 'Distraught' Alcoholic Lover". The Independent. 185201487.
• Home News (1 November 1986b). "Woman Jailed for Killing Professor". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460.
• I. H. R. (2008). "Interview with Professor Ralph Griffiths: Making History". archives.history.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 27 June 2024. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
• Kay, R. (1988). "Review: Kings and Nobles in the Later Middle Ages: A Tribute to Charles Ross by Ralph A. Griffiths and James Sherborne". The Historian. 50 (4): 577. JSTOR 24447168.
• Memorial Services (8 April 1986). "Ross". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460.
• Obituary (11 June 1986). "Prof Charles Ross". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460.
• Rosenthal, J. T. (1987). "Review: Kings and Nobles in the Later Middle Ages by Ralph A. Griffiths and James Sherborne". Albion: A Quarterly Journal Concerned with British Studies. 19 (3): 396–398. doi:10.2307/4050470. OCLC 01479044.