Wedgwood, Dame Veronica

▪ 1998

      , British historian (b. July 20, 1910, Stocksfield, Northumberland, Eng.—d. March 9, 1997, London. Eng.), was one of Great Britain's most distinguished and celebrated historians. Her biographies and historical works, especially those on the English Civil Wars, provided a clear, entertaining middle ground between popular and scholarly works; she used a narrative approach, preferring to explain the "how" of events rather than presuming to interpret the "why." Wedgwood—a descendant of Josiah Wedgwood, founder of the famous pottery firm—graduated (1931) from Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, with first-class honours. In 1935 she published her first historical work, Strafford, 1593-1641; she revised and rewrote it as Thomas Wentworth, First Earl of Strafford, 1593-1641: A Revaluation (1961) after family papers were made available. Among Wedgwood's most acclaimed books were The Thirty Years War (1938), which became a standard history text, and the biography William the Silent (1944). Other notable works include the first two volumes of The Great Rebellion, which was to have been a trilogy on the civil wars: The King's Peace, 1637-1641 (1955) and The King's War, 1641-1647 (1958). Wedgwood was appointed C.B.E. in 1956 and advanced to D.B.E. in 1968; in 1969 she was awarded membership in the Order of Merit, a rare honour for a writer.

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