B. H. G. Wormald

Thomas Brian Harvey Goodwin Wormald (24 July 1912 – 22 March 2005), known as Brian Wormald, was a British historian of early modern England.

He was born on 24 July 1912. His father was the Anglican rector of Solihull, Warwickshire. He was educated at Harrow School and Peterhouse, Cambridge, where he obtained a First in both parts of the Historical Tripos, as well as winning academic prizes. He was then a research student at St John's College, Cambridge, before returning to Peterhouse in 1938. He was much influenced by Herbert Butterfield and admired his scepticism towards received wisdom in historical interpretations.

He was ordained as an Anglican deacon during World War II. He attended Chichester Theological College, which had been evacuated to Cambridge. Later, he served as chaplain and dean of Peterhouse.

Wormald specialised in seventeenth-century English history, and his first work was a study of Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon, which was published in 1951.

Personal life

In 1946, he married Rosemary, the sister of Lord Lloyd (marriage dissolved). They had four sons, one of whom was the historian Patrick Wormald. Rosemary and two of their sons predeceased him. After his death, The Times said: "Wormald had one of the most distinguished historical minds of his generation".

Works Clarendon: Politics, History and Religion 1640-1660 (Cambridge University Press, 1951, 1976, 1989). Francis Bacon: History, Politics and Science, 1561-1626 (Cambridge University Press, 1993).