Edward Augustus Freeman

Edward Augustus Freeman

Career Historian

Freeman was made D.C.L. of Oxford and LL.D. of Cambridge honoris causa, and when he visited the United States on a lecture tour was well received at various institutions of learning. In 1884 he was appointed Regius Professor of Modern History at Oxford, He was prominent in the agitation which followed "the Bulgarian atrocities" of the April Uprising; his speeches were often intemperate, and he was accused of uttering the words "Perish India!" at a public meeting in 1876. This, however, was a misrepresentation of his words. He was made a knight commander of the Order of the Saviour by the King of Greece, and also received an order from the Prince of Montenegro.

For some years he was an active county magistrate. He served on the royal commission on ecclesiastical courts, being appointed in 1881.

Freeman was an opponent of the Imperial Federation movement. He was a proponent of Anglo-Saxonism.