Sydney Checkland

Sydney George Checkland (9 October 1916 – 22 March 1986) was a British-Canadian economic historian.

Life

Born in Ottawa, Ontario, Checkland worked at the Bank of Nova Scotia, then the Ottawa Sanitary Laundry Company, while he gained associate membership of the Canadian Bankers' Association. In 1938, he moved to England to study at the University of Birmingham, and in his final year served as President of the Guild of Students at the university. In 1941, he was elected as President of the National Union of Students, serving for only one year before becoming President of the International Union of Students.

In late 1942, Checkland enrolled at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, then was commissioned as a lieutenant into the Manchester Regiment, before becoming a tank commander in the Governor General's Foot Guards of the Canadian Army. An injury during the Normandy landings at Falaise left him with permanent nerve damage.

Sydney Checkland was elected as a Fellow of the British Academy in 1977, and as Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1981. He was a member of the Economic History Committee of the Social Science Research Council and then a Council member between 1970 and 1972. He was President of the Economic History Society between 1977 and 1980. Of his many scholarly publications, The Gladstones: a Family Biography, 1764-1851 (1971) won a Scottish Arts Council book award and Scottish Banking: a History, 1695-1973 won the History category in Saltire Society Literary Awards in 1975. Checkland also served as a board member with the East Kilbride Development Corporation, 1964 to 1968. Olive nursed Sydney back to health following his war injuries. Olive Checkland was an eminent scholar in her own right in the field of social history. He was survived by his wife and their five children.