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Biography of Samuel Rawson GardinerName: Samuel Rawson GardinerBirth Date: March 4, 1829 Death Date: February 24, 1902 Place of Birth: Alresford, Hampshire, England Nationality: English Gender: Male Occupations: historian, author, professor Samuel Rawson Gardiner The English historian Samuel Rawson Gardiner (1829-1902) was a major historian of the Puritan revolution. His work is a lengthy, detailed, and well-researched study of a brief but significant period in English history.Samuel Rawson Gardiner was born at Alresford, Hampshire, on March 4, 1829. Educated at Winchester and Christ Church, Oxford, he was professor of modern history at Kings College, London, from 1871 to 1885 and was elected fellow at All Souls College, Oxford, in 1884.Gardiner's historical writings dealing with the Puritan revolution cover the years 1603 to 1660: History of England from the Accession of James I to the Outbreak of the Civil War, 1603-1642 (10 vols., 1863-1882), History of the Civil War, 1642-1649 (3 vols., 1886-1891), and History of the Commonwealth and Protectorate, 1649-1660 (3 vols., 1895-1901). The last two volumes of his final work were completed by Charles Firth as The Last Years of the Protectorate (1909).Perhaps Gardiner was interested in the Puritan revolution because of his own descent from Oliver Cromwell, …showed first 150 words…
…showed last 150 words…his portrayals of James I, Archbishop Laud, and Cromwell. The work as a whole has a clear and unadorned style, but it lacks force and enthusiasm and often suffers from excessive detail.Gardiner's lesser works, often more specialized treatments of 17th-century problems, include Prince Charles and the Spanish Marriage (1869), What Gunpowder Plot Was (1897), Oliver Cromwell (1901), and several edited collections of documents. His reputation as a historian was acknowledged by honorary degrees from Oxford, Edinburgh, and Göttingen. Gardiner died on Feb. 24, 1902, while still at work on the final volumes of the history of the Protectorate. Further Reading The best biographical work on Gardiner is Henry Barrett Learned, Samuel Rawson Gardiner (1902). Although out of date, it does provide an interesting account of his life and writings. Roland G. Usher, A Critical Study of the Historical Method of Samuel Rawson Gardiner (1915), is a more specialized study of Gardiner as a historian. |