Miller

EDWARD MILLER (1915 - 2000)

Miller was born at Acklington Park in Northumberland, the son of a shepherd. He showed an outstanding talent for history at King Edward VI Grammar School in Morpeth and went on to excel at Cambridge, specialising in mediaeval history. He served in the Durham Light Infantry during WWII and returned to Cambridge as a lecturer, where his easy manner and enthusiasm made him popular with students. Having grown up on a farm. he was drawn to questions of mediaeval agriculture and the peasants whose labour had sustained the clergy. Miller later became professor at Sheffield; he identified with the North and supported the journal Northern History. He was not a controversialist but rather offered cautious conclusions that recognised the limits of knowledge.

He returned to Cambridge to be master of Fitzwilliam College (1971-81), chaired the Victoria county history committee and the History of Parliament Trust. With John Hatcher, he wrote Medieval England: Rural Society and Economic Change, 1086-1348 (1978), which soon became a standard work for students. A companion volume by the same authors Medieval England: Towns, Commerce and Crafts, 1086-1348 appeared in 1995. Miller was co-editor of the second edition of volume 2 (1987) of the Cambridge Economic History of Europe and editor of the third volume (1991) of the Agrarian History of England and Wales, covering the period 1348-1500.

Myers Literary Guide	Centre for Northern Studies Myers Literary Guide:	The North-East
EDWARD MILLER (1915 - 2000) Miller was born at Acklington Park in Northumberland, the son of a shepherd. He showed an outstanding talent for history at King Edward VI Grammar School in Morpeth and went on to excel at Cambridge, specialising in mediaeval history. He served in the Durham Light Infantry during WWII and returned to Cambridge as a lecturer, where his easy manner and enthusiasm made him popular with students. Having grown up on a farm. he was drawn to questions of mediaeval agriculture and the peasants whose labour had sustained the clergy. Miller later became professor at Sheffield; he identified with the North and supported the journal Northern History. He was not a controversialist but rather offered cautious conclusions that recognised the limits of knowledge. He returned to Cambridge to be master of Fitzwilliam College (1971-81), chaired the Victoria county history committee and the History of Parliament Trust. With John Hatcher, he wrote Medieval England: Rural Society and Economic Change, 1086-1348 (1978), which soon became a standard work for students. A companion volume by the same authors Medieval England: Towns, Commerce and Crafts, 1086-1348 appeared in 1995. Miller was co-editor of the second edition of volume 2 (1987) of the Cambridge Economic History of Europe and editor of the third volume (1991) of the Agrarian History of England and Wales, covering the period 1348-1500.
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