Charles Oman

For the economist (born 1948), see Charles P. Oman.
Charles Oman in 1940

Sir Charles William Chadwick Oman KBE (12 January 1860 – 23 June 1946) was a British military historian of the early 20th century. His reconstructions of medieval battles from the fragmentary and distorted accounts left by chroniclers were pioneering. Occasionally his interpretations have been challenged, especially his widely copied thesis that British troops defeated their Napoleonic opponents by firepower alone. Paddy Griffith, among modern historians, claims that the British infantry's discipline and willingness to attack were equally important.

Oman was born in Muzaffarpur district, India,[1] the son of a British planter, and was educated at Winchester College and at Oxford University, where he studied under William Stubbs. In 1881 he was elected to a Prize Fellowship at All Souls College, where he remained for the rest of his academic career. He was elected the Chichele Professor of Modern History at Oxford in 1905, in succession to Montagu Burrows. He was also elected to the FBA that year, and served as President of the Royal Historical Society (1917–1921), the Numismatic Society and the Royal Archaeological Institute.

Oman's academic career was interrupted by the First World War, during which he was employed by the government's Press Bureau and the Foreign Office.

Oman was the Conservative Member of Parliament for the University of Oxford constituency from 1919 to 1935, and was knighted in 1920.

He became an honorary fellow of New College in 1936, and received the honorary degrees of DCL (Oxford, 1926) and LL.D (Edinburgh, 1911 and Cambridge, 1927). He died at Oxford aged 86.

Two of his children became authors. His son Charles (C. C. Oman) wrote several volumes on British silverware and similar houseware, worked as a Keeper of the Department of Metalwork in the Victoria and Albert Museum,[2] and was active in the Folklore Society[3] (and was in turn father to Julia Trevelyan Oman). His daughter Carola was notable for her biographies, especially that of Nelson.

Works

References

  1. "OMAN, Charles William Chadwick". Who's Who, 59. 1907. p. 332.
  2. "Society Meetings, 18 June 1958". Folklore 69 (3): 216. 1958. JSTOR 1258870.
  3. "Minutes of Meeting: June 15, 1949". Folklore 60 (3): 305. 1949. JSTOR 1256648.

External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Lord Hugh Cecil
Rowland Prothero
Member of Parliament for Oxford University
19191935
With: Lord Hugh Cecil
Succeeded by
Lord Hugh Cecil
A. P. Herbert
Academic offices
Preceded by
Charles Harding Firth
President of the Royal Historical Society
19171921
Succeeded by
John William Fortescue
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