Bishop William Stubbs and Knaresborough

Abstract

William Stubbs (1825–1901), pioneering medieval historian, academic, Regius Professor at Oxford, clergyman and later bishop of Chester and then Oxford, was born in Knaresborough and, despite living most of his adult life outside the county, he remained true to his yorkshire roots. This article shows how his Knaresborough background shaped him as a historian. His first encounter with medieval history was in the archives at Knaresborough Castle; his schooling in Knaresborough and Ripon, and the support he received from the diocese of Ripon enabled him to rise from poverty to a scholarship at Christ Church, Oxford; and his interests and view of English history continued to reflect his early experiences in Knaresborough, the historic past of the town and his own family's roots in the area over at least sixteen generations. Stubbs subscribed to the Thoresby Society and was a critical friend of the Yorkshire Archaeological Society. His legacy as a great editor of medieval manuscripts has been maintained through successive generations of scholars, not least at the University of Leeds through the work of the late John Taylor.