Dorothy Mary Owen, née Williamson (11 April 1920 – 13 February 2002) was an English archivist and historian.

Life

Born in Hyde, Cheshire and educated at Manchester University, Dorothy Williamson undertook postgraduate study there under Christopher Cheney, writing her dissertation on the legation of Cardinal Otto (Oddone di Monferrato

Oddone di Monferrato

Oddone di Monferrato was an Italian papal diplomat and Cardinal. He was of the noble house of Monferrat, son of Marquis Guglielmo VI de Monferrato.He was created Cardinal in 1227...

) in the British Isles, 1237-1241.

From 1948 to 1958 she was Assistant Archivist at the Lincolnshire Archives

Lincolnshire Archives

Lincolnshire Archives is the county record office of Lincolnshire, England. It was established as a county service in 1948 by the Lincolnshire Archives Committee, which had been formally constituted on 24 October 1947 with Sir Sir Robert Pattinson as chairman...

. In 1958 she married Arthur Owen, a fellow archivist and historian, and moved to London to be archivist at Lambeth Palace

Lambeth Palace

Lambeth Palace is the official London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury in England. It is located in Lambeth, on the south bank of the River Thames a short distance upstream of the Palace of Westminster on the opposite shore. It was acquired by the archbishopric around 1200...

 Library. In 1960 the pair moved to Cambridge

Cambridge

The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...

, where Arthur had been appointed to a job at Cambridge University Library

Cambridge University Library

The Cambridge University Library is the centrally-administered library of Cambridge University in England. It comprises five separate libraries:* the University Library main building * the Medical Library...

. Dorothy was soon instructing students in palaeography

Palaeography

Palaeography, also spelt paleography is the study of ancient writing. Included in the discipline is the practice of deciphering, reading, and dating historical manuscripts, and the cultural context of writing, including the methods with which writing and books were produced, and the history of...

 and diplomatic, and working on the diocesan records of Ely, recently deposited in the University Library. She was formally appointed Custodian of Ecclesiastical Archives in 1968 and Keeper of the University Archives in 1978. In 1969 she was elected a Fellow of Wolfson College

Wolfson College

Wolfson College may refer to:*Wolfson College, Cambridge*Wolfson College, Oxford...

. She was active in the British Records Association

British Records Association

The British Records Association, widely known as the B.R.A., is a British learned society founded in 1932 concerned with historic records and archives. It issues a journal, Archives, and other publications; hosts conferences and seminars; and undertakes other activities to promote the care and...

, and served as Chairman of its Records Preservation Section, 1966-71; Chairman of Council, 1974-8; and Vice-President, 1981-91.

In 1995 she was appointed MBE

MBE

MBE can stand for:* Mail Boxes Etc.* Management by exception* Master of Bioethics* Master of Bioscience Enterprise* Master of Business Engineering* Master of Business Economics* Mean Biased Error...

. She died in Thimbleby, Lincolnshire

Thimbleby, Lincolnshire

Thimbleby is a village and civil parish about west of Horncastle, Lincolnshire, England.It was mentioned in Domesday Book of 1086 as Stimbelbi and consisted of 67 households, which at the time was considered very large...

.

Works

• (ed.)
• (ed.)

External links