Rosalind Mary Mitchison was a historian

Historian

A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...

 of Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 who specialised in social history

Social history

Social history, often called the new social history, is a branch of History that includes history of ordinary people and their strategies of coping with life. In its "golden age" it was a major growth field in the 1960s and 1970s among scholars, and still is well represented in history departments...

.

Rosalind Mary Wrong was born in Manchester

Manchester

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

. Her father, Edwin Wrong, and his father, George Wrong, were both historians. Rosalind studied history at Lady Margaret Hall and came to Manchester University as an assistant lecturer, working under Sir Lewis Namier, in 1943. In 1947, while Tutor at Lady Margaret Hall, she married zoologist John Murdoch Mitchison, son of Naomi Mitchison

Naomi Mitchison

Naomi May Margaret Mitchison, CBE was a Scottish novelist and poet. She was appointed CBE in 1981; she was also entitled to call herself Lady Mitchison, CBE since 5 October 1964 .- Childhood and family background :Naomi Margaret Haldane was...

 and Dick Mitchison. They had four children, one son and three daughters.

In 1953 John was appointed to a professorship at Edinburgh University and the Mitchisons moved to Scotland. Rosalind Mitchison taught history, initially part-time, at Edinburgh until 1957. In 1962 she began teaching at Glasgow University where she remained until 1967, latterly as a full time lecturer. Her first work, Agricultural Sir John (1962), broke new ground in the history of 18th century Scotland, hitherto mainly studied, when studied at all, from the perspective of the Acts of Union 1707

Acts of Union 1707

The Acts of Union were two Parliamentary Acts - the Union with Scotland Act passed in 1706 by the Parliament of England, and the Union with England Act passed in 1707 by the Parliament of Scotland - which put into effect the terms of the Treaty of Union that had been agreed on 22 July 1706,...

 or the Scottish Enlightenment

Scottish Enlightenment

The Scottish Enlightenment was the period in 18th century Scotland characterised by an outpouring of intellectual and scientific accomplishments. By 1750, Scots were among the most literate citizens of Europe, with an estimated 75% level of literacy...

. She returned to Edinburgh in 1967 as a Reader

Reader (academic rank)

The title of Reader in the United Kingdom and some universities in the Commonwealth nations like Australia and New Zealand denotes an appointment for a senior academic with a distinguished international reputation in research or scholarship...

, and was by 1981 Emeritus Professor of Social History, a post she held until 1986.

Books and Publications

• Agricultural Sir John. The life of Sir John Sinclair of Ulster 1754-1835 Geoffrey Bles 1962
• British population change since 1860 prepared for the Economic History Society Macmillan 1977
• Coping with Destitution: Poverty and Relief in Western Europe (Joanne Goodman Lecture) University of Toronto Press 1992 ISBN 0802059120 ISBN 978-0802059123
• Economy and society in Scotland and Ireland 1500-1939 edited by Rosalind Mitchison and Peter Roebuck John Donald 1988 ISBN 0859761711 ISBN 978-0859761710
• Essays in eighteenth-century history. From the English Historical Review / arranged by Rosalind Mitchison. Longmans Green & Co.1966
• Girls in trouble : sexuality and social control in rural Scotland, 1660-1780 with Leah Leneman. Scottish Cultural Press 1998 ISBN 1898218897 ISBN 978-1898218890
• History of Scotland Routledge 3rd revised edition 2002 ISBN 0415278805 ISBN 978-0415278805
• Life in Scotland Batsford 1978 ISBN 0713415592 ISBN 978-0713415599
• Lordship to patronage : Scotland 1603-1745. Edinburgh University Press 1990 ISBN 074860233X ISBN 978-0748602339
• Old Poor Law in Scotland : the experience of poverty, 1574-1845. Edinburgh University Press 2000 ISBN 0748613447 ISBN 978-0748613441
• People and society in Scotland. 1, 1760-1830 / edited by T.M. Devine and Rosalind Mitchison. John Donald 1988/2006 ISBN 9780859762106
• Regional levels of Scottish illegitimacy, 1660-1770 1983
• Roots of nationalism studies in northern Europe edited by Rosalind Mitchison John Donald 1979/1980 ISBN 0859760588 ISBN 978-0859760584
• Scotland in the age of improvement : essays in Scottish history in the eighteenth century edited by N.T. Phillipson and Rosalind Mitchison. Edinburgh University Press New Edition 1997 ISBN 0748608761 ISBN 978-0748608768
• Sin in the city : sexuality and social control in urban Scotland, 1160-1780 with Leah Leneman Scottish Cultural Press 1998 ISBN 1898218900 ISBN 978-1898218906
• Why Scottish history matters editor, Rosalind Mitchison Saltire Society 1999 ISBN 0854110704 ISBN 978-0854110704

Source