Maurice Beresford

Maurice Warwick Beresford
Born	(1920-02-06)6 February 1920 Sutton Coldfield
Died	Leeds
Nationality	British
Education	Bishop Vesey's Grammar School
Alma mater	Jesus College, Cambridge
Occupation	historian, archaeologist

Maurice Warwick Beresford, MA, FBA, (6 February 1920 – 15 December 2005) was an English economic historian and medieval archaeologist.

Academic career

Born in Sutton Coldfield, Beresford was educated at Bishop Vesey's Grammar School and Jesus College, Cambridge (MA). He was a conscientious objector in the Second World War, doing social work in Birmingham and London.

Beresford became a Lecturer at the University of Leeds in 1948 and was appointed Professor of Economic History at Leeds in 1959, a post he was to hold until his retirement in 1985 when he was given the title Emeritus Professor.

Beresford was elected Fellow of the British Academy (FBA) in 1985.

Research interests

In 1945, while working as a warden at an adult education centre, Beresford discovered the remains of the abandoned village of Bittesby. Thus began a lifelong interest in the subject. Together with John Hurst he conducted archaeological excavations at the deserted village of Wharram Percy. This work became an important impetus for medieval archaeology in Britain and Europe.

As an undergraduate, he wrote a paper on parkland in Sutton Coldfield, the beginning of his interest in the interaction between the physical landscape and documents such as maps. This interest led to his 1957 publication, History on the Ground.

External links

• Archival material relating to Maurice Beresford listed at the UK National Archives
• Works by or about Maurice Beresford in libraries (WorldCat catalog)