Dorothy Owen

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) in the British Isles, 1237-1241.^[1]

From 1948 to 1958 she was Assistant Archivist at the Lincolnshire Archives. In 1958 she married Arthur Owen, a fellow archivist and historian, and moved to London to be archivist at Lambeth Palace Library. In 1960 the pair moved to Cambridge, where Arthur had been appointed to a job at Cambridge University Library. Dorothy was soon instructing students in palaeography 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.^[1] She was active in the British Records Association, and served as Chairman of its Records Preservation Section, 1966-71; Chairman of Council, 1974-8; and Vice-President, 1981-91.^[2]

In 1995 she was appointed MBE. She died in Thimbleby, Lincolnshire.

Works

• The Records of the Established Church in England. Archives and the User. 1. London: British Records Association. 1970. 
• Church and Society in Medieval Lincolnshire. History of Lincolnshire. 5. Lincoln: Lincolnshire Local History Society. 1971. ISBN 0902668048. 
• (ed.) John Lydford's Book. London: H.M.S.O.. 1974. ISBN 0114400466. 
• The Making of King's Lynn: a documentary survey. London: British Academy. 1984. ISBN 0197260276. 
• The Medieval Canon Law: teaching, literature, and transmission. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1988. ISBN 0521393132. 
• (ed.) A History of Lincoln Minster. Cambridge University Press. 1994. ISBN 9780521254298. 

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Christopher Harper-Bill, Obituary: Dorothy Owen, The Independent, 1 March 2002
2. ^ Jubilee essays: the British Records Association, 1932-1992. London: British Records Association. 1992. pp. 4, 55-63. 

External links

• Works by or about Dorothy Owen in libraries (WorldCat catalog)

Persondata
Name	Owen, Dorothy Mary
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	11 April 1920
Place of birth
Date of death	13 February 2002
Place of death