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| Richard Ollard | |
|---|---|
| Name | Richard Ollard |
| Birth date | 1923 |
| Death date | 2007 |
| Occupations | Historian; Biographer; Editor |
| Notable works | Clarendon; Pepys; Death in the South Sea |
Richard Ollard was an English historian and biographer noted for narrative studies of seventeenth-century England and maritime history focusing on the Royal Navy and the South Sea Company. He combined archival scholarship with literary style to interpret figures such as Samuel Pepys, Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon, and events like the Second Anglo-Dutch War and the Glorious Revolution. His work influenced historians of the Restoration and popular readers of British naval history.
Born in London in 1923, he grew up amid the interwar years and the social milieu of Westminster School alumni and Oxbridge culture. He served in the Royal Navy during World War II, where experiences on ships connected him to traditions exemplified by figures like Horatio Nelson and events such as the Battle of Jutland in popular memory. After military service he read history at Christ Church, Oxford under tutors steeped in the historiographical legacies of S. R. Gardiner and G. M. Trevelyan. His education placed him within networks including the Bodleian Library, the National Maritime Museum, and the scholarly circles around The Times and the Sunday Times.
Ollard's early career combined roles in publishing and archival research linked to institutions such as William Collins, Sons and Hamish Hamilton, where editors collaborated with writers like C. S. Forester and Nevil Shute. He became a regular contributor to periodicals including The Listener and The Spectator, engaging with debates addressed by historians like Sir Lewis Namier and John Kenyon. His archival work drew on collections at the National Archives (UK), the British Library, and private papers of families associated with Stoke-on-Trent and Wilmington. He wrote studies that intersected with scholarship on Samuel Pepys and the Diaries of Samuel Pepys, situating nautical administration alongside political crises such as the Popish Plot and the Exclusion Crisis.
Ollard produced biographies and narrative histories including studies of Samuel Pepys, a biography of Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon titled "Clarendon," and accounts of maritime episodes like "Death in the South Sea" concerning the South Sea Bubble. His books engaged with themes explored by historians of the Restoration and early modern scholars such as Antonia Fraser, J. H. Plumb, and Kevin Sharpe. He analyzed personalities like James II of England, Charles II of England, and George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham while tracing institutional developments connected to the Admiralty and commercial ventures like the East India Company. Ollard's narrative technique echoed the prose of biographers such as Lytton Strachey while maintaining evidentiary standards associated with scholars like Sir Lewis Namier and R. H. Tawney. His interests crossed into cultural contexts referenced by studies of Restoration comedy, Baroque art, and the literary circles of John Dryden and Andrew Marvell.
His scholarship earned recognition from learned societies like the Royal Historical Society and library institutions such as the British Library and the National Maritime Museum. He served on committees and contributed to exhibitions that involved curators from Greenwich, directors connected with Sir John Knox Laughton's historiographical tradition, and editors of major series akin to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. His books received praise in outlets including The Times Literary Supplement and were shortlisted for prizes associated with historical biography in Britain.
Ollard married and balanced family life with residence near Devon and connections to literary salons in London. His death in 2007 prompted obituaries in newspapers such as The Telegraph, The Guardian, and The Independent, which placed him in the company of twentieth-century narrative historians including A. L. Rowse and D. W. Brogan. His papers and correspondence relate to figures like John Ehrman and librarians at the Bodleian Library, and his influence persists among scholars of the Restoration and historians of the Royal Navy. Many university courses on Seventeenth Century English History and maritime studies still assign his works alongside texts by N. A. M. Rodger, Simon Schama, and Geoffrey Best.
Category:1923 births Category:2007 deaths Category:British historians Category:Naval historians