Romney Sedgwick

Early life and education

Richard Romney Sedgwick (29 May 1894 – 20 January 1972) was a British historian, civil servant and diplomat.^[1] He was the elder son of Professor Adam Sedgwick, 1854–1913, the zoologist, and Laura Helen Elizabeth Robinson, the daughter of Captain Robinson, of Armagh.^[2][3] He married Mana St David Hodson, daughter of Professor T.C.Hodson, in 1936.^[4][5] They had one son, Adam, and one daughter, Sophie.^[5]

Sedgwick was educated at Westminster School and Trinity College, Cambridge. He became a Fellow of the college in 1919.^[6]

Career

Sedgwick edited The History of Parliament volumes that covered the House of Commons during the years 1715–1754.^[7] His work and that of his collaborators demonstrated that the Whig and Tory parties survived Queen Anne's death in 1714 and continued to exist during the reigns of George I and George II.^[8]

Eveline Cruickshanks, in her work on the Tories and the Jacobite rising of 1745, paid tribute to Sedgwick: "My greatest debt is to the late Romney Sedgwick, a staunch Whig, whose wit and erudition I greatly admired, for a series of discussions, heated at times, but, as I well know, much enjoyed on both sides".^[9]

Publications

Articles

• 1919. The Inner Cabinet from 1739 to 1741. English Historical Review. 34 (135). 290–302. https://www.jstor.org/stable/551069
• 1945. Sir Robert Walpole 1676–1745: The Minister for the House of Commons. Times Literary Supplement. 24 March. 133–134.
• 1950. Review of Horace Walpole's Correspondence. Edited by W.S. Lewis. Vols xiii and xiv. London: Cumberlege for Yale University Press. 1948. The English Historical Review. 65 (257). 524-526.
• 1953. Review of Horace Walpole's Correspondence. Edited by W.S. Lewis. Vols 15 and 16. London: Cumberlege for Yale University Press. 1952. The English Historical Review. 68 (269). 615-617.

Books

• 1931. John, Lord Hervey, Some Materials towards Memoirs of the Reign of King George II. (Editor, 3 volumes). London: Kings Printers.
• 1939. Letters from George III to Lord Bute 1756-1766. (Editor). London: Macmillan and Co.
• 1970. The History of Parliament: The House of Commons 1715–1754 Volume I Introductory Survey, Appendices, Constituencies Members A-D. New York: Oxford University Press.
• 1970. The History of Parliament: The House of Commons 1715–1754 Volume II Members E-Y. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office.