Robert Morris (historian)


Robert John Morris, FRHistS, known professionally as R. J. Morris is an English historian and Emeritus Professor of Economic and Social History at the University of Edinburgh.

Career

Morris studied Politics, Philosophy and Economics at Keble College, Oxford, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1965. He spent the following three years completing graduate study at Nuffield College, Oxford, and obtained a doctorate of philosophy from the university. In 1968, he joined the Department of Economic History in the Social Science Faculty of Edinburgh University and taught there until he retired, eventually being appointed Professor of Economic and Social History. He also served as President of the European Urban History Association in 2000–02, and, as of 2017, is a patron of the Thoresby Society and President of the Scottish Economic and Social History Society.

Research

Morris's research has focused primarily on class and urbanisation, especially relating to the formation of the middle classes in nineteenth-century Britain, especially with reference to gender, and family and property relations. His publications include: