Kate Norgate (8 December 1853 – 17 April 1935)^[1] was a British historian. She was one of the first women to achieve academic success in this sphere,^[2] and is best known for her history of England under theAngevin kings and for coining the nameAngevin Empire to describe their domains. She was self-educated in the Victorian era when higher education was generally denied to women. Her obituary inThe Times described her as "the most learned woman historian of the pre-academic period."^[3]

Norgate was the only child of bookseller Frederic Norgate (1817–1908),^[4] a partner in Messrs Williams and Norgate, and Fanny, daughter of John Athow, a stonemason and surveyor. Her paternal grandfather was the journalist and writerThomas Starling Norgate, through whom she came into contact with a group of writers operating in Norwich. She became a friend of the historiansJohn Richard Green and his wifeAlice Stopford Green, who were particularly influential on her development. When J. R. Green died, Norgate helped his widow in editing much of his work.^[5]

Norgate spent fifteen years in producing her first work,England under the Angevin Kings (1887) which was regarded as authoritative. Later writing includedJohn Lackland (1902), andRichard the Lion Heart (1924). Although her writing was popular with the public, scholars were increasingly critical of a lack of reference to primary sources.^[5]

Norgate contributed 44 entries to theDictionary of National Biography.^[6] In 1929 she was elected an honorary fellow ofSomerville College, Oxford, "belated recognition" in the face of having outlived most of her contemporaries and her popularity, dying largely forgotten.^[2][5]

Kate Norgate never married; she lived at Jasmine Cottage, 2 Church Lane,Gorleston-on-Sea, nearGreat Yarmouth,Norfolk, from 1921 until her death in 1935.^[7][8] On 13 April 2024 a blue plaque was installed on her former home (now known as 58 Church Lane following re-numbering in c.1937) by the Great Yarmouth Local History & Archaeological Society.^[8]

• Kate NorgateEngland under the Angevin Kings, In Two Volumes- Originally Published: London (1887).^[9]
• J.R. Green, M. A. Edited by Mrs. J.R. Green and Miss Kate Norgate.Green's "Short History," Illustrated;A Short History Of The English People. In four volumes. New-York: Harper & Brothers. (1895).
• Kate Norgate,The Alleged Condemnation of King John by the Court of France in 1202 Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, New Series, Vol. 14, (1900), pp. 53–67
• Kate Norgate,John Lackland (1902) Macmillan^[10] (SeeJohn, King of England.)
• Kate Norgate,The Minority of Henry the Third (1912)^[11]
• Kate Norgate,Richard the Lion Heart (1924).
• Kate Norgate,Philip of France Wins the French Domains of the English Kings (1202–1204) Research paper(1912).

EnglishWikisource has original works by or about:

Kate Norgate

• Gordon-Kelter, Janice; Jacobs, Ellen. "Norgate, Kate".Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/35248. (Subscription,Wikipedia Library access orUK public library membership required.)

• 1853 births
• 1935 deaths
• 19th-century British historians
• British women historians
• 19th-century British women writers
• 20th-century British historians
• 20th-century British women writers
• Fellows of Somerville College, Oxford

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