William Mark Ormrod FRHistS FSA
Born	(1957-11-01)1 November 1957 Neath, Wales
Died	2 August 2020(2020-08-02) (aged 62) York, England
Academic background
Alma mater	University of Oxford
Thesis	Edward III's government of England, c.1346–1356 (1984)
Academic work
Discipline	History
Sub-discipline	Medieval England legal history political history
Institutions	University of York St Catharine's College, Cambridge Queen's University Belfast University of Sheffield
Doctoral students	J. L. Laynesmith

William Mark Ormrod,FRHistS, FSA (1 November 1957–2 August 2020)^[1] was aWelshhistorian who specialised in theLater Middle Ages of England. Born inSouth Wales, he studied atKing's College, London, and then earned hisDoctor of Philosophy atWorcester College, Oxford. He was employed at a number of institutions, eventually settling at theUniversity of York where he becameDean of theHistory Faculty and director of the Centre for Medieval Studies. He researched and published widely, including nine books and over 80 book chapters. Ormrod retired in 2017 and died of cancer in 2020.

Ormrod was born inNeath,South Wales, on 1 November 1957 to David and Margaret Ormrod, and had two younger brothers. He attended the local boys' grammar school, where he washead boy;^[2] he played and sang music. He took a first-classundergraduate degree atKing's College, London, in 1979,^[3] and undertook postgraduate study atWorcester College, Oxford.^[2] He researched hisD.Phil on theadministration ofEdward III's government between the years 1346 and 1356.^[2] This was awarded in 1984.^[4]

After completing his doctorate, Ormrod held positions at theUniversity of Sheffield,Queen's University Belfast, andSt Catharine's College, Cambridge, obtaining a lectureship at theUniversity of York in 1990.^[5] Here, he was appointedprofessor of History in 1995.^[2] He subsequently became Director of York’s Centre for Medieval Studies (1998–2001 and 2002–2003), Head of the Department of History (2001, 2003–2007), andDean of theFaculty ofArts andHumanities from 2009 until taking early retirement in 2017.^[5][6] Following the2013 discovery of the remains ofKing Richard III—who died at theBattle of Bosworth in 1485—beneath a car park inLeicester, Ormrod supported the campaign to have the dead monarchreinterred in Yorkshire, saying the King had

Regarded Yorkshire as his political and family home. The available evidence suggests that he wanted to be buried not in theMidlands or theSouth, but atYork Minster. In Richard’s own time, royal remains were oftenexhumed and moved significant distances for more dignified reburial. Richard’s own preferences, and good historical precedent, therefore dictate that England’s last Yorkist king should be interred in the fittingly magnificent surroundings of York Minster.^{[2][note 1]}

Ormrod held numerous professional affiliations andmemberships. These includedFellowship of theRoyal Historical Society,Councillor of thePipe Roll Society,trustee of theRichard III and Yorkist History Trust, and Fellow of theSociety of Antiquaries.^[6] He had also been an editor of theYorkshire Archaeological Press, theYork Medieval Press,^[6] and theParliament Rolls of Medieval England (PROME) project.^[9] He frequently collaborated with theBorthwick Institute for Archives, and was particularly interested in opening access to archives online. These projects includedEngland's Immigrants, 1350–1550, where he was the principal investigator between 2012–2015,^[2] and which identified 70,000 immigrants to the country over the period.^{[note 2]} His research on migration led to changes to thenational curriculum.^[2][10] It also led to the creation of theRunnymede Trust'sOur Migration Story campaign and wonThe Guardian Award for Research Impact in 2019.^[2]

He is probably best known for his 700-page biography onEdward III for theYale English Monarchs series.^[2] One of his last works, this has been described as "a compelling study",^[2] "a first rate example of historical investigation",^[11]: 60 and an "exceptionally complex project that had defeated several earlier scholars".^[10] His penultimate book, Women and Parliament in Later Medieval England, investigated petitions to parliament by female supplicants and established that far from being silent on issues such asrape anddower,^{[note 3]} there were frequent submissions demanding change to the law and increased respect for women's rights in these and other areas.^[2]

In addition to his prodigious written output—"at least nine books, fourteen edited collections and well over eighty book chapters and articles"—Ormrod acted asPrincipal Investigator for nineteen major research projects worth more than £4 million in external funding,^[1] and supervised over 40doctoral students andresearch assistants.^[2] July 2020 brought the publication ofMonarchy, State, and Political Culture, afestschrift compiled in his honour by his colleagues Gwilym Dodd and Craig Taylor and presented to Ormrod by former students and colleagues.^[2] Dodd and Taylor also endowed the Mark Ormrod Prize, awarded annually to the best doctoral dissertation, on any medieval topic, at the University of York.^[1]

Ormrod entered into acivil partnership in 2006.^[2] He died ofbowel cancer aged 62 on 2 August 2020; the proofs for his final monograph,Winner and Waster, were delivered to his publisher ten days previously.^[10]

As author

• Winner and Waster and its Contexts: Chivalry, Law and Economics in Fourteenth-Century England, Cambridge, 2021.
• Women and Parliament in Later Medieval England, London, 2020.
• Edward III, London 2011 (English Monarchs series).
• Political Life in Medieval England, 1300–1450, Basingstoke / New York, 1995.
• The Reign Of Edward III: Crown and Political Society in England, 1327-1377, 1990
• England in the Fourteenth Century: Proceedings of the 1985 Harlaxton Symposium, Woodbridge, 1986.

As editor

• A Social History of England, 1200-1500, withRosemary Horrox, Cambridge 2006.
• Fourteenth Century England, Woodbridge, 2004.
• Time in the Medieval World, with C. Humphrey, York / Woodbridge 2001.
• The Problem of Labour in Fourteenth Century England, with J. Bothwell and P.J.P. Goldberg, York / Woodbridge, 2000.
• The Evolution of English Justice: Law, Politics and Society in the Fourteenth Century, withAnthony Musson, Basingstoke / New York, 1999.

Websites

• England’s Immigrants 1330–1550, with Craig Taylor, Nicola McDonald,et al., York / London, Aug 2020.
• Parliament Rolls of Medieval England, withChris Given-Wilson,Paul Brand,Anne Curry,Rosemary Horrox,G. Martin, andJ.R.S. Phillips, Woodbridge / Leicester, 2005.

• 1957 births
• 2020 deaths
• Fellows of the Royal Historical Society
• British medievalists
• Alumni of Worcester College, Oxford
• Fellows of St Catharine's College, Cambridge
• Deaths from colorectal cancer in England
• 20th-century Welsh historians
• 20th-century English male writers
• 21st-century English male writers
• Alumni of King's College London
• 21st-century Welsh historians
• 21st-century Welsh writers
• Welsh male non-fiction writers
• British university and college faculty deans
• Historians of the University of York
• Academics of Queen's University Belfast
• Academics of the University of Sheffield
• Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London
• Members of the University of Cambridge faculty of history
• 21st-century English writers

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