Sir Robert Charles Kirkwood Ensor (16 October 1877 – 4 December 1958) was a British writer, poet, journalist, liberal intellectual, and historian. He is best known forEngland: 1870-1914 (1936), a volume in theOxford History of England series edited byGeorge Clark.^[1][2]

Born inMilborne Port,Dorset, he was the son of Robert H Ensor and his wife Olivianée Currie.^[1][2] He was educated atWinchester andBalliol College, Oxford where he achieved a first in Greats and also the Chancellor's Latin verse prize.^[1][2] He was President of theOxford Union in 1900.^[1][2] He became involved in left-wing politics, publishing a selection of writings of leading socialist theorists asModern Socialism in 1903.^[1][2] He failed at his attempts to become a fellow of Merton, St John's and All Souls (twice) but later became a tutor atCorpus Christi College, Oxford.^{[citation needed]}

In 1902 he became leader writer forThe Manchester Guardian. In 1905 he moved to London where he wascalled to the bar at theInner Temple. From 1909 - 1911 he worked for theDaily News and from 1912 - 1930 for theDaily Chronicle.^[1][2] Ensor lived inPoplar, and from 1910 - 1913 represented the area on theLondon County Council as aLabour Party councillor.^[1][2]

Following the closure of theDaily Chronicle in 1930, he retired from regular journalistic work, although he continued to contribute to various publications as an editor and reviewer.^[1] In 1931 he took up a post as a lecturer in theLondon School of Economics, but a year later returned to Oxford where he acted as deputy toArthur Salter, Gladstone Professor of Political Theory and Institutions.

George Clark commissioned him a volume of theOxford History of England, covering the years 1870 to 1914. Reviewer Richard Hammond noted that he devoted six of his fifteen chapters to 'Economics and Institutions' and 'Mental and Social Aspects', and "these are both well-informed and up-to-date."^[3] Published in 1936 as the final volume, Ensor's book has sold more copies than any other in the original fourteen part series.^[4] He was subsequently made a research fellow of Corpus Christi College and a research lecturer of All Souls College in 1937 and a faculty fellow of Nuffield College in 1938.

He was commissioned in 1937 to write a sequel to his volume of theOxford History of England but he resumed his journalism during the Second World War with a weekly column on foreign affairs in theSunday Times.^[1][2] The book, a volume covering the years 1914 to 1945, was eventually written byA.J.P. Taylor.^[4]

Ensor married Helen Fisher of Manchester in 1906, and the couple had two sons and three daughters.^[1][2] The family made their home at Upper Sands, nearHigh Wycombe,Buckinghamshire.^[1] He retired in 1953 and wasknighted in 1955.^[1][2] Ensor was teetotal and avegetarian.^[5]

He died in aBeaconsfield nursing home in December 1958, aged 81.^[1]

• Works by or aboutRobert Ensor atWikisource

• Presidents of the Oxford Union
• 1877 births
• 1958 deaths
• 19th-century British poets
• 20th-century British poets
• 20th-century British historians
• Independent Labour Party National Administrative Committee members
• Members of the Fabian Society
• Members of London County Council
• People educated at Winchester College
• Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford
• Members of the Inner Temple
• Academics of the London School of Economics
• Fellows of Corpus Christi College, Oxford
• Fellows of Nuffield College, Oxford
• Knights Bachelor
• Historians of the University of Oxford
• British male poets
• British male journalists

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