William George Hoskins

W. G. Hoskins
Hoskins in an English landscape
Born	William George Hoskins 22 May 1908 Exeter, Devon, England
Died	11 January 1992(1992-01-11) (aged 83) Cullompton, Devon, England
Nationality	English
Alma mater	University College of South West England
Occupation	Historian
Known for	The Making of the English Landscape
Title	Reader in English Local History at University College, Leicester
Spouse(s)	Jane

William George Hoskins CBE FBA (22 May 1908 – 11 January 1992) was an English local historian who founded the first university department of English Local History. His great contribution to the study of history was in the field of landscape history. Hoskins demonstrated the profound impact of human activity on the evolution of the English landscape in a pioneering book: The Making of the English Landscape. His work has had lasting influence in the fields of local and landscape history and historical and environmental conservation.

William George Hoskins was born at 26–28 St David's Hill, Exeter, Devon on 22 May 1908: his father, like his grandfather, was a baker.

He won a scholarship to Hele's School in 1918, and attended the University College of South West England where he gained BSc and MSc degrees in economics by the age of 21. Both his MSc in 1929 and his PhD in 1938 were on the history of Devon.

The remainder of his life was devoted to university teaching and the authorship of historical works. He died on 11 January 1992 in Cullompton, Devon.

Hoskins was appointed Assistant Lecturer in Commerce at University College, Leicester in 1931. He found the trade statistics to be dull lecture material, but he enjoyed the evenings that he spent teaching archaeology and local history at Vaughan College. His academic researches covered historical demography, urban history, agrarian history, the evolution of vernacular architecture, landscape history and local history. He became a member of the Leicestershire Archaeological Society in September 1935.

After the award of his doctorate Hoskins was appointed Reader in English Local History at University College, Leicester (1938).

In 1952, Hoskins resigned from his posts at University College, Leicester, and on the Leicestershire Victoria County History Committee Leicester to become Reader in Economic History in the University of Oxford. In his obituary, this was stated to be generally acknowledged as a mistake.