Harold James Dyos (1921–1978) was a British historian, known for his contributions to urban history. He wrote many essays addressing the issue of urbanization.

Career

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He graduated B.A. from the London School of Economics in 1949, and gained a Ph.D. there in 1952.[1] He taught his entire career at the University of Leicester.

He was promoted to Professor of Urban History at the University of Leicester in 1973, but it was a personal title; there was no department of urban history. He founded the Urban History Newsletter in 1963.[2] The Newsletter was largely replaced by the Urban History Yearbook from 1974, which later became Urban History.[3][4] His students included David Reeder;[5][6] he influenced others, including David Cannadine.[7]

He wrote historiographical essays and occasional case studies, especially on the Victorian slum.[8] His joint essay with Reeder Slums and Suburbs postulated a relationship at the level of flows of capital between the appearance, often rapid, of central urban slums, and the development of the peripheral suburbs of a city.[9][10]

He became Chairman of the Victorian Society in 1976, succeeding Nikolaus Pevsner.[3]

Works

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  • Victorian Suburb (1961)
  • Exploring the Urban Past: Essays in Urban History edited by David Cannadine and David Reeder (1982)

Notes

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  1. ^ *Article on Dyos by Sheridan Gilley, pp. 331-2 in Kelly Boyd (editor), Encyclopedia of Historians and Historical Writing (1999).
  2. ^ Biographical note, p. 910 of H. J. Dyos, Michael Wolff, The Victorian City: Images and Realities (1999).
  3. ^ a b "Dyos Papers : Centre for Urban History : School of Historical Studies : University of Leicester".
  4. ^ "Department of History | College of Arts".
  5. ^ The Independent[dead link]
  6. ^ "News | University of Leicester". 22 January 2024.
  7. ^ "Interview with Professor David Cannadine - Making History".
  8. ^ H. J. Dyos, "The Slums of Victorian London," Victorian Studies, Vol. 11, No. 1 (Sep., 1967), pp. 5-40.
  9. ^ H. J. Dyos and D. A. Reeder, Slums and Suburbs, pp. 356-386 in H.J. Dyos and M. Wolff (editors), The Victorian City: images and realities vol. 1 (1973).
  10. ^ Richard Rodger, The Transformation of Edinburgh: Land, Property and Trust in the Nineteenth Century (2004), p. 452.

Further reading

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  • Seymour J. Mandelbaum, "H. J. Dyos and British Urban History," The Economic History Review (1985) Volume 38 Issue 3, pp. 437–447, DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-0289.1985.tb00383.x in JSTOR