William Woodruff (September 12, 1916 - September 23,2008) was a professor of world history, but perhaps most noted for his two autobiographical works:
The Road to Nab End and its sequel
Beyond Nab End; both became bestsellers in the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
. The memoirs, covering Woodruff's impoverished upbringing in an English weaving community during the
Great DepressionThe Great Depression in the United Kingdom, also known as the Great Slump, was a period of national economic downturn in the 1930s, which had its origins in the global Great Depression...
, contain significant amounts of social commentary about the conditions in which he lived.
Early life
Woodruff was born on September 12, 1916 in
BlackburnBlackburn is a large town in Lancashire, England. It lies to the north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the Ribble Valley, east of the city of Preston, and north-northwest of the city of Manchester. Blackburn is bounded to the south by Darwen, with which it forms the unitary...
,
LancashireLancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Lancashire County Council is based in Preston. However, Lancaster is still considered to be the county town...
. His parents were both cotton weavers by trade (although at the time of his birth his father was serving on the
Western FrontWestern Front was a term used during the First and Second World Wars to describe the "contested armed frontier" between lands controlled by Germany to the East and the Allies to the West...
).
The Road to Nab End vividly describes his upbringing and his family's fight to survive the
LancashireLancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Lancashire County Council is based in Preston. However, Lancaster is still considered to be the county town...
cotton industryA cotton mill is a factory that houses spinning and weaving machinery. Typically built between 1775 and 1930, mills spun cotton which was an important product during the Industrial Revolution....
's initial downturn in 1920, through its decline in the 1920s, and the community's slide into the
Great DepressionThe Great Depression in the United Kingdom, also known as the Great Slump, was a period of national economic downturn in the 1930s, which had its origins in the global Great Depression...
that followed. Woodruff contributed to his family's income, initially as a newspaper delivery boy before and after school. He entered the workforce as a "grocer's lad" (shop assistant) at the age of 14, and after several enforced changes of job decided to leave Lancashire for a promise of a job in
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
at the age of 16.
London and Oxford
Beyond Nab End describes his life after arriving in London. He worked for two years as a "sand rat" in an East End iron foundry (the sand being used to make moulds into which molten iron was poured). He attended night school, discovering a love of learning (or perhaps re-discovering, as there are clear indications that his grandmother Bridget, and other adults, encouraged this love when he was younger). In 1936, with the aid of a
London County CouncilLondon County Council was the principal local government body for the County of London, throughout its 1889-1965 existence, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today known as Inner London and was replaced by the Greater London Council...
scholarship, he gained a place at the Catholic Workers College (later
Plater CollegePlater College was an adult education establishment which was based in Headington, Oxford.- College history :It was founded in 1922 by the Rev. Leo O'Hea, S.J. , director of the Catholic Social Guild, in memory of the Father Charles Dominic Plater S.J., who died in Malta in 1921...
), Oxford. In 1938 he was then admitted as a fully accredited member of the
University of OxfordThe University of Oxford , located in the UK city of Oxford, is the oldest surviving university in the English-speaking world and is regarded as one of the world's leading academic institutions. Although the exact date of foundation remains unclear, there is evidence of teaching there as far back...
, joining St Catherine’s Society in St Aldates (now
St Catherine's CollegeSt Catherine's College, often called St Catz or simply Catz, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is one of the largest colleges of the University and its motto is Nova et Vetera...
). In a unique gesture, Oxford waived its entrance examination to admit him. It was at Oxford that he met his first wife Katharine, whom he married in 1940.
World War II
In 1939 he volunteered for the army and during the
Second World WarWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
he fought with the 24th Guards Brigade of the
British 1st Infantry DivisionThe 1st Infantry Division was a regular British Army division with a long history having been present at the Peninsula War, the Crimean War, the First World War, and during the Second World War.-Napoleonic Wars:...
in North Africa and the Mediterranean region. His wartime experiences became the basis of his work
Vessel of Sadness, which
A. L. RowseAlfred Leslie Rowse, CH FBA , known professionally as A. L. Rowse and to his friends and family as Leslie, was a prolific Cornish historian. He is perhaps best known for his poetry about Cornwall and his work on Elizabethan England. He was also a Shakespearean scholar and biographer...
called one of the "most sensitive and moving books of the war, both authentic and poetic" in a review in the
Times Literary Supplement.
At the end of 1945 he returned to the wife he had seen for "five weeks in five years" and his eldest son, whom he had never met. His first wife died of cancer in 1959, and Woodruff remarried in 1960. Following WWII, he was stationed to Palestine during the birth of Isreal.
Academic career
In 1946 he renewed his studies in economic and world history at Oxford. In 1950 he became a Houblon-Norman research fellow supported by the
Bank of EnglandThe Bank of England is, despite its name, the central bank of the whole of the United Kingdom and is the model on which most modern, large central banks have been based. It was established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and to this day it still acts as the banker for the UK...
, and in 1952 he went as a Fulbright Scholar to
Harvard UniversityHarvard University is a private university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1636 by the colonial Massachusetts legislature, Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and currently comprises ten separate academic units...
. He then spent a period as a professor at the
University of IllinoisThe University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a public research university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the oldest and largest campus in the University of Illinois system....
before moving in 1956 to head the Department of Economic History at the
University of MelbourneThe University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1853, it is the second oldest university in Australia, and the oldest in Victoria...
,
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
, where he met his second wife Helga. He followed this with various visiting professorships to
PrincetonThe Institute for Advanced Study, located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States, is a center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. The Institute is perhaps best known as the academic home of Albert Einstein, John von Neumann, and Kurt Gödel, after their immigration to the United...
,
BerlinFree University may refer to any of the following universities:* Free Open University, The university that is free.* Université Libre de Bruxelles, located in Brussels, Belgium;* Vrije Universiteit Brussel, located in Brussels, Belgium;...
,
Tokyo, abbreviated as , is a leading private university located in Tokyo. Founded in 1882 as Tokyo Senmon Gakko, the institution was renamed "Waseda University" in 1902...
and Oxford. He was a Graduate Research Professor at the
University of FloridaThe University of Florida is a public land-grant, sea-grant, space-grant major research university located on a campus located in Gainesville, Florida, in the United States. The university traces its origins to 1853, and has continuously operated on its present Gainesville campus since the fall...
from 1966 to his retirement in 1996, when he became a Professor Emeritus.
Death
He died in
Gainesville, FloridaGainesville is a city in Alachua County, Florida, United States. It is the the county seat and the largest city in Alachua County. Gainesville is also home to the University of Florida, which is the largest university in the State University System of Florida and the third-largest university in...
on September 23, 2008. He is survived by his wife Helga, their daughter and four sons, and by two sons from his first marriage.
Academic history
- Impact of Western Man - A Study of Europe's Role in the World Economy, 1750-1960, London, Macmillan, 1969. It was a path-breaking work which explored the extrusive aspect of European history.
- America's Impact on the World: A Study of the Role of the United States in the World Economy - 1750-1970, London, Macmillan, 1975.
The interrelatedness of continents continued to be the focus of further studies.
- In November 2005 his Concise History of the Modern World: 1500 to the Present was republished in its 5th edition by Abacus (Little, Brown and Company
Little, Brown and Company is a publishing house established by Charles Coffin Little and his partner, James Brown. Since 2006 it has been a constituent unit of Hachette Livre....
) in London, ISBN 0-349-11837-X
Autobiographical works
- The Road To Nab End: A Lancashire Childhood, Abacus (Little, Brown and Company
Little, Brown and Company is a publishing house established by Charles Coffin Little and his partner, James Brown. Since 2006 it has been a constituent unit of Hachette Livre....
), 2000 (first published as Billy Boy, Ryburn Publishing Ltd., 1993). ISBN 0-349-11521-4
- Beyond Nab End, Abacus (Little, Brown and Company
Little, Brown and Company is a publishing house established by Charles Coffin Little and his partner, James Brown. Since 2006 it has been a constituent unit of Hachette Livre....
), 2003 ISBN 0-316-72530-7
Fiction
- Vessel of Sadness (drawn from his experiences during World War II). Gainesville: Kallman Publishing Co., 1969; London: Chatto and Windus, 1970; London: Abacus, Little, Brown and Company
Little, Brown and Company is a publishing house established by Charles Coffin Little and his partner, James Brown. Since 2006 it has been a constituent unit of Hachette Livre....
, 2004. ISBN 0-349-11811-6
- Paradise Galore, London: Dent and Sons, 1985
- Shadows of Glory, London: Abacus, Little, Brown and Company
Little, Brown and Company is a publishing house established by Charles Coffin Little and his partner, James Brown. Since 2006 it has been a constituent unit of Hachette Livre....
, 2003. ISBN 0-349-11689-X
External links