Peter Mathias, (10 January 1928 – 1 March 2016) was a British economic historian and the former Chichele Professor of Economic History at the University of Oxford.The Times 10 January 2009, Retrieved 2010-01-09 His research focused on the history of industry, business, and technology, both in Britain and Europe. He is most well known for his publication of The First Industrial Nation: an Economic History of Britain 1700–1914 (1969), which discussed not only the multiple factors that made industrialisation possible, but also how it was sustained.

Early life and education Mathias was born in Freshford, Somerset to Jack Mathias (from Plymouth) and Marion (née) Love (from Wingfield).

He attended Colston's School and Bristol Grammar School where he became interested in history. In December 1945, he applied for a scholarship at King's College, Cambridge; instead he won an Exhibition at Jesus College, Cambridge, during summer 1946. However the college demanded that those coming up from school should have done military service before they arrived so he spent two years in the army as a conscript. At Cambridge, his tutor was the medievalist, Vivian Fisher, and the English economic historian, Charles Wilson. Mathias also spent the 1952–3 academic year at Harvard University, participating in the Research Center for Entrepreneurial History.

Academic career He was elected a Research Fellow at Jesus College, Cambridge, when he published his first book on the brewing industry in England. The manuscript described the importance of the technical aspects of brewing and manufacturing to the developing of the industry as a whole. Mathias then went out to complete a textbook on the history of industrialisation in Britain, The First Industrial Nation (1969).

He was fellow of Queens' College, Cambridge, from 1955 to 1968, and later an Honorary Fellow from 1987. He was Chichele Professor of Economic History at the University of Oxford and fellow of All Souls College, Oxford. There, he was editor of the Cambridge Economic History of Europe and co-founded of The Journal of European Economic History. He left Oxford to become master of Downing College, Cambridge, from 1987 to 1995.

Outside of research and teaching, Mathias contributed to the academic community with his positions at the Economic History Society (EHS) and the International Economic History Association (IEHA). He joined the former in his final year of undergraduate work at Cambridge. He continued to work for the EHS as Reviews Editor, Assistant Editor (1955–), Treasurer (1968–88), and President (1989–92). Meanwhile, the IEHA emerged from conferences at the Stockholm University, but expanded in the 1960s. Mathias also became a member of the Datini Institute in Prato, Italy in 1967, under the direction of Fernand Braudel and Federigo Melis.

Later life After retiring in 1995, he continued on advising and researching. He was the international advisor to Keio University, Japan, and President of the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation. For this work, he was granted the Order of the Rising Sun with Gold Rays in 2003.

In 1998, Mathias' Festschrift, From Family Firms to Corporate Capitalism: Essays in Business and Industrial History in Honour of Peter Mathias was published by his former students, Kristine Bruland and Patrick O'Brien. Another Festschrift was published in 2018 entitled Asia and the history of the international economy : essays in memory of Peter Mathias, edited by A. J. H. Latham and Heita Kawakatsu. Professor Mathias is also mentioned extensively in The Thames and I, a memoir by the Prince (now Emperor) of Japan Naruhito, since he was the prince's supervisor while Naruhito was at Merton College in Oxford (1983-1985).

Honours

Commonwealth honours Commonwealth honours

Country Date Appointment Post-nominal letters 19841 March 2016 Commander of the Order of the British Empire CBE

Foreign honours Foreign honours

Country Date Decoration Post-nominal letters 3 November 20031 March 2016 Order of the Rising Sun (Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon)

Scholastic

Chancellor, visitor, governor, rector and fellowships Location Date School Position 19551968 Queens' College, Cambridge Fellow 19871 March 2016 Queens' College, Cambridge Honorary Fellow 19871 March 2016 Jesus College, Cambridge Honorary Fellow 19951 March 2016 Downing College, Cambridge Honorary Fellow

Honorary degrees

Location Date School Degree Gave Commencement Address 1984 University of Oxford Doctor of Letters (D.Litt.) 1985 University of Buckingham Doctor of Letters (D.Litt.) 1987 University of Cambridge Doctor of Letters (D.Litt.) 1988 University of Birmingham Doctorate 1992 University of Hull Doctorate 1995 De Montfort University Doctorate 1995 University of Warwick Doctor of Letters (D.Litt.) 1999 University of East Anglia Doctorate 2003 Russian Academy of Sciences Doctorate 2006 Kansai University Doctorate 7 November 2008 Keio University Doctor of Economics

Memberships and Fellowships Location Date Organisation Position 19681972 Business Archives Council Chairman 19721 March 2016 Royal Historical Society Fellow (FRHistS) 19741978 International Economic History Association President International Economic History Association Honorary President 19771 March 2016 British Academy Fellow (FBA) 19791989 British Academy Honorary Treasurer 19821 March 2016 Royal Danish Academy Foreign Member 19841995 Business Archives Council President 19871999 International Economic History Institute 'Datini' Prato, Italy Vice President 19881 March 2016 Royal Belgian Academy Foreign Member 19891 March 2016 Academia Europaea Member (MAE) Economic History Society Vice President 19891992 Economic History Society President

Works

The Retailing Revolution: a History of Multiple Retailing in the Food Trades Based upon the Allied Suppliers Group of Companies (1967) The First Industrial Nation: an Economic History of Britain 1700–1914 (1969) (edited with A.W.H. Pearsall), Shipping: a survey of historical records (1971) Science and Society 1600–1900 (1972) The Transformation of England (1979) (edited with D. C. Coleman) Enterprise and history: essays in honour of Charles Wilson (1984) (edited with John A. Davis) The First Industrial Revolutions (1990) (edited with John A. Davis) Innovation and technology in Europe : from the eighteenth century to the present day (1991) (edited with John A. Davis) Enterprise and labour: from the eighteenth century to the present (1996) (edited with John A. Davis) International trade and British economic growth : from the eighteenth century to the present day (1996)

Notes

References British Academy Fellows Archive

External links Interviewed by Alan Macfarlane 5 March 2008 and 23 September 2009 (video)