The British writer Cicely Veronica Wedgwood (1910-1997) was a narrative historian of the 17th century. She depended on primary documents to make sense of history.

One of Britain's most celebrated historians, Cicely Veronica Wedgwood was born on July 20, 1910, in Stocksfield, Northumberland, England. She was the descendant of the great 18th-century Staffordshire potter Josiah Wedgwood, about whom she wrote a biography. Her father, Sir Ralph Wedgwood, was chairman of British Railways during World War II. Her mother, Iris Pawson, was the author of several books of history and topography.

Her mother's father, a formidable patriarch, doted on his favorite granddaughter. He was well-travelled and well-read and had a great influence on her. At age 12 she was encouraged by her father to write history because he thought she was writing too much poetry and fiction. She wrote history from then on.

Early Works

In 1927-1928 Wedgwood studied at Bonn University...