(1908–92) [Bi]
Renowned British local historian who did much to integrate archaeology with local studies and the understanding of the landscape. Born and brought up in Exeter, he was educated at Hele's School and the University College of the South West (now Exeter University). Youthful explorations of Devon and especially the Exe Valley started his interest in landscapes which he took with him to Bradford Technical College where he taught for a short time and where he saw the contrasting landscape of Yorkshire. In 1931 he was appointed assistant lecturer in commerce at University College, Leicester (now Leicester University). During WW2 he worked at the Board of Trade, and immediately after the war Leicester established a full department of local history with Hoskins as its head. In 1951 he moved to Oxford as a reader in economic history. He greatly disliked being at Oxford, although it was while there that he published his best-known book The making of the English landscape (1955, London: Hodder and Stoughton) at the head of a series he edited dealing with the landscape history of English counties. In 1965 he returned to Leicester University as Hatton Professor of English History, retiring in 1968. In his later years he developed a keep interest in popularizing his particular brand of landscape history, and between 1976 and 1978 made a number of programmes for television which made him a household name.
[Obit.: The Times, 15 January 1992]
