Born: 30 March 1900, United Kingdom
Died: 14 March 1981
Country most active: United Kingdom
Also known as: NA
This biography is republished from The Dictionary of Irish Biography and was written by Linde Lunney. Shared by permission in line with Creative Commons ‘Attribution’ (CC BY) licencing.
McKisack, May (1900–81), historian, was born 30 March 1900 in Belfast, the only daughter of Audley John McKisack, a unitarian solicitor, and Elizabeth McKisack (née McCullough), who, like her husband, was well connected and popular in Belfast society; the family’s traditions of liberalism and integrity were lifelong influences on May. However, when her husband died young in 1906, Elizabeth McKisack took her two children to live in Bedford, England, to avail themselves of educational opportunities. Audley McKisack (1903–66), the son, had a distinguished legal career in a number of British colonies and protectorates; as chief justice of Uganda (1956–62) he received a knighthood in 1958.
After attending Bedford High School, May McKisack went up in 1919 to Oxford, on a studentship to Somerville College. Here she was greatly influenced by Maud Clarke, who became a lifelong friend; after graduating BA, McKisack taught in a school for a year, spent a further two years in her college as a Mary Somerville research fellow, and was awarded a B.Litt. for a thesis, later published as Parliamentary representation in English boroughs (1932). She published scholarly articles on many aspects of the middle ages, as well as editions of historical documents; she was elected a fellow of the Royal Historical Society at the relatively tender age of 28. From 1927 to 1935 she was a lecturer in medieval history at the University of Liverpool. In 1936 she succeeded Clarke (d. 1935) in Somerville College as a fellow and tutor. She published little during her time there, but was a beloved and inspiring teacher; during her career she was godmother to many children of her students. In 1955 she moved to Westfield College, part of the University of London, as professor of history; she gave the 1959 memorial lectures at Somerville in honour of James Bryce. She retired in 1966, after a year as acting principal, and was made professor emeritus. Her successor noted that McKisack retired in a ‘blaze of distinction, responsibility and affection’ (Times, 3 Apr. 1981). During her time in Westfield she published her magnum opus, a volume of the Oxford History of England, The fourteenth century (1959), which was the product of a lifetime of careful research, and which she intended as a memorial to Maude Clarke. It is still (2006) regarded as an essential work on the period, and has been recommended to designers of role-playing historical computer games, who appreciate her imaginative recreation of the period.
After retirement, McKisack spent a year (1967–8) as visiting professor in Vassar, in the US, which at that date must have been at least as educational an experience for McKisack as for the Vassar girls. She published Medieval history in the Tudor age in 1971. She never married, and when she died (14 March 1981) she left almost her entire estate – over £82,000 – to endow the Mary Somerville research fellowship, which she herself had held at the beginning of her career. Westfield College, University of London, instituted a seminar series in her memory.