JARRETT, (John) Derek 1928-2004

OBITUARY NOTICE—

See index for CA sketch: Born March 18, 1928, in Whyteleafe, Surrey, England; died March 28, 2004, in Truro, England. Historian, educator, and author. Jarrett was an authority on eighteenth-century England and France and was most recently acclaimed for editing Horace Walpole's Memoirs of the Reign of King George III. After serving in the Royal Air Force during World War II, he earned a B.A. at Keble College, Oxford, in 1951, followed by a B.Litt. and M.A. in 1955. The next year, Jarrett took a post as senior history master at Sherborne School, where he remained until 1964. He then joined the University of London's Goldsmith's College. Beginning work there as a lecturer in eighteenth-century British history, Jarrett rose to the position of principal lecturer in history in 1971. Fascinated by the inextricable relationship between Britain and France over the centuries, Jarrett's first book, Britain: 1688-1815 (1965), became a standard textbook on the subject. He followed this with more history works, such as Begetters of Revolution: England's Involvement with France, 1759-1789 (1973), The Ingenious Mr. Hogarth (1976), and Three Faces of Revolution: Paris, London, and New York in 1789 (1989). His last work was the ambitious edition of Walpole's Memoirs of the Reign of King George III (1999), which many critics have considered a masterful work of scholarship.

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Independent (London, England), April 1, 2004, p. 34.

Times (London, England), May 10, 2004, p. 29.