Walter Minchinton
Walter Edward Minchinton, FRHistS was a British historian and academic. He was Professor of Economic History at the University of Exeter from 1964 to 1986.
Life
Minchinton was the son of Walter Edward Minchinton and his wife Annie Border Minchinton. A graduate of the London School of Economics, the younger Minchinton served as an officer in the Second World War and in 1948 was appointed to an assistant lectureship at University College Swansea; he was promoted to a full lectureship in 1950, and then to be a senior lecturer in 1959. In 1964, the University of Exeter established its Economic History Department, and appointed Minchinton as its head; he served in that capacity until 1984. He was also Professor of Economic History at Exeter from 1964 to 1986, during which time he was also editor of the Exeter Papers in Economic History series. Among a range of other commitments, he was chairman of the Devon History Society from 1967 to 1986, of the Exeter [Industrial Archaeology Group] from 1967 to 1992, and of the British [Agricultural History Society] from 1968 to 1971. He was also a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and won the RHS's Alexander Prize in 1953 for his article "Bristol – metropolis of the west in the eighteenth century".Minchinton retired from Exeter in 1986 and was appointed to an emeritus professorship. With his wife Marjory he had four children. He died on 25 August 1996.