TOUT
,
THOMAS FREDERICK
(
1855
-
1929
),
historian
,
who is fully treated by
V. H.
Galbraith
in
D.N.B., 1922-30
and by
Sir
Maurice
Powicke
in
Proceedings of the British Academy
,
1929
. Although
Tout
did most of his work in
Manchester
he is noted here since much of his work dealt with
Wales
and it was in
Wales
that it was begun. He was
professor of history
at
St. David's College
,
1881-90
. In the words of
Galbraith
, ‘
his years at
Lampeter
were the making of him
’; and
Powicke
says, ‘
at
Lampeter
,
Tout
found himself
’. He learnt
Welsh
, and immersed himself not only in the work of the college but also in the life of the town of
Lampeter
; when it became a borough in
1884
,
Tout
was one of its first
aldermen
, and he often
presided over the town council
. He also took an interest in the
history of Wales
. He wrote very many of the articles relating to
Wales
in
D.N.B.
Before
Sir
John
Lloyd
in
1893
undertook the work,
Tout
wrote mostly on the
Welsh
of the Middle Ages; but his knowledge was not confined to that period — it was he e.g. who wrote the article on
Charles
of
Bala
; note also his paper ‘
Wales under the Stuarts
’ in
Liverpool Welsh Nat. Soc. Trans.
,
1891-2
, 24-41. The main result of his study of
Welsh
history was to realise (as he demonstrated quite clearly in his books) that the history of
England
in the
13th c.
cannot be understood without giving full weight to the ‘
Welsh
problem’. He did not write a book specifically on the history of
Wales
, but some of his papers which are of
Welsh
interest can be cited here: ‘
The Welsh Shires
’ (
Cymm.
, ix), ‘
Wales and the March during the Barons’ Wars, 1258-67
’ (in
Historical Essays by Members of Owens College
,
1902
, 76-136), ‘
Flintshire, its History and Records
’ (
Flints. Hist. Soc. Proc.
, i,
1-38),
The Captivity and Death of Edward of Caernarvon
,
1920
, the treatment of the old boroughs of
Wales
in his
Mediaeval Town Planning
,
1917
, and the Welsh sections of his important book
The Place of the Reign of Edward II in English History
,
1914
.
Tout
was b. in
London
,
28 Sept. 1855
, and d. there,
23 Oct. 1929
.
Author:
Emeritus Professor Robert Thomas Jenkins, C.B.E., D.Litt., Ll.D.,
F.S.A., (1881-1969), Bangor
