Geoffrey Callender

Geoffrey Callender was born in Didsbury, Manchester on 25 November 1875 the son of a cotton mill owner. He was educated at St. Edward's Oxford and Merton College, Oxford, from where he graduated with a second class degree in modern history in 1897. He joined the Royal Naval College, Osbourne in 1905 shortly after its foundation, making up for a lack of any suitable textbook by writing his own Sea Kings of Britain and being promoted to head of English and History in 1913. In 1920 he became the...See more

Geoffrey Callender was born in Didsbury, Manchester on 25 November 1875 the son of a cotton mill owner. He was educated at St. Edward's Oxford and Merton College, Oxford, from where he graduated with a second class degree in modern history in 1897. He joined the Royal Naval College, Osbourne in 1905 shortly after its foundation, making up for a lack of any suitable textbook by writing his own Sea Kings of Britain and being promoted to head of English and History in 1913. In 1920 he became the honorary secretary of the Society for Nautical Research, and remained so until his death in 1946. He moved to BRNC Dartmouth as head of the history department in 1921, but after 1 year he moved to be the first Professor of History at the Royal Naval College Greenwich. He oversaw the incorporation of the study of naval history into the newly expanded College, incorporating both the staff college and the war college. Here he wrote The Naval Side of British History and headed up the SNR's campaign to save HMS Victory for the nation, and to found a naval and maritime museum for the UK. He remained Professor at Greenwich until 1934. See less