JENKINSON, SIR (Charles) HILARY°

JENKINSON, SIR (Charles) HILARY° (1882–1961), British archivist and scholar. He began his association with the Public Records Office in 1906 and became deputy keeper (director) in 1947. He built up the profession of archivist in Britain. Throughout his life he retained an early interest in medieval Anglo-Jewish history, stimulated by his discovery in the Record Office of some Jewish receipt rolls and tallies. This led, among other publications, to his editing the third volume of the Plea Rolls of the Jewish Exchequer, Calendar of the Plea Rolls of the Exchequer of the Jews Preserved in the Records Office; Edward I 1275 – 1277 (1929). He modified his original view that the medieval Exchequer of the Jews was purely judicial. As president of the Jewish Historical Society of England (1953–55), he initiated the resumption of publication of medieval Anglo-Jewish records and the formation of the Anglo-Jewish Archives. Jenkinson was knighted in 1949. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: N. Bentwich, in: JHSET, 20 (1964), 257–8; The Times (London, March 7, 1961). ADD. BIBLIOGRAPHY: ODNB online; H.C. Johnson, "Biographical Memoir," in: J.C. Davies (ed.), Studies Presented to Sir Hilary Jenkinson (1957). (Vivian David Lipman)