Professor Nicholas Rodger has resigned from the NRS Council, on the grounds of ill health. His NRS colleagues accepted his resignation with great regret. The Society has much to be grateful for, as this marks fifty years of service. In 1975 Nicholas took over as Hon. Secretary, during which time there was a serious financial crisis. A course was set out of the shallows by a fellow council member, Henry Lambert, whose City expertise was critical, but there was much for Nicholas to do. His efficiency and the elegant style of the minutes set a new standard. He only relinquished the post in 1992 when he left the Public Record Office to start the first volume of The Naval History of Britain, which he has just brought to a triumphant conclusion with the publication of the third volume in October 2024.
Alongside his remarkable writing output, Nicholas found time to edit Naval Miscellany V (volume 125) and was a driving force behind the 1993 Centenary Project (volume 131) British Naval Documents, 1204-1960. Alongside his highly successful academic career, at Exeter and at All Souls Oxford, where he is now an Emeritus Senior Research Fellow, Nicholas remained an active member of Council. He has never failed to make his huge stock of expertise available to the Society at meetings, or informally. He richly deserves the enthusiastic reception that his Naval History Vol III continues to receive in the UK, pending imminent publication in North America. NRS colleagues express their gratitude for his immense contribution and wish him well.
A giant even amongst top scholars. The HKMM is seeking to do a special exhibition based on his writings.