Betty Kemp
Betty Kemp (5 November 1916 – 28 May 2007) was an English historian specialising in the British constitution. She lectured at the University of Manchester, before moving to the St Hugh's College, Oxford where she was a Tutor, and later a Fellow in Modern History, and Fellow Emerita. Early life and education Kemp was born in 1916 in Bowdon, Cheshire to William and Gertrude Kemp, both teachers. She was their eldest child, and only daughter. She attended Altrincham High School for Girls until 1933, passing her Higher School Certificate at 16. The school's headmistress later recalled Kemp's "intellectual enthusiasm and ... originality of mind". She immediately entered employment with the Inland Revenue in Northwich, where she remained until 1937, when she enrolled at Manchester University, to study history. There, she was a contemporary of Maurice Oldfield, with whom she became close friends. During her degree, she attended A. J. P. Taylor's lecturers on modern European history, and was unimpressed. In 1939, she won a scholarship for best performance in the Part I exams. In 1940, she received a first-class degree, and won the Thomas Brown memorial prize. Career In September 1940, she began a research studentship on medieval history, under