Betty Behrens

Catherine Betty Abigail Behrens (24 April 1904 – 1989), known as Betty Behrens and published as C. B. A. Behrens, was a British historian and academic. Her early interests included Henry VIII, Charles II, and the early modern period of English history, with her later research focused on the Ancien Régime (the Kingdom of France from the Middle Ages to the French Revolution).[1][2] She was elected a Fellow of Newnham College, Cambridge in 1935, and moved to become a Fellow of Clare Hall, Cambridge after the publication of The Ancien Régime (1967).[1] She "achieved an international reputation" with The Ancien Régime,[3] with reviews describing it as "remarkable and absorbing"[4] and "a lively, thought-provoking essay in historical revision".[5]

Early life and education

Behrens was born on 24 April 1904 in London, England.[1] Her father was Noel Edward Behrens (1879–1967), a Jewish civil servant and banker who had inherited a large amount of money from his father.[1] Her mother Vivien Behrens (1880–1961), the daughter of Sir Cecil Coward, was a Christian.[1][6] She was educated at home by a series of governesses and never attended school.[3] She spoke French and English from an early age and later added German.[1]

In 1923, Behrens matriculated into Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford to study modern history.[1] She graduated in 1926 with a first class Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree.[1] She was awarded a Commonwealth Fellowship to Radcliffe College, a women's liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, in 1928.[1][3]

Academic career

Having returned to the United Kingdom, Behrens held research posts at Bedford College, London and at University College, Oxford.[1][3] In 1935, she was elected a Fellow of Newnham College, Cambridge.[1][3] Additionally, she was appointed an assistant lecturer in the Faculty of History, University of Cambridge in 1938 and promoted to lecturer the following year.[3] Her research in the mid-1930s was focused on Henry VIII, and she published a number of articles on this period including on his divorce and on resident diplomats.[1] Her interests moved to later English history and she published an article on Charles II in 1941.[1]

As with many academics, Behrens offered her services during the Second World War. Therefore she left academia for a number of years to work in Whitehall,[1][3] where she was likely assigned to the Ministry of War Transport.[7] After the war ended, she spent ten years researching and writing an analysis of the role of British-controlled merchant ships during the war.[7][8]

Personal life

In 1966, Behrens married Ted Carr, a fellow historian and former diplomat.[1]

Selected works
  • Behrens, C. B. A. (1955). Merchant shipping and the demands of war. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office.
  • Behrens, C. B. A. (1967). The Ancien Régime. London: Thames and Hudson. ISBN 978-0500330067.
  • Behrens, C. B. A. (1985). Society, government, and the Enlightenment: the experiences of eighteenth-century France and Prussia. London: Thames and Hudson. ISBN 978-0500250907.

References
  1. "Behrens, (Catherine) Betty Abigail (1904–1989)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. 2004. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  2. "Making History: Behrens, (Catherine) Betty Abigail (1904–1989)". Institute of Historical Research. University of London. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  3. Steinberg, Jonathan (16 January 1989). "C. B. A. Behrens". The Independent (707). p. 24.
  4. "How Not To Govern". The Economist (6458). 3 June 1967. p. 1025.
  5. Thomson, David (28 September 1967). "Chronic Decadence?". The Times Literary Supplement (3422). p. 901.
  6. Slinn, Judy (2004). "Coward, Sir Cecil Allen (1845–1938)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  7. Ranken, Michael (20 January 1989). "C. B. A. Behrens". The Independent (711).
  8. Behrens, C. B. A. (1955). Merchant Shipping and the Demands of War. Londond: Her Majesty's Stationery Office.
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