Grant Simpson

Grant Gray Simpson (1930–2019) was a distinguished Scottish historian who transformed the academic study of Scottish history in the second half of the twentieth century, alongside scholars like Geoffrey Barrow and Archie Duncan. Educated at Hutchesons' Boys' Grammar School in Glasgow, he earned great distinction with his 1966 PhD thesis on the Anglo-Scottish baron Roger de Quincy, which became a model for historians of the Scottish nobility. He authored key works including the popular 'Scottish Handwriting 1150–1650: An Introduction to the Reading of Documents' (1973) and co-edited 'Calendar of Documents Relating to Scotland Preserved in the Public Record Office, London, 1108-1516' (1986).