Condolences to our Canadian law and history colleagues and to the family of Professor Emeritus J.M. Beattie whose death from cancer was announced on Thursday. Many of us working in this field were influenced by John Beattie’s Crime and the Courts in England, 1660 -1800 and his prodigious work on the history of crime.
John was plenary speaker at the society’s conference in Melbourne in the late 1980s and as Wilf Prest recalls, he was ‘a lovely man and a very fine historian, whose work will continue to be drawn on for generations to come.’
A link to an obituary with more information about his career at the University of Toronto is here.
Members who would like to share their memories of John Beattie or who were at the Melbourne conference can respond here or on our Facebook page
Australian and New Zealand Law and History Society 
I was deeply saddened to hear of John’s death. I first met him over a decade ago during my PhD studies into the activities of the Bow Street Runners and he was one of the kindest and most helpful individuals that I have had the pleasure to meet – he provided me with great help and inspiration and will be sorely missed.
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