Career
Born in Hyde, Cheshire and educated at Manchester University, Dorothy Williamson undertook postgraduate study there under Christopher Cheney, writing her dissertation on the legation of Cardinal Otto (Oddone di Monferrato) in the British Isles, 1237–1241. From 1948 to 1958 she was Assistant Archivist at the Lincolnshire Archives. In 1960 the pair moved to Cambridge, where Arthur had been appointed to a job at Cambridge University Library.
Dorothy was soon instructing students in palaeography and diplomatic, and working on the diocesan records of Ely, recently deposited in the University Library.
She was formally appointed Custodian of Ecclesiastical Archives in 1968 and Keeper of the University Archives in 1978. In 1969 she was elected a Fellow of Wolfson College.
She was active in the British Records Association, and served as Chairman of its Records Preservation Section, 1966-1971. Chairman of Council, 1974-1978.
And Vice-President, 1981-1991.
In 1995 she was appointed Administration Member of the Order of the British Empire. She died in Thimbleby, Lincolnshire.
