William Croft Dickinson, CBE MC (28 August 1897 – 22 May 1963) was a leading expert in the history of early modern Scotland and a writer of both children's fiction and adult ghost stories.
Dickinson held the Chair of Sir William Fraser Professor of Scottish History and Palaeography at the University of Edinburgh from 1943 to 1963.
In Oct 1916 he was commissioned to the 45 Company Machine Gun Corps and awarded a Military Cross for 'conspicuous gallantry' in action near Ypres on 31 July 1917.
[2] In 1923, at the invitation of William Beveridge, Dickinson moved to the London School of Economics (LSE) to take up the post of assistant secretary.
His career in university administration saw him appointed in 1933 to the position of joint - and then two years later sole - librarian of the British Library of Political and Economical Sciences at the LSE.