Raleigh Trevelyan, Chronicler of a Notable Family, Dies at 91

Raleigh Trevelyan traced his family across five centuries of British history, a rich delta of ancestor-achievers that included Sir Walter Raleigh, the 16th-century explorer; Thomas Babington Macaulay, an influential 19th-century politician; and a parade of historians, colonial governors, military men and martyrs of various rebellions across the empire.

There were personal advantages to being so well connected, as Mr. Trevelyan, a memoirist, journalist and popular historian, often acknowledged in his writing. His career owed many debts to his connections, including the renowned historian (and cousin) George Macaulay Trevelyan, who encouraged him in his early work.

But as a writer, Mr. Trevelyan (pronounced trev-ALE-ee-an), who died on Oct. 23 in London at 91, was best known for sharing the privileges of his inheritance with a vast reading public. He mined diaries and correspondence from his famous forebears, and he employed his own deep sympathies as an heir to their reputations in producing acclaimed British histories and biographies.