TRIBUTES have poured in for a long-serving history professor who is remembered for his visionary teaching.

Professor William Lamont taught at Sussex University from 1966 until his retirement in 1999.

He was remembered by former colleagues and students as a wonderful person.

Professor Lamont came to Sussex after finishing his Bachelor of Arts and PhD at Queen Mary College in London.

He spent several years as a schoolteacher in London, first at St Paul’s School and later at Hackney Downs.

He then moved to Aberdeen as a lecturer in history and education at Aberdeen Training College.

When he was employed by the University of Sussex, he first taught in education.

He developed the university’s Bachelor of Education degree and set up a close relationship with schools.

He also worked tirelessly in the field of adult education before teaching history.

Professor Lamont’s doctorate focused on the 17th century English puritan lawyer and statesman William Prynne.

He became a leading scholar of the English Revolution, the rise of capitalism and the middle class and secular individualism.

He was born in Harrow, Middlesex.

His parents were Hector Lamont and Hughina, née MacFadyen.

His admiration for radical dissent meant that he always listened to new ideas and valued “grit” in the system when some people thought that things should change.

This carried over into his politics, and he and his wife were staunch supporters of the Labour Party.

His background in education meant that he took school teaching immensely seriously.

Professor Lamont cared passionately about teaching standards in schools as well as in universities.

He also believed in teaching through documents and by emphasising historical arguments.

He edited one book called Historical Controversies and Historians, published in 1998.

The historian was heavily involved in many university committees and was head of history and a “warm and sympathetic” dean of the former School of Cultural and Community Studies.

He was a visiting professor in America and in China, being an early participant in the exchanges between Chinese universities.

Although brought up in London, he was a proud Scot and returned often to Scotland.

His other passions were the cinema, on which he became an expert, and Arsenal Football Club.

An immensely likeable and charming man, he was a great support to many colleagues.

Former colleagues described him as indispensable to history in Sussex and said the subject group would not have been the same without him.

He died at the age of 84.