The Enlightenment has widely been regarded as a watershed moment in the history of British historiography. Early-eighteenth-century writers' seizure of an authorial role that had theoretically been restricted to the social and intellectual elite helped to pave the way for would-be historians unequipped with the ideal neoclassical prerequisites of social status or political experience. By establishing a role for the historian that was based on the perceived "scholarly merit" of the text rather than on the pedigree of its author, writers like Guthrie and Ralph facilitated attempts by later figures from marginalized groups including women like Catherine Macaulay and Elizabeth Hamilton to publish historical writings. However marginal their status in their own time, or in ours, men like Ralph, Guthrie, Oldmixon, and Echard introduced forms and ideas that remain as vital to the British historiographical tradition and to its development as those of their Enlightenment successors. Keywords:Britain; early-eighteenth-century historians; enlightenment historiography; historical writings; neoclassical standards; political experience; social status