Born on 27 December 1908 at Congleton, the son of a WM minister, Thomas Ernest Freeman (1827-1957; e.m. 1899). In 1930 he graduated with first-class honours in geography at Leeds, developed a keen interest in the League of Nations and in 1931 attended the School of International Studies in Geneva. Abandoning earlier thoughts of the ministry, he became an Anglican in 1932, despite family misgivings, and remained an active churchman. He taught at Edinburgh University (1933-1936), Trinity College Dublin (1936-1950) and Manchester University (1950-1976), where he became professor in 1974. During the war he worked part-time at the Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge on Admiralty handbooks on China. His interest in the historical geography of Ireland gave rise to Ireland: a Regional Geography (1950), Pre-Famine Ireland (1957) and his editorial work for the Geographical Society of Ireland. He wrote other influential works on geography and in the post-war years was actively interested in town and country planning. He died of cancer on 11 March 1988.