John Nowell Linton Myres (27 December 1902 – 25 September 1989) was a British archaeologist and Bodley's Librarian at the Bodleian Library in Oxford from 1948 until his resignation in 1965; and librarian of Christ Church before his Bodleian appointment.

Life

His father Sir John Myres had been

Wykeham Professor of Ancient History The University of Oxford has three statutory professorships named after William of Wykeham, who founded New College. Logic The Wykeham Professorship in Logic was established in 1859, although it was not known as the Wykeham chair until later. I ...

at Oxford. Nowell Myres was educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of ...

and then New College, Oxford and was president of the

Oxford University Archaeological Society Oxford University Archaeological Society (OUAS), revived in 2020 as the Oxford Archaeological Society (OAS), is a society at the University of Oxford which promotes matters of archaeological interest through lectures, excursions and fieldwork. I ...

in 1923. He became a tutor at Christ Church from 1928. He was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 1966. He gave the 1970 Raleigh Lecture on History.

Works

He was recognised as a leading authority on British history in the time of the Anglo Saxons and earlier. He and R. G. Collingwood wrote the first volume of the ''

Oxford History of England The Oxford History of England (1934–1965) was a notable book series on the history of the United Kingdom. Published by Oxford University Press, it was originally intended to span from Roman Britain to the outbreak of the First World War in fourte ...

'' which was widely recognised as a classic. When the series was re-released in the 1980s this volume was split in two,

Peter Salway Peter Salway, FSA (born 1932) is a British historian, who specialises in Roman Britain. He lectured at the universities of Durham, Cambridge, Bristol and Oxford, before becoming Professor of the History and Archaeology of Roman Britain at the Ope ...

writing what had been Collingwood's part and Myres rewriting his own part.

Selected publications

* 1936: "The English Settlements", in: Collingwood, R. G. & Myres, J. N. L. (1936) ''Roman Britain and the English Settlements''. (The Oxford History of England. ) Oxford: Clarendon Press; pp. 325–461 & bibliography * * 1986: ''The English Settlements''. (The Oxford History of England. 1B.) Oxford: Oxford University Press
1989 pbk edition

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Myres, John Nowell Linton 1902 births 1989 deaths English archaeologists English librarians Bodley's Librarians Commanders of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Winchester College Alumni of New College, Oxford Fellows of Christ Church, Oxford Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London Presidents of the Society of Antiquaries of London