The Ford Lectures or the James Ford Lectures in British History, are an annual series of

public lecture A public lecture (also known as an open lecture) is one means employed for educating the public. Gresham College, in London, has been providing free public lectures since its founding in 1597 through the will of Sir Thomas Gresham. The Royal S ...

s held at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

on the subject of English or

British history The history of the British Isles began with its sporadic human habitation during the Palaeolithic from around 900,000 years ago. The British Isles has been continually occupied since the early Holocene, the current geological epoch, which star ...

. They are usually devoted to a particular historical theme and usually span six lectures over

Hilary term Hilary term is the second academic term of the University of OxfordJames Ford (1779–1851). Ford was educated at

King's School, Canterbury The King's School is a public school in Canterbury, Kent, England. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference and the Eton Group. It is Britain's oldest public school and is considered to be the oldest continuously op ...

, and matriculated at

Trinity College, Oxford Trinity College (full name: The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity in the University of Oxford, of the foundation of Sir Thomas Pope (Knight)) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in E ...

, in 1797. After graduating in 1801, he went on to his Master of Arts and Bachelor of Divinity degrees. He was a Fellow of Trinity College from 1807 to 1830. His antiquarian collections have been dispersed, but survive in the holdings of the

Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1602 by Sir Thomas Bodley, it is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second-largest library in ...

, the Library of Trinity College, the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...

, and the

Cambridge University Library Cambridge University Library is the main research library of the University of Cambridge. It is the largest of over 100 libraries Libraries of the University of Cambridge, within the university. The library is a major scholarly resource for me ...

In his will, Ford left a number of bequests, some of which were held in trust for the support of his surviving siblings. After they had all died, Oxford University received his bequest of £2,000 to fund a professorship of English history, which was to be established when the principal had grown to support payment of £100 per year. When this goal was reached in 1894, the sum was not enough to support a professor at the current stipend. After considerable discussion within the University, the funds were assigned to fund an annual lectureship in English history by a lecturer who was to be chosen annually by a board of electors. The first Ford's Lecturer in English History was S. R. Gardiner, elected for the academic year beginning in 1896. In 1994, the

formally changed the official title of the series from "Ford's Lectures in English History" to "Ford's Lectures in British History". As the lectures may be given in either the

Michaelmas Michaelmas ( ; also known as the Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, the Feast of the Archangels, or the Feast of Saint Michael and All Angels) is a Christian festival observed in many Western Christian liturgical calendars on 29 Se ...

or Hilary terms (or partly in both), confusion can arise on publication because either ''calendar'' year may be stated. The following list gives the ''academic'' year.

Lecturers

The following have been Ford Lecturers.

To 1899

* 1896–97 S. R. Gardiner, ''Cromwell's Place in History'' * 1897–98

Frederic William Maitland Frederic William Maitland (28 May 1850 – ) was an English historian and jurist who is regarded as the modern father of English legal history. From 1884 until his death in 1906, he was reader in English law, then Downing Professor of the Laws ...

, ''Township and borough '' * 1898–99 Adolphus William Ward, ''Great Britain and

Hanover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

: some aspects of the personal union'' * 1899-1900 James Hamilton Wylie, ''The

Council of Constance The Council of Constance (; ) was an ecumenical council of the Catholic Church that was held from 1414 to 1418 in the Bishopric of Constance (Konstanz) in present-day Germany. This was the first time that an ecumenical council was convened in ...

to the death of John Hus''

1900–1924

* 1900–01 Charles Firth, ''Cromwell's army: a history of the English soldier during the Civil Wars, the Commonwealth and the Protectorate'' * 1901–02 Charles Plummer, ''The life and times of

Alfred the Great Alfred the Great ( ; – 26 October 899) was King of the West Saxons from 871 to 886, and King of the Anglo-Saxons from 886 until his death in 899. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf and his first wife Osburh, who both died when Alfr ...

'' * 1902–03 Julian Corbett, ''England in the Mediterranean'' * 1903–04

Leslie Stephen Sir Leslie Stephen (28 November 1832 – 22 February 1904) was an English author, critic, historian, biographer, mountaineer, and an Ethical Culture, Ethical movement activist. He was also the father of Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell and the ...

, ''English literature and society in the 18th century'' * 1904–05

Andrew Lang Andrew Lang (31 March 1844 – 20 July 1912) was a Scottish poet, novelist, literary critic, and contributor to the field of anthropology. He is best known as a folkloristics, collector of folklore, folk and fairy tales. The Andrew Lang lectur ...

* 1905–06 Arthur L. Smith, ''The Church and State in the Middle Ages'' * 1906–07 Francis Haverfield, ''The Roman Occupation of Britain'' * 1907–08 Alfred Comyn Lyall * 1908–09 Arthur Johnson, ''The Disappearance of the Small Landowner'' * 1909–10 George Edmundson, ''Anglo-Dutch rivalry during the first half of the 17th century'' * 1910–11

John William Fortescue Sir John William Fortescue (28 December 1859 – 22 October 1933) was a British military historian. He was a historian of the British Army and served as Royal Librarian (United Kingdom), Royal Librarian and Archivist at Windsor Castle from 1 ...

, ''British Statesmen of the Great War, 1793–1814'' * 1911–12 Reginald L. Poole, ''The Exchequer in the Twelfth Century'' * 1912–13 T. F. Tout, ''The place of the reign of Edward II in English history'' * 1913–14 Peter Hume Brown, ''The legislative union of England and Scotland'' * 1914–15 Andrew George Little, ''Studies in English Franciscan History'' * 1915–16 No Election * 1916–17 A. G. Little, ''Studies in English Franciscan History'' * 1917–18 No Election * 1918–19 No Election * 1919–20 John E. Lloyd * 1920–21 Arthur Frederic Basil Williams * 1921–22 Sir Richard Lodge, ''Great Britain and

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

in the 18th century'' * 1922–23 J. Armitage Robinson, ''The times of

Saint Dunstan Dunstan ( – 19 May 988), was an English bishop and Benedictine monk. He was successively Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey, Bishop of Worcester, Bishop of London and Archbishop of Canterbury, later canonised. His work restored monastic life in En ...

'' * 1923–24 C. L. Kingsford, ''Prejudice and promise in 15th century England''

1925–1949

* 1924–25 Henry William Carless Davis, ''The age of Grey and Peel'' * 1925–26 * 1926–27 F. M. Powicke, ''

Stephen Langton Stephen Langton (c. 1150 – 9 July 1228) was an English Cardinal (Catholic Church), cardinal of the Catholic Church and Archbishop of Canterbury from 1207 until his death in 1228. The dispute between list of English kings, King John of E ...

'' * 1927–28 Albert Frederick Pollard * 1928–29 F. M. Stenton, ''The First Century of English Feudalism, 1066–1166'' * 1929–30 Alfred Francis Pribram, ''England and the International Policy of the European Great Powers, 1871–1914'' * 1930–31 Keith Feiling * 1931–32 Keith Grahame Feiling, ''The tories in opposition and in power, 1714–1806'' * 1932–33 A. Hamilton Thompson, ''The English clergy and their organisation in the later Middle Ages'' * 1933–34

Lewis Namier Sir Lewis Bernstein Namier (; 27 June 1888 – 19 August 1960) was a British historian of Polish-Jewish background. His best-known works were '' The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III'' (1929), ''England in the Age of the Ame ...

, ''King, Cabinet, and Parliament in the Early Years of George III'' * 1934–35 Herbert Edward Salter, ''Medieval Oxford'' * 1935–36 Richard Henry Tawney * 1936–37 George James Turner * 1937–38 Harold William Vazeille Temperley * 1938–39 Eileen Power, ''The Wool Trade in English Medieval History'' * 1939–40 James A. Williamson, ''The Ocean in English History'' * 1940–41 Robin Ernest William Flower * 1941–42 V. H. Galbraith, ''Studies in the public records'' * 1942–43 Wilhelm Levison, ''England and the Continent in the Eighth Century'' * 1943–44 Admiral Sir Herbert Richmond, ''Statesmen and Sea Power'' * 1944–45 Austin Lane Poole, ''Obligations of Society in the XII and XIII Centuries'' * 1945–46 David Mathew, ''The Social Structure in Caroline England'' * 1946–47 T. F. T. Plucknett, ''Legislation of

Edward I Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots (Latin: Malleus Scotorum), was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he was Lord of Ireland, and from 125 ...

'' * 1947–48 Sir Charles Webster * 1948–49 David Knowles, ''The episcopal colleagues of Archbishop

Thomas Becket Thomas Becket (), also known as Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Thomas of London and later Thomas à Becket (21 December 1119 or 1120 – 29 December 1170), served as Lord Chancellor from 1155 to 1162, and then as Archbishop of Canterbury fr ...

'' * 1949–50 Ian Richmond

1950–1974

* 1950–51 G. N. Clark, ''King James I and Dutch "Imperialism" in Asia'' * 1951–52 Richard Pares, ''

King George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...

and the politicians'' * 1952–53 K. B. McFarlane, ''The Nobility of Later Medieval England'' * 1953–54 Thomas Southcliffe Ashton * 1954–55 C. R. Cheney, ''From Becket to Langton: English church government 1170–1213'' * 1955–56 A. J. P. Taylor, ''The Trouble Makers: Dissent over Foreign Policy, 1792–1939'' * 1956–57 Philip Grierson * 1957–58 Norman Sykes * 1958–59 Norman Sykes, ''From Sheldon to Secker: aspects of English church history, 1660–1768'' * 1959–60 G. Kitson Clark, ''The making of Victorian England'' * 1960–61 Sir Goronwy Edwards, ''The second century of the English Parliament'' * 1961–62 Christopher Hill, ''Intellectual Origins of the English Revolution'' * 1962–63 D. C. Douglas, ''William the Conqueror: the Norman impact upon England'' * 1963–64 Norman Gash, ''Reaction and reconstruction in English politics, 1832–1852'' * 1964–65 Eleanora Carus-Wilson, ''The rise of the English woollen industry'' * 1965–66 J. H. Plumb ''The growth of political stability in England: 1675–1725'' * 1966–67 Beryl Smalley, ''Intellectuals and Politics in the twelfth century'' * 1967–68 Robert Blake, ''The Conservative Party from Peel to Churchill'' * 1968–69 Charles Wilson, ''Queen Elizabeth and the Revolt of the Netherlands'' * 1969–70 J. M. Wallace-Hadrill, ''Early Germanic kingship in England and on the continent'' * 1970–71

Michael Howard Michael Howard, Baron Howard of Lympne (born Michael Hecht; 7 July 1941) is a British politician who was Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom), Leader of the Opposi ...

, ''The continental commitment: the dilemma of British defence policy in the era of the two world wars'' * 1971–72

G. R. Elton Sir Geoffrey Rudolph Elton (born Gottfried Rudolf Otto Ehrenberg; 17 August 1921 – 4 December 1994) was a German-born British political and constitutional historian, specialising in the Tudor period. He taught at Clare College, Cambridge, and ...

, ''Policy and Police: the enforcement of the Reformation in the age of Thomas Cromwell'' * 1972–73 Rodney Hilton, ''The English peasantry in the later Middle Ages'' * 1973–74 John Gallagher, ''The Decline, Revival and Fall of the British Empire''

1975–1999

* 1974–75 Joan Thirsk, ''Economic Policy, Economic Projects and Political Economy, 1540–1700'' * 1975–76 J. P. Kenyon, ''Revolution principles: the politics of party, 1689–1720'' * 1976–77 G. W. S. Barrow, ''The Anglo-Norman era in Scottish history'' * 1977–78 F. S. L. Lyons, ''Culture and Anarchy in Ireland, 1890–1939'' * 1978–79 Patrick Collinson, ''The religion of Protestants: the church in English society, 1559–1625'' * 1979–80 Donald A. Bullough, ''

Alcuin Alcuin of York (; ; 735 – 19 May 804), also called Ealhwine, Alhwin, or Alchoin, was a scholar, clergyman, poet, and teacher from York, Northumbria. He was born around 735 and became the student of Ecgbert of York, Archbishop Ecgbert at Yor ...

: Achievement and Reputation'' * 1980–81

Owen Chadwick William Owen Chadwick (20 May 1916 – 17 July 2015) was a British Anglican priest, academic, rugby international,Vatican Vatican may refer to: Geography * Vatican City, an independent city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy * Vatican Hill, in Rome, namesake of Vatican City * Ager Vaticanus, an alluvial plain in Rome * Vatican, an unincorporated community in the ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

'' * 1981–82 J. J. Scarisbrick, ''Religious Attitudes in Reformation England'' * 1982–83 J. O. Prestwich, ''The Place of War in English History 1066–1214'' * 1983–84 Ian R. Christie, ''Stress and stability in late 18th-century Britain: Reflections on the British avoidance of revolution'' * 1984–85 John Habakkuk, ''Marriage, debt, and the estates system: English landownership 1650–1950'' * 1985–86

S. F. C. Milsom Stroud Francis Charles Milsom (2 May 1923 – 24 February 2016) was an English legal historian, best known for his challenge to aspects of the works of F. W. Maitland. He was Professor of Law at the University of Cambridge from 1976 to 1990 ...

, ''Law and Society in the 12th and 13th centuries'' * 1986–87 Keith Robbins, ''Nineteenth-century Britain: England, Scotland and Wales: the making of a nation'' * 1987–88 Conrad Russell, ''The Causes of the English Civil War'' * 1988–89 Barbara Harvey, ''Living and dying in England 1140–1540, the monastic experience'' * 1989–90 Paul Langford, ''Public Life and Propertied Englishmen, 1689–1798'' * 1990–91

Asa Briggs Asa Briggs, Baron Briggs (7 May 1921 – 15 March 2016) was an English historian. He was a leading specialist on the Victorian era, and the foremost historian of broadcasting in Britain. Briggs achieved international recognition during his lon ...

, ''Culture and Communication in Victorian England'' * 1991–92 David Underdown, ''A Freeborn People: politics and the nation in seventeenth-century England'' * 1992–93 P. H. Sawyer, ''Wealth in Anglo-Saxon England'' * 1993–94 F. M. L. Thompson, ''Gentrification and the Enterprise Culture: Britain 1780–1980'' * 1994–95 Paul Slack, ''From Reformation to improvement: public welfare in early modern England'' * 1995–96 James Campbell, ''Origins of the English state'' * 1996–97 Jose Harris, ''A land of lost content? Visions of civic virtue from Ruskin to Rawls'' * 1997–98 R. R. Davies, ''The first English empire: power and identities in the British Isles, 1093–1343'' * 1998–99 T. C. Smout, ''Use and delight: environmental history in Northern England since 1600'' * 1999–2000 Keith Thomas, ''The ends of life: roads to fulfilment in early modern England''

2000–2024

* 2000–01 Christopher Dyer, ''An Age of Transition? Economy and Society in England in the Later Middle Ages'' * 2001–02 Peter Clarke, ''Britain's image in the world in the twentieth century'' * 2002–03

Quentin Skinner Quentin Robert Duthie Skinner (born 26 November 1940) is a British intellectual historian. He is regarded as one of the founders of the Cambridge School of the history of political thought. He has won numerous prizes for his work, including ...

, ''Freedom, Representation, and Revolution, 1603–51'' * 2003–04 John Maddicott, ''The Origins of the English Parliament'' * 2004–05 Marianne Elliott, ''Religion and Ireland'' * 2005–06 John Morrill, ''Living with Revolution'' * 2006–07 Robert Bartlett, ''The Learned Culture of Angevin England'' * 2007–08 Ross McKibbin, ''Parties People and the State: Politics in England c.1914–1951'' * 2008–09 John Brewer, ''The Politics of Feeling in the Age of Revolutions, 1760–1830'' * 2009–10 David Bates, ''The Normans and Empire'' * 2010–11 Peter Lake, ''Bad Queen Bess? Libelous Politics and Secret Histories in an Age of Confessional Conflict'' * 2011–12 Roy Foster, ''Making a Revolution in Ireland, c.1890–1916'' * 2012–13 John Blair, ''Building the Anglo-Saxon Landscape'' * 2013–14 Susan Pedersen, ''Internationalism and Empire: British Dilemmas, 1919–1939'' * 2014–15 Steven Gunn, ''The English people at war in the age of Henry VIII'' * 2015–16 Christine Carpenter, ''The Problem of the Fourteenth Century: Politics, State and Society in England 1307–1399'' * 2016–17

Stefan Collini Stefan Collini (born 6 September 1947)COLLINI, Prof. Stefan Anthony
''Who ...

, ''History in English Criticism, 1919–1961'' * 2017–18

Alexandra Walsham Alexandra Marie Walsham (born 4 January 1966) is an English-Australian academic historian. She specialises in early modern Britain and in the impact of the Protestant and Catholic reformations. Since 2010, she has been Professor of Modern Hist ...

, ''The Reformation of the Generations: Age, Ancestry, and Memory in England, 1500–1700'' * 2018–19 Mark Bailey: ''After the Black Death: Society, economy and the law in fourteenth-century England'' * 2019–20: Margot Finn, ''Family and Empire: Kinship and British Colonialism in the East India Company Era, c. 1750–1850''. * 2020–21: Jane Ohlmeyer, ''Ireland, Empire, and the Early Modern World'' * 2021–22: Robin Fleming, ''Dogsbodies and Dogs' Bodies: A Social and Cultural History of Roman Britain's Dogs and People'' * 2022–23: Colin Kidd, ''Peculiarities of the English Enlightenment: Ancients, Moderns and Pagan Pasts'' * 2023–24:

Alec Ryrie Alexander Gray RyrieThe Cambridge University List of Members up to 31 July 1996 (Supplement), University of Cambridge, 1996, p. 83 (born 20 August 1971) is a British historian of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity, specializing in the histor ...

, ''The World's Reformation''

From 2025

* 2024–25: Jocelyn Wogan-Browne, ''French in Medieval Britain: Cultural Politics and Social History, c. 1100-c. 1500''

References

External links

*Current Regulations for the Lectureship
Oxford University Statutes on Ford's Lectures
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130618120337/http://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/statutes/354-051b.shtml#_Toc28142710/ , date=18 June 2013 1896 establishments in England Recurring events established in 1896 Lecture series at the University of Oxford Lists of historians Historiography of the United Kingdom Historiography of England Annual events in the United Kingdom