The Stubbs Society for Foreign Affairs and Defence, commonly referred to simply as Stubbs Society, is the University of Oxford's oldest officially affiliated paper-reading and debating society (not to be confused with the unaffiliated debating society the

Oxford Union The Oxford Union Society, commonly referred to as the Oxford Union, is a debating society in the city of Oxford, England, whose membership is drawn primarily from the University of Oxford. Founded in 1823, it is one of Britain's oldest unive ...

). It is the university's forum for scholarship in international history, grand strategy and foreign affairs. Named in honour of the Victorian historian,

William Stubbs William Stubbs (21 June 182522 April 1901) was an English historian and Anglican bishop. He was Regius Professor of History (Oxford), Regius Professor of Modern History at the University of Oxford between 1866 and 1884. He was Bishop of Ches ...

, in 1884, the Society has throughout its history welcomed many prominent speakers across the humanities and sciences. Its alumni includes former Home Secretaries, Lord High Chancellors,

Archbishops of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop was Augustine ...

world leaders ''World Leaders'', also known as ''Chiefs of State and Cabinet Members of Foreign Governments'', is a public domain directory published weekly by the United States Central Intelligence Agency. It lists different state officials for each country ...

, Nobel laureate recipients,

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...

holders, journalists and academics. Notable past-office holders include political theorist Sir Isaiah Berlin,

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

and second-wave feminist Sheila Rowbotham, military historian Sir Charles Oman, Canadian Prime Minister

Lester B. Pearson Lester Bowles Pearson (23 April 1897 – 27 December 1972) was a Canadian politician, diplomat, statesman, and scholar who served as the 14th prime minister of Canada from 1963 to 1968. He also served as Leader of the Liberal Party of C ...

, Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Lang and Winston Churchill's Home Secretary the Earl of Kilmuir.

Membership

Life membership of the society is available to anyone studying at the following institutions: *

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 ...

Oxford Brookes University Oxford Brookes University (OBU; formerly known as Oxford Polytechnic) is a public university, public university in Oxford, England. It is a new university, having received university status through the Further and Higher Education Act 1992. Th ...

Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies The Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies (OXCIS) was established in 1985 as an independent centre affiliated with the University of Oxford, focused on advanced research into Islam and Muslim societies. The Prince of Wales serves as its patron. In 20 ...

* Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies *Staff members of the University of Oxford or any of its colleges or permanent private halls. Shorter one-year memberships are also available to those participating in visiting study programmes at Oxford. Discounted membership is given to those currently or formerly serving in His Majesty's Armed Forces. This includes the

University Officers' Training Corps The University Officers' Training Corps (UOTC), also known as the Officers' Training Corps (OTC), are British Army reserve units, under the command of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, which recruit exclusively from universities and focus on ...

, the University Royal Naval Unit, and the

University Air Squadron University Air Squadrons (UAS), are Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve units under the command of No. 6 Flying Training School RAF. That offers training and flight training to university students, with the goal of attracting students into a ca ...

, which a significant proportion of members are associated with.

History

Foundation

When an American, Samuel A. Brearley Jr., introduced the idea of the 'seminar' to Oxford in 1882, his initiative became, first, the Oxford Historical Seminar, and then, in 1884, the Stubbs Society.Brock & Curthoys (eds.), ''The History of the University of Oxford'', Oxford University Press (2000), vol. vii, p. 380. Functioning as a 'proving ground for future leaders and the founders of new fields of enquiry', the Society fostered critical thinking and intellectual curiosity under the aegis of dons such as Sir Charles Oman, E. A. Freeman, and with members including such future doyens of the historical profession as James Tait, Sir Charles Harding, and

Frederick York Powell Frederick York Powell (4 January 1850 – 8 May 1904) was an English historian and scholar. Biography He was born on 4 January 1850 at 43 Woburn Place, Bloomsbury, London, the son of Frederick Powell, a commissariat merchant, and his wife Ma ...

. The photo to the right shows the original members of the society in which there are at least four future Members of Parliament, an Archbishop of Canterbury and some of the greatest scholars of the historical profession. The Society's 'Transactions', largely extant from 1894 in 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 ...

, reveal much about its early character; but the Society resists easy characterisation. The early model has overtones of the gentleman's club, with one blackball in six enough to prevent election as a member and the Society colours being "claret, cider and coffee – the only drinks that were permitted at its meetings." The original constitution, too, declared the Society would "honour its toast to

Clio In Greek mythology, Clio ( , ; ), also spelled Kleio, Сleio, or Cleo, is the muse of history, or in a few mythological accounts, the muse of lyre-playing. Etymology Clio's name is derived from the Greek root κλέω/κλείω (meaning ...

in mulled claret.". Equally, if some of the talks and debates are replete with naivety and ''sui generis'' moral judgement, discussion has often been insightful, sophisticated, and culturally inflected: for instance, a paper on

Lollardy Lollardy was a proto-Protestantism, proto-Protestant Christianity, Christian religious movement that was active in England from the mid-14th century until the 16th-century English Reformation. It was initially led by John Wycliffe, a Catholic C ...

, delivered in the 1910s, provoked suggestions that Lollardy was a rhetorically-constructed vehicle for the condemnation of the enemies of the Lancastrian regime—a thesis broadly similar to that advanced by recent historians of the Lollards such as Paul Strohm. The Stubbs Society, then, seems to have always been a vigorous intellectual space, necessarily coloured by its setting, but nonetheless (indeed, in some respects, all the more) worthy of attention. The Society has maintained throughout its existence a lively programme of social events. Indeed records of the Society's 1903 triennial dinner talk of a 7-course meal served to members. Today, the Society continues to provide opportunities for members to engage with like-minded practitioners and students with an annual garden party and dinner.

Female membership

The Society, whilst rooted in its rich heritage, has always been open to new ideas and it is the vibrancy of its membership and events which keeps the Society alive today. It was Lord Beloff, the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

peer and university administrator, who first proposed the admission of women in 1939, some 30 years ahead of the

. Female students from Somerville, Lady Margaret Hall and other new women's colleges joined eagerly, leading to the presidency of Ann Faber in 1942. One of the first female members of the Society was a young Agnes Headlam-Morley who rose later to become Montague Burton Professor of International Relations - the first woman to be appointed to a chair at Oxford. Professor Headlam-Morley spoke on "British Foreign Policy During the Last Century and that of Mr Chamberlain's".

Past speakers

Historically, individuals were invited to address members of the Stubbs Society just once in their career. It was thus well-known in the world of academia and in the corridors of Westminster as one of the most prestigious invitations anyone could receive - to turn down an invitation to speak was rare. In over a century of continual activity, the Society has been addressed by a series of eminent speakers in meetings famous, sometimes notorious, for the combative discussion that ensues after a paper has been read. Indeed, Conrad Russell recalled an occasion when

Geoffrey 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 ...

was the speaker:

The first time I met Geoffrey Elton was when I was a postgraduate in 1960. After addressing the Stubbs Society in Oxford, he faced a concerted assault, begun "while Lawrence is getting his anti-tank gun into position". I rashly wandered into the cross-fire and defended him.

The speaker lineups have been appropriately diverse, ranging from

Joseph Needham Noel Joseph Terence Montgomery Needham (; 9 December 1900 – 24 March 1995) was a British biochemist, historian of science and sinologist known for his scientific research and writing on the history of Chinese science and technology, initia ...

on the history of Chinese science, to Christopher Andrew on

MI5 MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), officially the Security Service, is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), Gov ...

, to

Lord Sumption Jonathan Philip Chadwick Sumption, Lord Sumption, (born 9 December 1948), is a British author, medieval historian, barrister and former senior judge who sat on the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom between 2012 and 2018, and a Non-Permanen ...

on the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

during the

Hundred Years' War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a conflict between the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of France, France and a civil war in France during the Late Middle Ages. It emerged from feudal disputes over the Duchy ...

. In one instance, the author Fernández-Armesto described how "Fatally pertinent questions reduced the excellent but academically underqualified historical writer Veronica Wedgwood to tears." He continued:

I recall an occasion when a visiting professor from Lancaster, who gave a talk on an early-18th-century Tory, wilted on being asked, "What have you added to what Macaulay has to say on the subject?" Self-destructively, he burbled, "I didn't know anyone still read Macaulay." "We do in this university," rejoined his interrogator.

Other events have been contentious in their own right. On one occasion, the controversial British politician

Enoch Powell John Enoch Powell (16 June 19128 February 1998) was a British politician, scholar and writer. He served as Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Wolverhampton South West for the Conservative Party (UK), Conserv ...

was invited to address the Society on the topic of constitutional history. In recent years, speakers have included: * Sir Malcolm Rifkind - Former Defence Secretary and Foreign Secretary * Sir Mark Sedwill - Former

Cabinet Secretary A cabinet secretary is usually a senior official (typically a civil servant) who provides services and advice to a cabinet of ministers as part of the Cabinet Office. In many countries, the position can have considerably wider functions and powe ...

and

Head of the Home Civil Service In the United Kingdom, the Civil Service is the permanent bureaucracy or Secretariat (administrative office), secretariat of Crown employees that supports His Majesty's Government, the Scottish Government and the Welsh Government, which is led ...

* Sir Geoffrey Nice - Lead prosecutor at President Slobodan Milošević's trial for war crimes * Sir John Sawers - Former Chief of the

Secret Intelligence Service The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 (MI numbers, Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of Human i ...

(MI6) * Sir Julian King - The last British European Commissioner * Kate Adie - Former Chief News Correspondent for

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

* Lord Patten - The 28th and last

Governor of Hong Kong The governor of Hong Kong was the representative of the United Kingdom, British The Crown, Crown in British Hong Kong, Hong Kong from 1843 to 1997. In this capacity, the governor was president of the Executive Council of Hong Kong, Executiv ...

* Lord Houghton - Former Chief of the Defence Staff * Lord Alderdice - First Speaker of the

Northern Ireland Assembly The Northern Ireland Assembly (; ), often referred to by the metonym ''Stormont'', is the devolved unicameral legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliam ...

(1998–2004) *

Ben Ferencz Benjamin Berell Ferencz (March 11, 1920 – April 7, 2023) was an American lawyer. He was an investigator of Nazi war crimes after World War II and the chief prosecutor for the United States Army at the Einsatzgruppen trial, one of the 12 su ...

- Last living

Nuremberg trials #REDIRECT Nuremberg trials {{redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from move ...

prosecutor * Ciaran Martin - First CEO of the National Cyber Security Centre (United Kingdom) * James Arroyo - Director at the Ditchley Foundation *Sir Clive Johnstone - former

Vice Admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of Vice ...

in the

and Commander

Allied Maritime Command The Allied Maritime Command (MARCOM) is the central command of all NATO maritime forces and the Commander MARCOM is the prime maritime advisor to the Alliance. When directed by the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), it provides the core ...

*Lord

Peter Ricketts Peter Forbes Ricketts, Baron Ricketts, (born 30 September 1952) is a retired British senior diplomat and a life peer. He has sat as a crossbencher in the House of Lords since 2016. Ricketts served as chair of the Joint Intelligence Committe ...

- former National Security Advisor and Ambassador to France

Governance

Elections

Much rivalry exists for the Presidency of the "chief historical discussion club", particularly between the central

colleges A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary education, tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding academic degree, degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further educatio ...

of the University: specifically between members from New College, Christ Church,

Magdalen College Magdalen College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by Bishop of Winchester William of Waynflete. It is one of the wealthiest Oxford colleges, as of 2022, and one of the strongest academically, se ...

and St John's College. Indeed, Paul Johnson, writing in the

Spectator ''Spectator'' or ''The Spectator'' may refer to: *Spectator sport, a sport that is characterized by the presence of spectators, or watchers, at its matches *Audience Publications Canada * '' The Hamilton Spectator'', a Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, ...

, recalled an episode involving Lord Dacre:

That term, in 1948, I was due to be elected secretary at the final meeting. As treasurer, I had noted that a suspicious number of extra subscriptions had been taken out in the previous fortnight but, not being a conspiracy theorist, had thought no more of it. However, when I and Karl Leyser arrived for the meeting, we found it packed with strangers, chiefly red-faced Christ Church louts, who looked as though they would have been more at home at a bump-supper or a Bullingdon Club grind. Roper, who was now Censor of Christ Church, had hustled them all together to vote us out of office, as indeed they did. It was the kind of plot the CP had perfected in the British trades-union movement, and Roper had clearly studied the party's methods. His delight at the success of his scheme was so transparent and schoolboyish that I had to laugh. though the rest of the Monks [colloquial term for students at
Magdalen College Magdalen College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by Bishop of Winchester William of Waynflete. It is one of the wealthiest Oxford colleges, as of 2022, and one of the strongest academically, se ...
] were very annoyed.

Hugh Trevor-Roper, Trevor-Roper later became Senior Member of the Society, but others of such diverse political persuasions as Christopher Hill (historian), Christopher Hill have also fulfilled this role over the years. Through much of its history, the Stubbs Society was highly selective, with membership conditional on the support of tutors. It was designed to be "an elite from which future historians are supposed to be drawn". Indeed membership was so restrictive that future greats such as A J P Taylor were not invited to join whilst studying at Oxford. Such strict regulation ensured "meetings brought dons and undergraduates together in companionable complicity".See Felipe Fernández-Armesto in the ''Times Literary Supplement'', 26 February 2009, for a distinctive perspective.

Modern composition

Today, the Society looks very different to what it once did with an open-membership to students of all disciplines. However, there continues to be just as much competition for the Presidency with internal committee elections held at the end of every term. Alongside the prestigious position of President there are three senior offices: Vice-President, Treasurer, and Secretary. In order to stand for President, candidates are expected to have held one of these three offices.

Past officers

A list of past officers of the Stubbs Society includes:

Academia

* Sheila Rowbotham - Prominent second-wave feminist and socialist * Sir Isaiah Berlin - Political theorist * Sir John Hicks - Nobel Prize-winning economist * Sir Charles Oman - Military historian and politician * Sir William Ashley - Economic historian * Sir Charles Firth - English Civil War historian and Regius Professor of Modern History * Sir Frederick Powicke- Medieval historian and Regius Professor of History * Sir Fred Clarke - Director of the

Institute of Education The UCL Institute of Education (IOE) is the faculty of education and society of University College London (UCL). It specialises in postgraduate study and research in the field of education and is one of UCL's 11 constituent faculties. Prior t ...

* Sir John Edward Lloyd - Welsh historian * Sir James Holt - Magna Carta scholar and

Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge Fitzwilliam College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college has origins from 1869, with the foundation of the Non-Collegiate Students Board, a venture intended to offer academically excellent students of all ...

Master * Lord Dacre - Modern historian and Regius Professor of Modern History * Dame Gillian Beer - Literary critic and first female President of the Society * Catherine Hughes - Diplomat and former Principal of

Somerville College Somerville College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. It began admitting men in 1994. The college's liberal tone derives from its f ...

* George Norman Clark - Chichele Professor of Economic History and Provost of

Oriel College Oriel College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title formerly claimed by University College, ...

* James Tait - Medieval Historian * Manning Clark - Australia's most famous historian * Felipe Fernández-Armesto - Historian * Roger Howell Jr. - Former President of

Bowdoin College Bowdoin College ( ) is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Brunswick, Maine. It was chartered in 1794. The main Bowdoin campus is located near Casco Bay and the Androscoggin River. In a ...

* John Henry Whitehead - President of the

London Mathematical Society The London Mathematical Society (LMS) is one of the United Kingdom's Learned society, learned societies for mathematics (the others being the Royal Statistical Society (RSS), the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications (IMA), the Edinburgh ...

* John Farquhar Fulton - Neurophysiologist *

Gareth Stedman Jones Gareth Stedman Jones (born 17 December 1942) is an English academic and historian. As Professor of the History of Ideas at Queen Mary, University of London, he deals particularly with working-class history and Marxism. Career Educated at St ...

- Marxist historian * Lawrence Stone - English Civil War historian * Karl Leyser - Medieval historian * Keith Robbins - Former Vice-chancellor of the

University of Wales The University of Wales () is a confederal university based in Cardiff, Wales. Founded by royal charter in 1893 as a federal university with three constituent colleges – Aberystwyth, Bangor and Cardiff – the university was the first universit ...

* Alan Deyermond - Hispanist * Kenneth McFarlane - Medieval historian *Samuel A Brearley Jr - Pioneer of women's education and founder of the Brearley School

Politics and government

- Former Canadian Prime Minister and Nobel laureate * Earl of Kilmuir - Former

Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, more commonly known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom and the head of the Home Office. The position is a Great Office of State, maki ...

, Lord High Chancellor and

Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...

prosecutor *

Walt Whitman Rostow Walt Whitman Rostow (; October 7, 1916 – February 13, 2003) was an American economist, professor and political theorist who served as national security advisor to president of the United States Lyndon B. Johnson from 1966 to 1969. Rostow wor ...

- Former US National Security Advisor * Lt Gen Sir Adrian Carton de Wiart -

holder * Sir John Marriott - Educationist and Conservative Member of parliament * Sir Ryland Adkins - Senior British Judge and Liberal politician * Sir Michael Wheeler-Booth -

Clerk of the Parliaments The Clerk of the Parliaments is the chief clerk of the House of Lords in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The position has existed since at least 1315, and duties include preparing the minutes of Lords proceedings, advising on proper parli ...

* Sir Robert Birley - Anti-apartheid campaigner and headmaster of Charterhouse and

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

* Lord Beloff - Conservative

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

and prominent

Eurosceptic Euroscepticism, also spelled as Euroskepticism or EU-scepticism, is a political position involving criticism of the European Union (EU) and European integration. It ranges from those who oppose some EU institutions and policies and seek refor ...

* Lord Monk Bretton -

Peer of the Realm A peer of the realm is a member of the highest aristocratic social order outside the ruling dynasty of the kingdom. Notable examples are: * a member of the peerages in the United Kingdom, who is a hereditary peer or a life peer * a member of the ...

* Earl Russell - Historian and Liberal Democrat peer * Thomas Ellis - Leader of the Welsh home-rule campaign Cymru Fydd * Simon Manley - British Diplomat * Charles Lonsdale - British Diplomat

Religion

* Lord Lang - Former

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...

* Hensley Henson - Former

Bishop of Durham The bishop of Durham is head of the diocese of Durham in the province of York. The diocese is one of the oldest in England and its bishop is a member of the House of Lords. Paul Butler (bishop), Paul Butler was the most recent bishop of Durham u ...

* William Holden Hutton - Former Dean of Winchester *Dr Alexander Carlyle - Former Canon Treasurer of

Truro Cathedral The Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a Church of England cathedral in the city of Truro, Cornwall. It was built between 1880 and 1910 to a Gothic Revival design by John Loughborough Pearson on the site of the parish church of St Mary. His ...

*Philip Caraman -

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

priest and author

Broadcasting and journalism

* Paul Johnson - Writer and recipient of the

Presidential Medal of Freedom The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award of the United States, alongside the Congressional Gold Medal. It is an award bestowed by decision of the president of the United States to "any person recommended to the President ...

* Manicasothy Saravanamuttu - Sri Lankan journalist and diplomat * Michael Davie - Journalist and biographer * Matthew d'Ancona - Journalist and Editor * Guy Browning - Journalist and after-dinner speaker

Business

Past Presidents

Key

Presidents 1907-1919

Presidents 1983-1993

Presidents 2018-Today

In popular culture

In the ''Village Tales'' series by GMW Wemyss, the Duchess of Taunton is described as a former member of the Stubbs Society.

References

thumb The thumb is the first digit of the hand, next to the index finger. When a person is standing in the medical anatomical position (where the palm is facing to the front), the thumb is the outermost digit. The Medical Latin English noun for thumb ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stubbs Society Historical societies of the United Kingdom Clubs and societies of the University of Oxford