Public Affairs

Romanes Lectures since 1892

Year Surname Speaker Title of Speech
1892 Gladstone W.E. Gladstone An Academic Sketch
1893 Huxley T.H. Huxley Evolution and Ethics
1894 Weismann August Weismann The Effects of External Influences upon Development
1895 Hunt Holman Hunt The Obligations of the Universities of England Towards Art
1896 Creighton Bishop Mandell Creighton English National Character
1897 Morley John Morley Machiavelli
1898 Geiki Sir Archibald Geiki Types of Scenery and their Influence upon Literature
1899 Jebb R.C. Jebb Humanism in Education
1900 Murray J.A.H. Murray The Evolution of English Lexicography
1901 Acton Lord Acton Lecture not delivered
1902 Bryce James Bryce The Relations of the Advanced and the Backward Races of Mankind
1903 Lodge Sir Oliver Lodge Modern Views on Matter
1904 Ilbert Sir Courtenay Ilbert Montesquieu
1905 Lankester Sir Ray Lankester Nature and Man
1906 Ker W.P. Ker Sturla, the Historian
1907 Curzon Lord Curzon Frontiers
1908 Holland Henry Scott Holland The Optimism of Butler's Analogy
1909 Balfour A.J. Balfour Criticism and Beauty
1910 Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Biological Analogies in History
1911 Bury J.B. Bury Romance of Chivalry on Greek Soil
1912 Butler H.M. Butler Lord Catham as an Orator
1913 Ramsay Sir W.M. Ramsay The Imperial Peace -An Ideal pervading European History
1914 Thomson Sir J.J. Thomson The Atomic Theory
1915 Poulton E.B. Poulton Science and the Great War
1916 Lectureship Suspended    
1917 Lectureship Suspended    
1918 Asquith H.H. Asquith Some aspects of the Victorian Age
1919 Lectureship Suspended    
1920 Inge Dean Inge The Idea of Progress
1921 Bédier Joseph Bédier Roland a Roncevaux
1922 Eddington Sir Arthur Eddington The Theory of Relativity and its Influence on Scientifict Thought
1923 Burnet John Burnet Ignorance
1924 Masefield John Masefield Shakespeare and Spiritual Life
1925 Bragg Sir William Bragg The Crystalline State
1926 Trevelyan G.M. Trevelyan The Two-Party System in English Political History
1927 Kenyon Sir Frederick Kenyon Museums and Natural Life
1928 Watson David Watson Palaeontology and the Evolution of Man
1929 Fortescue Sir John Fortescue The Vicissitudes of Organised Power
1930 Churchill Winston Churchill Parliamentary Government and Economic Development
1931 Galsworthy John Galsworthy The Creation of Character in Literature
1932 Moynihan Lord Moynihan The Advance of Medicine
1933 Hadow Sir Henry Hadow The Place of Music among the Arts
1934 Rothenstein Sir William Rothenstein Form and Content in English Painting
1935 Murray Gilbert Murray Then and Now -or the Changes of the Last Fifty Years
1936 Tovey Sir Donald Tovey Normality and Freedom in Music
1937 Granville-Barker Harley Granville-Barker On Poetry and Drama
1938 Cecil Viscount Cecil Peace and Pacifism
1939 Binyon Laurence Binyon Art and Freedom
1940 Herriot Edouard Herriot Lecture not delivered
1941 Hailey Lord Hailey The Position of Colonies in a British Commonwealth Nation
1942 Baynes Norman Baynes Intellectual Liberty and Totalitarian Claims
1943 Huxley Julian Huxley Evolutionary Ethics
1944 Young G.M. Young Mr. Gladstone
1945 Siegfried André Siegfried Characteristics and Limits of our Western Civilization
1946 Anderson Sir John Anderson The Machinery of Government
1947 Samuel Viscount Samuel Creative Man
1948 Schuster Lord Schuster Mountaineering
1949 Brabazon Lord Brabazon of Tara Forty Years of Flight
1950 Cockcroft Sir John Cockcroft The Development and the Future of Nuclear Energy
1951 Hankey Lord Hankey The Science and Art of Government
1952 Namier Sir Lewis Namier Monarchy and the Party System
1953 Simon Viscount Simon Crown and Commonwealth
1954 Clark Sir Kenneth Clark Moments of Vision
1955 Richardson Albert Richardson The Fine Arts and their Significance
1956 Beecham Sir Thomas Beecham John Fletcher -a Forgotten Poet and Dramatist
1957 Knox Ronald Knox Translation
1958 Bridges Lord Bridges The State and the Arts
1959 Denning Lord Denning From Precedent to Precedent
1960 Adrian Lord Adrian Factors in Mental Evolution
1961 Massey Viscount Massey Canadians and their Commonwealth
1962 Radcliffe Lord Radcliffe Mountstuart Elphinstone
1963 Bonham-Carter Lady Violet Bonham-Carter The Impact of Personality on Politics
1964 Hartley Sir Harold Hartley Man and Nature
1965 Annan Noel Annan The Disintegration of Culture
1966 Bowra Sir Maurice Bowra A Case for Humane Learning
1967 Butler Lord R.A. Butler The Difficult Art of Autobiography
1968 Medawar Sir Peter Medawar Science and Literature
1969 Holford Lord Holford A World of Room
1970 Berlin Sir Isaiah Berlin Fathers and Children
1971 Aron Professor Raymond Aron On the Use and Abuse of Futurology
1972 Popper Sir Karl Popper On the Problem of Body and Mind
1973 Gombrich Sir Ernst Gombrich Art History and the Social Sciences
1974 Zuckerman Lord Zuckerman Advice and Responsibility
1975 Murdoch Miss Iris Murdoch Why Plato Banished the Artists
1976 Heath The Rt. Hon. Edward Heath The Future of a Nation
1977 Hall Sir Peter Hall Form and Freedom in the Theatre
1978 Porter Sir George Porter Science and the Human Purpose
1979 Casson Sir Hugh Casson The Arts and the Academics
1980 Grimond The Rt. Hon. Joseph Grimond Is Political Philosophy based on a Mistake?
1981 Taylor A.J.P. Taylor War in Our Time
1982 Huxley Professor Sir Andrew Huxley Biology, the Physical Sciences and the Mind
1983 Chadwick Professor W.O. Chadwick Religion and Society
1984      
1985 Rothschild The Hon. Miram Rothschild Animals and Man
1986 Henderson Sir Nicholas Henderson Different Approaches to Foreign Policy
1987 St John-Stevas The Rt. Hon. St John-Stevas The Omnipresence of Walter Bagehot
1988 Glanton The Rt. Hon. Lord Dacre of Glanton The Lost Moments of History
1989      
1990 Bellow Mr Saul Bellow The Distracted Public
1991 Agnelli Signor Giovanni Agnelli Europe: Many Legacies, One Future
1992 Blake The Rt. Hon. The Lord Blake Gladstone, Disraeli and Queen Victoria
1993 Harris Professor Sir Henry Harris Hippolyte's Club Foot: The medical roots of realism in modern European Literature
1994 Slynn The Rt. Hon. Lord Slynn of Hadley Europe and Human Rights
1995 Bodmer Sir Walter Bodmer, FRS The Book of Man: the complete catalogue of our genes will revolutionise our ability to deal with disease and to understand our origins
1996 Jenkins The Rt. Hon. Lord Jenkins of Hillhead The Chancellorship (of Oxford): A Contemporary View with a Little History
1997 Robinson Mary Robinson Realising Human Rights: "Take hold of it boldly and duly…"
1998 Sen Amartya Kumar Sen Reason Before Identity
1999 Blair The Rt. Hon. Tony Blair The Learning Habit
2000 Bowen William G. Bowen At a Slight Angle to the Universe: The University in a Digitized, Commercialized Age
2001 MacGregor Robert Neil MacGregor The Perpetual Present:The Ideal Art for All
2002 Bingham Baron Thomas Bingham of Cornhill Personal Freedom and the Dilemma of Democracies
2003 Nurse Sir Paul Maxime Nurse The Great |deas of Biology
2004 Williams The Most Rev. and Rt. Hon. Rowan Williams Religious Lives
2005 Tilghman Shirley Marie Tilghman Strange bedfellows: science, politics, and religion
2006      
2007 Beer Dame Gillian Beer Darwin and the Consciousness of Others
2008 Yunus Muhammad Yunus Poverty-free World: When? How?
2009 Brown The Rt. Hon. Gordon Brown MP Science and our Economic Future