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The Bodley Club is a speaker society at [[Merton College, Oxford]].<ref>[http://mertonmcr.org/resources/clubs-societies/ Clubs & Societies | Merton MCR | Merton College Oxford University<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Founded in 1894 as a forum in which undergraduates delivered academic papers on literature, the Club has changed form over the years, and was reformed in the 1980s as a speaker society.<ref>https://www.facebook.com/groups/2203192268/</ref> All members of the College (undergraduate and graduate students, as well as lecturers and fellows) are now considered members, and the Club is managed by a committee of four members.
The Bodley Club is a speaker society at [[Merton College, Oxford]].<ref>[http://mertonmcr.org/resources/clubs-societies/ Clubs & Societies | Merton MCR | Merton College Oxford University<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Founded in 1894 as a forum in which undergraduates delivered academic papers on literature,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Guha|first1=Ramachandra|title=Savaging the Civilized: Verrier Elwin, His Tribals, and India|date=1999|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=0226310477|pages=19-21}}</ref> the Club has changed form over the years, and was reformed in the 1980s as a speaker society.<ref>https://www.facebook.com/groups/2203192268/</ref> All members of the College (undergraduate and graduate students, as well as lecturers and fellows) are now considered members, and the Club is managed by a committee of four members.


The Club began on 19 May 1894 (though it was not christened 'The Bodley Club' until June), at a meeting described in the Club minute-book as follows: 'After partaking of oranges and coffee, cigarettes and learned discourse, the meeting adjourned at about 12 p.m.'. The initial constitution contained a rule (Rule 7) which stated that 'a written paper is preferred, but any member may speak on any literary subject instead or may propose that any literary work be read at the meeting.' It was not long before this provision was required, as the minute-book reveals in its entry for 19 October 1894: 'Owing to unpardonable slackness on the part of members, the four months of vacation proved insufficient to collect coherent ideas on any particular subject...However an agreeable and instructive evening was passed in reading Tennyson's 'Maud'.' From early years the Club has maintained a troubled existence, and the Secretary noted on 1 November 1900 a motion of censure 'against a person or persons unknown who were responsible for the undoubted blackness which is creeping over the Bodley Club.' Nevertheless, the Club has continued in one form or another to the present day, and after a few years' lapse hosted several high-profile speakers in 2014 (the Club's 120th Anniversary coinciding with the 750th Anniversary of Merton). These speakers included [[Rowan Williams]], [[P.D. James]], [[Chris Patten]], and [[Sir John Beddington]].
The Club began on 19 May 1894 (though it was not christened 'The Bodley Club' until June), at a meeting described in the Club minute-book as follows: 'After partaking of oranges and coffee, cigarettes and learned discourse, the meeting adjourned at about 12 p.m.'. The initial constitution contained a rule (Rule 7) which stated that 'a written paper is preferred, but any member may speak on any literary subject instead or may propose that any literary work be read at the meeting.' It was not long before this provision was required, as the minute-book reveals in its entry for 19 October 1894: 'Owing to unpardonable slackness on the part of members, the four months of vacation proved insufficient to collect coherent ideas on any particular subject...However an agreeable and instructive evening was passed in reading Tennyson's 'Maud'.' From early years the Club has maintained a troubled existence, and the Secretary noted on 1 November 1900 a motion of censure 'against a person or persons unknown who were responsible for the undoubted blackness which is creeping over the Bodley Club.'


Among the notable papers delivered to the Bodley Club in past years are those by [[Frederic Harrison]],<ref>Delivered on 13 May 1898. Recorded in the minute-book. (Merton College Archives)</ref> [[Harold Henry Joachim]],<ref>Delivered on 28 January 1898. Recorded in the minute-book. (Merton College Archives)</ref> [[Henry Hamilton Fyfe]]<ref>Delivered on 1 December 1899. Recorded in the minute-book. (Merton College Archives)</ref> (brother of the Secretary, William), [[Northrop Frye]],<ref>'Northrop Frye's Student Essays: 1932-1938', pp. xv and 417</ref> (Sir) [[Alister Clavering Hardy]],<ref>[http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/a2a/records.aspx?cat=161-ncuacs5488&cid=2-2-1-6#2-2-1-6 The National Archives | Access to Archives<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> and [[Ronald Knox]].<ref>[http://www.sherlock-holmes.org.uk/event_info.php?id=239 The Sherlock Holmes Society - Events - Oxford Weekend<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
Among the notable papers delivered to the Bodley Club in past years are those by [[Frederic Harrison]],<ref>Delivered on 13 May 1898. Recorded in the minute-book. (Merton College Archives)</ref> [[Harold Henry Joachim]],<ref>Delivered on 28 January 1898. Recorded in the minute-book. (Merton College Archives)</ref> [[Henry Hamilton Fyfe]]<ref>Delivered on 1 December 1899. Recorded in the minute-book. (Merton College Archives)</ref> (brother of the Secretary, William), [[Northrop Frye]],<ref>{{cite book|last1=Denham|first1=Robert D.|title=The Northrop Frye Handbook|date=2012|publisher=McFarland|isbn=0786463708|pages=283-6|chapter=Frye and the Bodley Club}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Frye|first1=Northrop|editor1-last=Denham|editor1-first=Robert D.|title=Northrop Frye's Student Essays, 1932-1938|date=1997|publisher=University of Toronto Press|isbn=080204235X|pages=417-430|chapter=T.S. Eliot and Other Observations}}</ref> (Sir) [[Alister Clavering Hardy]],<ref>[http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/a2a/records.aspx?cat=161-ncuacs5488&cid=2-2-1-6#2-2-1-6 The National Archives | Access to Archives<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> and [[Ronald Knox]].<ref>[http://www.sherlock-holmes.org.uk/event_info.php?id=239 The Sherlock Holmes Society - Events - Oxford Weekend<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>


More recent speeches have been delivered by [[Lord Kingsdown]] (former Governor of the Bank of England), [[Lord Wilson of Tillyorn]] (former Governor of Hong Kong), [[William Dalrymple (historian)|William Dalrymple]] (historian and author of ''The White Moghuls''), and [[Lord Tugendhat]] (former Vice-President of the EEC Commission).
More recent speeches have been delivered by [[Lord Kingsdown]] (former Governor of the Bank of England), [[Lord Wilson of Tillyorn]] (former Governor of Hong Kong), [[William Dalrymple (historian)|William Dalrymple]] (historian and author of ''The White Moghuls''), and [[Lord Tugendhat]] (former Vice-President of the EEC Commission).


Several of the Club's first members (from the 1890s) went on to become significant figures, including [[Sir Edmund Backhouse, 2nd Baronet|Edmund Trelawney Backhouse]], [[Herbert George Flaxman Spurrell]], and [[William Hamilton Fyfe]].
Several of the Club's first members (from the 1890s) went on to become significant figures, including [[Sir Edmund Backhouse, 2nd Baronet|Edmund Trelawney Backhouse]], [[Herbert George Flaxman Spurrell]], and [[William Hamilton Fyfe]].

The Club was extremely active in the early 1900s, with energetic discussions on literature that strayed into live political discussions of the Irish Land League.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Johnston|first1=Roy|title=Century of Endeavour: A Biographical and Autobiographical View of the Twentieth Century in Ireland|date=2006|publisher=The Lilliput Press|isbn=1930901763|url=http://www.rjtechne.org/century130703/1900s/family00.htm|accessdate=5 January 2017}}</ref>

During the 1940s and 50s, the Club appears to have reached its peak as a literary discussion group, and to its circle were attracted such figures as the poets [[John Heath-Stubbs]] and [[Count Geoffrey Potocki de Montalk|Count Potocki de Montalk]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Powell|first1=Neil|title=Obituary of John Heath-Stubbs|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/john-heath-stubbs-429904.html|accessdate=4 January 2017|work=The Independent|date=27 December 2006}}</ref>

In November 2008, the Club hosted a discussion between the Warden (Dame Jessica Rawson) and Chinese Diplomat Councilor Liu Weimin, which focussed on China's foreign policy.<ref>{{cite web|title=Chinese Diplomat Held Discussions with Faculty and Students of Merton College|url=http://www.chinese-embassy.org.uk/eng/sghd/t522450.htm|website=Chinese Embassy to the United Kingdom|accessdate=4 January 2017}}</ref>

==2014 Reformation==
After a short period of abeyance (for three years), the Bodley Club elected a new President and Committee. A new constitution was enacted. The main aim as stated in this constitution was to host "fabulously interesting" speakers. In the past few years, these have included the following, among others:
* Sikyong Dr Lobsang Sangay, Leader of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile <ref>{{cite web|title=Sikyong Speaks on ‘Rise of China and What About Tibet’|url=http://tibet.net/2016/11/sikyong-speaks-on-middle-way-approach-and-tibetan-democracy-at-esteemed-universities-in-london/|work=Central Tibetan Administration website|accessdate=4 January 2017}}</ref>
* Baroness (P.D.) James of Holland Park, novelist <ref name=Postmaster2014>{{cite web | url=https://www.merton.ox.ac.uk/sites/merton.ox.ac.uk/files/Postmaster-Merton-Record_2014.pdf|title=The Postmaster and Merton Record 2014|pages=8, 19| accessdate=4 January 2017}}</ref> <ref name=JCRwebsite>[https://www.mertonjcr.org/sports-societies/bodley/previous-speakers Merton JCR Website] Accessed 4 January 2017</ref>
* The Rt Hon. the Lord (Rowan) Williams of Oystermouth, former Archbishop of Canterbury and Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge <ref name=Postmaster2014 /><ref name=JCRwebsite />
* The Rt Hon. the Lord (Christopher) Patten of Barnes, Chancellor of the University <ref name=JCRwebsite />
* Maryam Namazie, noted secularist and activist <ref name=Mertonweb>[https://www.merton.ox.ac.uk/college-life/social-life/bodley-club Merton College Website] Accessed 4 January 2017</ref> <ref>[http://maryamnamazie.com/event/bodley-club-and-neave-society-event-merton-college-oxford/ Maryam Namazie's website] Accessed 4 January 2017</ref>


== External links ==
== External links ==

Revision as of 00:22, 5 January 2017

The Bodley Club
The Bodley Club
Founded 1894

Committee

President Naomi Gardom, History
Treasurer Frederick Money, History
Secretary Joseph Hutchinson, Medicine
Cellarer Natalie Nguyen, Ancient and Modern History
Junior Cellarer sedes vacans
Senior Member Fra' John Eidinow

The Bodley Club is a speaker society at Merton College, Oxford.[1] Founded in 1894 as a forum in which undergraduates delivered academic papers on literature,[2] the Club has changed form over the years, and was reformed in the 1980s as a speaker society.[3] All members of the College (undergraduate and graduate students, as well as lecturers and fellows) are now considered members, and the Club is managed by a committee of four members.

The Club began on 19 May 1894 (though it was not christened 'The Bodley Club' until June), at a meeting described in the Club minute-book as follows: 'After partaking of oranges and coffee, cigarettes and learned discourse, the meeting adjourned at about 12 p.m.'. The initial constitution contained a rule (Rule 7) which stated that 'a written paper is preferred, but any member may speak on any literary subject instead or may propose that any literary work be read at the meeting.' It was not long before this provision was required, as the minute-book reveals in its entry for 19 October 1894: 'Owing to unpardonable slackness on the part of members, the four months of vacation proved insufficient to collect coherent ideas on any particular subject...However an agreeable and instructive evening was passed in reading Tennyson's 'Maud'.' From early years the Club has maintained a troubled existence, and the Secretary noted on 1 November 1900 a motion of censure 'against a person or persons unknown who were responsible for the undoubted blackness which is creeping over the Bodley Club.'

Among the notable papers delivered to the Bodley Club in past years are those by Frederic Harrison,[4] Harold Henry Joachim,[5] Henry Hamilton Fyfe[6] (brother of the Secretary, William), Northrop Frye,[7][8] (Sir) Alister Clavering Hardy,[9] and Ronald Knox.[10]

More recent speeches have been delivered by Lord Kingsdown (former Governor of the Bank of England), Lord Wilson of Tillyorn (former Governor of Hong Kong), William Dalrymple (historian and author of The White Moghuls), and Lord Tugendhat (former Vice-President of the EEC Commission).

Several of the Club's first members (from the 1890s) went on to become significant figures, including Edmund Trelawney Backhouse, Herbert George Flaxman Spurrell, and William Hamilton Fyfe.

The Club was extremely active in the early 1900s, with energetic discussions on literature that strayed into live political discussions of the Irish Land League.[11]

During the 1940s and 50s, the Club appears to have reached its peak as a literary discussion group, and to its circle were attracted such figures as the poets John Heath-Stubbs and Count Potocki de Montalk.[12]

In November 2008, the Club hosted a discussion between the Warden (Dame Jessica Rawson) and Chinese Diplomat Councilor Liu Weimin, which focussed on China's foreign policy.[13]

2014 Reformation

After a short period of abeyance (for three years), the Bodley Club elected a new President and Committee. A new constitution was enacted. The main aim as stated in this constitution was to host "fabulously interesting" speakers. In the past few years, these have included the following, among others:

  • Sikyong Dr Lobsang Sangay, Leader of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile [14]
  • Baroness (P.D.) James of Holland Park, novelist [15] [16]
  • The Rt Hon. the Lord (Rowan) Williams of Oystermouth, former Archbishop of Canterbury and Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge [15][16]
  • The Rt Hon. the Lord (Christopher) Patten of Barnes, Chancellor of the University [16]
  • Maryam Namazie, noted secularist and activist [17] [18]

References

  1. ^ Clubs & Societies | Merton MCR | Merton College Oxford University
  2. ^ Guha, Ramachandra (1999). Savaging the Civilized: Verrier Elwin, His Tribals, and India. University of Chicago Press. pp. 19–21. ISBN 0226310477.
  3. ^ https://www.facebook.com/groups/2203192268/
  4. ^ Delivered on 13 May 1898. Recorded in the minute-book. (Merton College Archives)
  5. ^ Delivered on 28 January 1898. Recorded in the minute-book. (Merton College Archives)
  6. ^ Delivered on 1 December 1899. Recorded in the minute-book. (Merton College Archives)
  7. ^ Denham, Robert D. (2012). "Frye and the Bodley Club". The Northrop Frye Handbook. McFarland. pp. 283–6. ISBN 0786463708.
  8. ^ Frye, Northrop (1997). "T.S. Eliot and Other Observations". In Denham, Robert D. (ed.). Northrop Frye's Student Essays, 1932-1938. University of Toronto Press. pp. 417–430. ISBN 080204235X.
  9. ^ The National Archives | Access to Archives
  10. ^ The Sherlock Holmes Society - Events - Oxford Weekend
  11. ^ Johnston, Roy (2006). Century of Endeavour: A Biographical and Autobiographical View of the Twentieth Century in Ireland. The Lilliput Press. ISBN 1930901763. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
  12. ^ Powell, Neil (27 December 2006). "Obituary of John Heath-Stubbs". The Independent. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
  13. ^ "Chinese Diplomat Held Discussions with Faculty and Students of Merton College". Chinese Embassy to the United Kingdom. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
  14. ^ "Sikyong Speaks on 'Rise of China and What About Tibet'". Central Tibetan Administration website. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
  15. ^ a b "The Postmaster and Merton Record 2014" (PDF). pp. 8, 19. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
  16. ^ a b c Merton JCR Website Accessed 4 January 2017
  17. ^ Merton College Website Accessed 4 January 2017
  18. ^ Maryam Namazie's website Accessed 4 January 2017
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