The Sheldon Memorial Lectures
The Charity’s Trust deed expressly provides for funds to be spent on the provision of The Sheldon Memorial Lecture.
In 2007 it was decided to hold a series of lectures on 20th Century individuals who had made a notable contribution to the City of York, starting with Oliver Sheldon, to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the founding of the York Academic Trust to promote the formation of the University of York.
Forthcoming Lectures and Events
To be announced
Past Lectures
THE SHELDON MEMORIAL LECTURE AUTUMN 2024
William Bowes, ‘Bill’, Morrell, 1913-1981, “For the Common Good”
Charity, Conservation and Commerce
by Sarah Sheils, M.A.
The Morrell family name is well-known in York. John Bowes Morrell is remembered for his lifetime’s work in protecting the historic environment of the city and as a founding father of the University of York. Less well-known, but undeservedly so, his son William Bowes Morrell built on this achievement by expanding the York Conservation Trust and helping to realise his father’s vision for a Centre on Toleration at the University. His own initiative was the creation, fifty years ago, of the York Common Good Trust, supporting local people in a wide range of activities. Although his professional career was in the field of newspapers and publishing on a national stage, he never forgot his native York and worked tirelessly on behalf of the city.
Please note: Owing to unexpected circumstances, Sarah Sheils was not be able to present this talk, which was delivered on her behalf by Professor Bill Sheils.
THE SHELDON MEMORIAL LECTURE AUTUMN 2024
YORK FESTIVAL OF IDEAS 2024
SUPPORTED BY THE SHELDON MEMORIAL TRUST
Jorvik at 40: Jorvik and After
Dr Peter Addyman C.B.E.
Speaker: Dr Peter Addyman CBE
Peter Addyman, former Director of the York Archaeological Trust, shared the story behind the creation of the iconic Jorvik Viking Centre. We learnt about the archaeological excavations that brought York’s Viking history to life and discovered some of the early secrets of this world-renowned attraction. Peter, the driving force behind the founding of the museum, also discussed Jorvik’s impact on heritage presentation in the UK and worldwide.
Click here to watch the lecture on YouTube
THE SHELDON MEMORIAL LECTURE SPRING 2024
'Known almost the world over’ as ‘Backhouse’s’: the Backhouse Nursery of York in the 19th and early 20th Centuries
Speaker: Professor Emerita Gillian Parker
Gillian Parker and Richard Green
In 1889, the report of a trip made by Manchester horticulturalists to the Backhouse Nursery in York implied that it was hardly less celebrated than Bolton Abbey and that its international reputation was assured. This lecture outlined the history of the nursery from 1815 to the 1920s and explored what led to its being ‘known almost the world over’, while it is now hardly known at all outside York. The Backhouses were an important Quaker family, various members of which were associated with the nursery. Discovering its history helped to relate the contributions of these men and women to horticulture, and to the wider economic and social life of York and beyond.
The lecture took place on Wednesday 1 May 2024 at the Bowland Auditorium, Berrick Saul Building, University of York.
THE SHELDON MEMORIAL LECTURE 2023
William Kaye Sessions (1915-2013)
Speaker: Professor Bill Sheils
William Kaye Sessions was a Quaker, Printer, Publisher, Naturalist, and Philanthropist. He was Managing Director of Sessions of York, he acquired H. Morley Printers, now Quacks the Printers and established the Sessions Book Trust. He contributed to the Nuffield Trust’s Survey of Poverty among Old People, was appointed to the board of the Rowntree Village Trust and was instrumental in establishing the New Earswick Nature Reserves in 1952 and the River Foss Society in 1975. The lecture discussed how his activities both reflected and contributed to significant changes in York’s economic, social and cultural history
THE SHELDON MEMORIAL LECTURE 2022
James Pigott Pritchett (1789 – 1868)
Speaker: Professor Edward Royle
Architect of Victorian York and Yorkshire and Congregational Deacon James Pigott Pritchett practised as an architect in York for over fifty years. During which time he was involved in reshaping much of the public face of the city including not only the York Cemetery, the Savings Bank, the façade of the Assembly Rooms and several chapels but also many of the ‘Tudor Gothic’ and ‘Georgian’ buildings to the south and west of the Minster. At the same time he was the most important leader in re-establishing Congregational churches in the city and one of that cluster of the great and good who contributed so much to civic life in the Victorian period. The lecture set out the range of his activities and was illustrated with reference to some of his buildings in York and across Yorkshire.
THE SHELDON MEMORIAL LECTURE 2021
Chance Memory: the story of a York war poet
Speaker: Professor Emerita Sue Mendus
The story of a Great War Poet whose identity was kept a secret for over half a century. In her lecture Sue reveals the surprising truth about a well known York figure and reintroduces a modern audience to a much loved poem. This lecture formed part of the publication John Stanley Purvis - Verses and Fragments: Poems of the Great War.
THE SHELDON MEMORIAL LECTURE 2020
George Pace CVO (1915 – 1975)
Speaker: Peter Pace
George Pace was the Country’s most prolific Church architect in the post war period. He designed new churches, restored cathedrals and re-ordered hundreds of parish churches including locally St. Martin le Grand and Holy Redeemer, Acomb. He had an exceptional knowledge of mediaeval architecture, but was a modernist designing in concrete and steel using Yorkshire craftsmen to make a church an act of worship in itself. He worked in the tradition of the great Victorian architects designing everything down to the light fittings and door handles.
This lecture was not published in print form but there is an article by Pace’s son, Peter, in York Historian no. 15 which was published in 2008.
THE SHELDON MEMORIAL LECTURE 2019
Eric Milner-White (1884 – 1963)
Speaker: Dr Allen Warren
Eric Milner-White was Dean of York from 1941 until his death in 1963, having previously been Dean of King’s College, Cambridge. Today he is best known for his moulding of the modern Festival of Nine lessons and Carols and for his controversial re-ordering of the mediaeval glass in York Minster.
His career as a working class priest, First World War military chaplain, churchman, educationalist and collector are now largely forgotten. Sixty plus years after his death, his life, achievements and reputation are worth revisiting as those of a Remarkable Dean.
2018 YORK FESTIVAL OF IDEAS:
Seebohm Rowntree Reconsidered
Speakers: Professors Bill Sheils and Jonathan Bradshaw
The Trust organised a joint lecture by Professors Bill Sheils and Jonathan Bradshaw on Seebohm Rowntree, son and successor to Joseph Rowntree, in the Lakeside Room of the Ron Cooke Hub at the University of York to a capacity audience.
THE SHELDON MEMORIAL LECTURE 2018
Arnold Rowntree (1872 - 1951)
Speaker: Sarah Sheils
Arnold Rowntree, a nephew of Joseph Rowntree, was Member of Parliament for York from 1910-1918. A successful business man, whose interests included the welfare of the working classes, the relief of poverty, education, newspapers and politics, he was a trustee of the Rowntree Charitable, Village and Reform Trusts and the Retreat Psychiatric Hospital. He had many other roles both in York and nationally. A notable Quaker and one of the forefathers of modern welfare at home, he worked for greater international understanding in the inter-war years.
The full text of this lecture has been published in Volume 37 of York Historian.
THE SHELDON MEMORIAL LECTURE 2017
Patrick Nuttgens CBE (1930 - 2004)
Speaker: Dr Jane Crease
Director of the Institute of Advanced Architectural Studies, first Professor of Architecture at the University of York and the first Director of Leeds Polytechnic, Patrick Nuttgens was an educator, a writer, a broadcaster and an artist. He was a member of the Royal Fine Art Commission, Chairman of the York Theatre Royal Trust and successively Secretary, Chairman and President of York Georgian Society He had a major impact on the University of York and made a huge contribution to architecture and conservation in the City.
THE SHELDON MEMORIAL LECTURE 2016
George Howard (1920 - 1984), Lord Howard of Henderskelfe: a life in Yorkshire and beyond
Speaker: Dr Christopher Ridgway
George Howard unexpectedly inherited Castle Howard following the death of his older brother. On his return from war service he opened its doors to the visiting public, immersing himself in public life and engaging with local causes. Whatever he attempted, he wanted to make a difference.
THE SHELDON MEMORIAL LECTURE 2015
Walter Brierley (1862 - 1926): Unlocking the Architectural Legacy
Speaker: Edward Waterson
The best known Arts and Crafts architect in the North of England, Walter Brierley came to York at the age of 23 and made an immediate impact on the City. He brought freshness and innovation to its schools, banks, private houses and churches in a way that has not been seen since. The lecture considered the man, his prodigious output and his legacy.
THE SHELDON MEMORIAL LECTURE 2013
Lord James of Rusholme (1909 - 1992) and the Founding of the University of York
Speaker: Dr Allen Warren
Eric John Francis James, Baron James of Rusholme was a prominent British educator. He taught science at Winchester College from 1933 to 1945, and was High Master of The Manchester Grammar School from 1945 to 1962. He then became the first Vice-Chancellor of the University of York, serving from 1962 to 1973. He had well-known and controversial views on the importance of meritocracy and took very seriously "the University's obligation to be a cultural and educational force in the region".
THE SHELDON MEMORIAL LECTURE 2012
George Harris (1896-1958) and the Marketing Revolution at Rowntrees
Speaker: Dr. Ralph Kaner
George Harris joined Rowntrees in 1923, and was Chairman from 1941 to 1952. By force of his personality and the evident success of his strategy, he committed the sometimes reluctant company to a new modern sophisticated Brands Marketing approach. The result was Rowntrees’ prosperous growth, so important to York’s economy, and the lasting appearance of such products as Black Magic, Smarties, Aero, and above all Kit Kat, today recognised as a successful global brand.
THE SHELDON MEMORIAL LECTURE 2011
City of our Dreams: J.B. Morrell (1873–1963) and the shaping of modern York
Speaker: Dr Katherine A. Webb
J.B. Morrell was one of York's greatest benefactors. He was a director of Rowntree and Co., Chairman of Westminster Press, Chairman of the Joseph Rowntree Social Service Trust, Chairman of the City's Finance Committee and twice Lord Mayor. He founded York Conservation Trust, promoted the York Castle Museum, produced several books on York's history and architecture and was one of the key figures in the foundation of the University of York. The lecture explored J.B. Morrell's immense legacy and showed how this played a vital role in shaping the identity of modern York.
THE SHELDON MEMORIAL LECTURE 2010
Hans Hess O.B.E (1907 -1975)
Speaker: John Ingamells
Hans Hess O.B.E, a refugee from Nazi Germany, was Curator of York Art Gallery from 1947 until 1967. Energetic, witty and formidable, he secured the gift of the Lycett Green Collection and transformed a war-damaged building, housing a collection of little more than local interest, into an art gallery of international repute. He played a major part in the cultural life of York for 20 years and was instrumental in making York the northern focus of the Festival of Britain in 1951. The Festival reintroduced the York Cycle of Mystery Plays to a modern audience and made York the home of a successful quadrennial festival of the arts for almost 40 years.
A small number of printed copies of this lecture are available for FREE. To request your copy, please contact us.
THE SHELDON MEMORIAL LECTURE 2008
Oliver Sheldon (1894 – 1951) and the Foundations of the University of York
Speaker: Dr Katherine A. Webb
This was the first lecture in the series on 20th Century individuals who made a notable contribution to the City of York. The talk was given by Dr. Katherine Webb on 10 April 2008 in the Merchant Adventurers’ Hall, York. Such was the interest that it was repeated, on 10 October 2008, at St. Andrew’s Church Hall, Bishopthorpe, York.
The full text of this lecture can be found using this link. To enquire about printed copies, which are available for a small fee, please contact us. For more information on Oliver Sheldon, please click here.
THE FIRST THREE SHELDON MEMORIAL LECTURES
1954: York as a Centre for Architecture and Artistic Training
Speaker: A.E. Richardson
1959: York from its Origins until the Close of the Eleventh Century: a review
Speaker: I.Richmond
1961: Medieval Archbishops of York
Speaker: M.D. Knowles
The text of these three lectures is available at the City Archives, York Explore.