Portrait of Janet Boyd at Age 18. By Emily Muir (c.1922).

Courtesy of the Boyd family and Naughton Gallery at Queen's.

 

The Wiles Lectures are an annual lecture series that was set up by Janet Boyd in 1953. Janet Boyd was born in Albany, New York, in 1904 and studied History at Bryn Mawr College, Pennstylvania, before moving to County Down, Northern Ireland. She established the lectures in memory of her father, Thomas S. Wiles, with the aim of promoting innovative perspectives on history to reach beyond social and cultural divisions. With the collaboration of Sir Eric Ashby, then vice-chancellor of Queen’s, and Sir Herbert Butterfield, Master of Peterhouse, Cambridge, the lectures were structured to focus on the public presentation of historical research and to create a unique forum for rigorous academic feedback. Since the first lectures given by Butterfield in 1954 under the title ‘The History of Historical Enquiry’, the Wiles Lectures have promoted a broadening of horizons across history as a discipline and into the realm of public discourse.

Janet Boyd was an advocate for the ability of historical enquiry to transcend barriers forged during strife. Her outlook was shaped by her experience, whilst growing up in the USA, of the disparities between the different versions of history taught in northern and southern states as well as later by the conflicts in Northern Ireland. The compassionate curiosity and strong sense of integrity that led her to establish the Wiles Trust are also reflected across her rich and varied public activities, which included letter-writing in support of human rights, serving in the visitor canteen at the Maze Prison, volunteering at a children’s hospital, and co-founding the Ulster-American Friendship Committee.

Each year, an expert in a particular field of historical scholarship is invited to Queen’s to give four open lectures on successive days based on their research and its implications for historical understanding more broadly. Each evening the lecture is followed by lively and honest discussion with chosen academic guests and trustees. This feedback typically helps the lecturer to refine their work for publication. Wiles publications have contributed a number of notable titles published by Cambridge University Press, including Alfred Cobban's The Social Interpretation of the French Revolution (1964), J.H. Elliott's The Old World and the New (1970), Eric Hobsbawm's Nations and Nationalism since 1780 (1990), and Adrian Hastings' The Construction of Nationhood (1997). The Wiles Trust also facilitates other historical events at Queen’s, including Wiles Colloquia convened by members of the Department of History.

The Lecture series is managed by a committee of Trustees made of members of Queen's University, distinguished historians from other universities, and representatives of the Boyd family.