The history of the Melland Schill lectures

In her will Miss Olive B. Schill of Prestbury, Cheshire, left a bequest to The University of Manchester in memory of her brother, Edward Melland Schill, who died in 1916 during World War 1. The income generated by this bequest was initially used to produce and publish a series of public lectures dealing with international law.

The Melland Schill Lectures, 1961—1974

Professor Ben Wortley organised this series of distinguished lecture(er)s, including Professor Quincy Wright on the role of international law in the elimination of war; Professor Robbie Jennings on the acquisition of territory; Sir Ian Sinclair on the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties; and Professor Dan O’Connell on the influence of law on sea power.  On Professor Wortley’s retirement, his successor, Professor Gillian White, decided to replace the lectures with a monograph series, published by Manchester University Press, as this would allow the authors to develop their ideas more fully then they could in "five or so public lectures".

The Melland Schill monograph series

The Melland Schill monograph series included equally distinguished authors, such as General AVP Rogers exposition of law on the battlefield; Anthony Carty on the decay of international law; Professors Hilary Charlesworth and Christine Chinkin on feminism and international law; Professors Vaughan Lowe and Robin Churchill on the law of the sea; Nigel White on the law of international organisations; and Professor L.C. Green on the law of armed conflict.