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 the First World War. The income from this bequest supported the creation of a public lecture series devoted to international law.

The Melland Schill Lectures, 1961—1974

The series was inaugurated in 1961 under the direction of Professor Ben Atkinson Wortley. It featured leading figures in international law, including Professor Quincy Wright on the elimination of war, Sir Robert Jennings on the acquisition of territory, Sir Ian Sinclair on the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, and Professor Daniel O’Connell on law and sea power.

Following Professor Wortley’s retirement, his successor, Professor Gillian White, replaced the lecture series with the Melland Schill monograph series, published by Manchester University Press, enabling authors to develop their ideas and arguments more fully than was possible in a short sequence of lectures.

The monographs have included influential works such as:

• A.V.P. Rogers on the law of the battlefield
• Anthony Carty on the decay of international law
• Hilary Charlesworth and Christine Chinkin on feminism and international law
• Vaughan Lowe and Robin Churchill on the law of the sea
• Nigel White on international organisations
• Leslie Green on the law of armed conflict.

Today, through the Melland Schill Studies in International Law monograph series, the Manchester International Law Centre and Manchester University Press continue to foster a close relationship, under the editorship of Professor Iain Scobbie and Professor Jean d’Aspremont at the Manchester International Law Centre. Find out more about the series and how to submit on our research page.

Accessing the collection

In collaboration with Manchester University Press, the University of Manchester Library has digitised the original lecture series (1961–1974). This Open Access initiative makes these important materials freely available to researchers worldwide.

The digitisation was formally launched by Sir Michael Wood, former Legal Adviser to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, who underlined the continuing scholarly value of the Melland Schill Lectures.