Margery Venables Taylor
| Margery Venables Taylor CBE, MA, FSA | |
|---|---|
| Born | 20 January 1881 |
| Died |
24 December 1963[1] Oxford |
| Alma mater | Somerville College, Oxford |
| Occupation | Archaeologist and Historian |
Margery Venables Taylor (1881-1963) was an archaeologist and editor of the Journal of Roman Studies, and held posts including Secretary for the Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies. She was particularly instrumental in recording excavations in Roman Britain.[2] Her parents were Henry Taylor, a historian and antiquarian who married her mother, a Miss Venables.[3]
Education
Margery Venables Taylor was educated at Queen's School, Chester and Somerville College, Oxford, where she took the examinations for which women were not at that time awarded with a degree.[4]
Main Posts and Achievements
- Secretary for the Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies between 1923 and 1954, becoming vice-president in 1954 and president from 1956 to 1958.[5]
- In 1925 she was elected a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, where she was the first woman to hold the office of vice-president of the Society.
- Vice Secretary of the Society of Antiquaries in London
- Elected Honorary Research Fellow of Somerville College, Oxford in 1946
- In 1947 she became an honorary member of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne
- In 1949 she was awarded with the CBE
She wrote a large number of articles for various archaeological journals, and for many years edited the Journal of Roman Studies. She contributed material on Roman Britain to the Victoria County Histories.[6]
She also excavated in North Wales with Mortimer Wheeler [7]
Journal of Roman Studies
Taylor had worked as an assistant to Francis Haverfield for several years, and following his death took up the editorship of the JRS for a further four decades. Although not herself an Administrator, she worked and travelled widely on behalf of the Haverfield Bequest, which was to be applied to the promotion of the study of Roman Britain.[8]
As joint Secretary of the Society of Promotion of Roman Studies and Editor of the Journal, she made the decision to focus resources on the Journal at the cost of other projects, and to publish the annual account of excavation in Roman Britain. She also created the Congress of Classical Studies, held jointly with the Hellenic Society and the Classical Association, which became a triennial event.[9]
References
- ↑ obituary, Times December 27, 1963
- ↑ The Journal of Roman Studies, Vol. 50, Parts 1 and 2 (1960) pxi, "To Miss MV Taylor CBE, MA, FSA, A Tribute"
- ↑ http://wbo.llgc.org.uk/en/s-TAYL-HEN-1845.html
- ↑ The Journal of Roman Studies, Vol. 50, Parts 1 and 2 (1960) pxi, "To Miss MV Taylor CBE, MA, FSA, A Tribute"
- ↑ obituary, Times December 27, 1963
- ↑ Historical Manuscripts Commission, summary report of papers from the Ashmolean Library Oxford, (reference: GB-0479-Taylor)
- ↑ Wheeler, M. (1925) Prehistoric and Roman Wales, Oxford, Clarendon Press.
- ↑ Britannia Vol 34, pp. 35-40, "The Haverfield Request 1921-2000, and the Study of Roman Britain," Malcolm Todd
- ↑ The Journal of Roman Studies, Vol. 50, Parts 1 and 2 (1960) "To Miss MV Taylor CBE, MA, FSA, A Tribute"