William John Blair, (born 4 March 1955) is an English historian,

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

, and academic, who specialises in

Anglo-Saxon England Anglo-Saxon England or Early Medieval England, existing from the 5th to the 11th centuries from the end of Roman Britain until the Norman conquest in 1066, consisted of various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms until 927, when it was united as the Kingdom o ...

. He is

Emeritus Professor ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

of Medieval History and Archaeology at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

, and a Fellow of

The Queen's College, Oxford The Queen's College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford, England. The college was founded in 1341 by Robert de Eglesfield in honour of Philippa of Hainault. It is distinguished by its pred ...

. He gave the 2013

Ford Lectures The Ford Lectures, technically the James Ford Lectures in British History, are an annual series of public lectures held at the University of Oxford on the subject of English or British history. They are usually devoted to a particular historical ...

at the University of Oxford.

Early life and education

Blair was born on 4 March 1955 in

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in northwest Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'' and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement o ...

, Surrey, England. His father was

Claude Blair Claude Blair, (30 November 1922 – 21 February 2010) was a British museum curator and scholar, who specialised in European arms and armour. He is particularly known for his book ''European Armour: circa 1066 to circa 1700'' (1958). He worked in ...

, a museum curator and "one of the foremost authorities on historic European metalwork, especially arms and armour", and his mother was Joan Mary Greville Blair (née Drinkwater). Blair was educated at

St John's School, Leatherhead Seek those things which are above , established = , closed = , type = Public SchoolIndependent school Co-educational day, weekly and flexi boarding , religious_affiliation = Church of England , p ...

, an

independent school An independent school is independent in its finances and governance. Also known as private schools, non-governmental, privately funded, or non-state schools, they are not administered by local, state or national governments. In British Eng ...

Leatherhead Leatherhead is a town in the Mole Valley District of Surrey, England, about south of Central London. The settlement grew up beside a ford on the River Mole, from which its name is thought to derive. During the late Anglo-Saxon period, Leath ...

, Surrey. He then studied at

Brasenose College, Oxford Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The library and chapel were added in the mi ...

, graduating with a first-class

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

(BA) degree in 1976. He remained at Brasenose College to undertake

postgraduate research Postgraduate research represents a formal area of study that is recognized by a university or institute of higher learning. By definition, the notion of “postgraduate” (United States) carries the implication that the candidate undertaking such ...

and completed his

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common Academic degree, degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields ...

(DPhil) degree in 1983. His

doctoral thesis A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: ...

was titled ''Landholding, Church and Settlement in Surrey before 1300'': this subsequently became the basis of his first book, ''Early Medieval Surrey'' (1991).

Academic career

During his doctoral research, Blair was a

Junior Research Fellow A research fellow is an academic research position at a university or a similar research institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a ...

. In 1981, he was elected a

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

. Since then, he has been a

praelector A praelector is a traditional role at the University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford. The role differs somewhat between the two ancient universities. University of Cambridge At Cambridge, a praelector is the fellow of a college who forma ...

and

tutor TUTOR, also known as PLATO Author Language, is a programming language developed for use on the PLATO system at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign beginning in roughly 1965. TUTOR was initially designed by Paul Tenczar for use in co ...

in history at the college. On 1 October 2006, he was awarded a

Title of Distinction The University of Oxford introduced Titles of Distinction for senior academics in the 1990s. These are not established chairs, which are posts funded by endowment for academics with a distinguished career in British and European universities. Howeve ...

by the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

as Professor of Medieval History and Archaeology. He retired in October 2020 and was made an emeritus fellow of The Queen's College. Blair gave the 2013

at the University of Oxford. The lecture series was tiled "Building the Anglo-Saxon Landscape". On 5 May 1983, Blair was elected

Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

(FSA). He was elected

Fellow of the British Academy Fellowship of the British Academy (FBA) is an award granted by the British Academy to leading academics for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences. The categories are: # Fellows – scholars resident in the United Kingdom # C ...

(FBA) in 2008.

Personal life

In 2005, Blair married Kanerva Heikkinen. Together they have two children; one daughter and one son.

Selected works

* * * * * * * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blair, John 1955 births Living people People educated at St John's School, Leatherhead Alumni of Brasenose College, Oxford British medievalists Anglo-Saxon studies scholars English archaeologists Historians of the University of Oxford English male non-fiction writers Fellows of the British Academy Fellows of The Queen's College, Oxford Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London Contributors to the Victoria County History