The Institute of Commonwealth Studies was a graduate research centre of the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

which was in existence between 1945 and 1986.

History

The last year of Sir

Reader Bullard Sir Reader William Bullard (5 December 1885 – 24 May 1976) was a British diplomat and author. Education Reader Bullard was born in Walthamstow, the son of Charles, a dock labourer, and Mary Bullard. He was educated at the Monoux School th ...

as Director, 1956, saw the alteration of the Institute’s name from Institute of Colonial Studies to Institute of Commonwealth Studies, reflecting changes in Britain’s imperial status. The Institute of Colonial Studies had been established in 1945. Its antecedent had been the training courses at the

for both the probationers of the

Indian Civil Service The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British Raj, British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947. Its members ruled over more than 3 ...

and the

Colonial Service The Colonial Service, also known as His/Her Majesty's Colonial Service and replaced in 1954 by Her Majesty's Overseas Civil Service (HMOCS), was the British government service that administered most of Britain's overseas possessions, under the aut ...

s (such as the Tropical African Service Course). More directly it had developed out of the University’s response to a proposed expansion, to be made in the post-war years, in the training of colonial civil servants. These proposals were eventually published as the Report on Post-War Training for the Colonial Service (Devonshire Report, 1946). Much of the drafting of the report had been undertaken by

Margery Perham Dame Margery Freda Perham (6 September 1895 – 19 February 1982) was a British historian of, and writer on, African affairs.The Times, 22 February 1982, page 10. She was known especially for the intellectual force of her arguments in favour of B ...

, then Reader in Colonial Administration at Oxford, who had also been influential in establishing the Committee for Colonial Studies, the Institute’s supervising body, in 1943. The Institute was set up under the directorship of Perham, assisted by Col. F.B.H. Drummond as administrative secretary who also acted as secretary to the Committee. In 1948 both Perham and Drummond resigned and the Institute’s affairs were placed in the hands of a Committee of Management, consisting of the

Beit Professor of Commonwealth History The Beit Professorship of Global and Imperial History is one of the senior professorships in history at the University of Oxford. It was established in 1905 as the Beit Professorship of Colonial History, and was known as the Beit Professorship of ...

(then, of the History of the British Empire), the Registrar and the Reader in Colonial Administration, who continued to run the Institute until Bullard's appointment as Director in 1951. The Institute, initially located at 10 Bardwell Road, Oxford, moved in 1948 to premises in South Parks Road, in 1951 to 10 Keble Road, and in 1961 to Queen Elizabeth House (21 St Giles). It continued in existence until 1986, when it was amalgamated with the Institute of Agricultural Economics and

Queen Elizabeth House Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...

to form the International Development Centre, a centre for international Development Studies. In 2005, the centre moved to Mansfield Road and became the

Oxford Department of International Development The Oxford Department of International Development (ODID), or Queen Elizabeth House (QEH), is a department of the University of Oxford in England, and a unit of the University’s Social Sciences Division. It is the focal point at Oxford for m ...

Past directors

Directors of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies (to 1956, of Colonial Studies): :1945–48 Dame

:1948–51 ''Committee of Management'' :1951–56 Sir

:1957–61 Elizabeth Millicent Chilver :1961–68 A.F.M. Madden :1968–78 P.P. Streeten :1978–79 K.B. Griffin.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Institute Of Commonwealth Studies, Oxford Commonwealth Family Universities and colleges established in 1945 Caribbean studies 1945 establishments in England 1986 disestablishments in England Departments of the University of Oxford