Lionel Harry Butler
Encyclopedia
Dr Lionel Butler (17 December 1923, Dudley
Dudley
Dudley is a large town in the West Midlands county of England. At the 2001 census , the Dudley Urban Sub Area had a population of 194,919, making it the 26th largest settlement in England, the second largest town in the United Kingdom behind Reading, and the largest settlement in the UK without...

 - 26 November 1981, London) FRHistS MA
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...

 DPhil
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...

 was an academic and Principal
Principal (academia)
The Principal is the chief executive and the chief academic officer of a university or college in certain parts of the Commonwealth.-Canada:...

 of Royal Holloway College, University of London (RHC) from 1973-1981.

Education and war service

Butler was educated at Dudley Grammar School
Former secondary schools in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley
There are many former secondary schools in the various districts of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley. While their individual histories and roles in society are only minor they have as a whole, like all the more noted former secondary schools, contributed greatly to the general enlightenment of...

. From 1941-43 he did war service with the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...

 (RAF). He then attended Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2006 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £153 million. Magdalen is currently top of the Norrington Table after over half of its 2010 finalists received first-class degrees, a record...

 where he was an exhibitioner obtaining First Class Honours in Modern History
Modern history
Modern history, or the modern era, describes the historical timeline after the Middle Ages. Modern history can be further broken down into the early modern period and the late modern period after the French Revolution and the Industrial Revolution...

 in 1945.

Career

He worked briefly as a lecturer at Magdalen and then as a research fellow of All Souls, Oxford. In 1955 he was appointed the first Professor of Medieval History and later Vice-Principal at the University of St Andrews
University of St Andrews
The University of St Andrews, informally referred to as "St Andrews", is the oldest university in Scotland and the third oldest in the English-speaking world after Oxford and Cambridge. The university is situated in the town of St Andrews, Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It was founded between...

. He became Principal of RHC in 1973. Butler came to the college expecting to continue the expansion begun by his predecessor, Dame Marjorie Williamson
Marjorie Williamson
Dame Elsie Marjorie Williamson, DBE was a British academic, educator, physicist and university administrator.-Education:...

. However, in his Annual Report for 1973/4 he stated: "We realised that [it]... would be a year of stringency with money in short supply.... The Government cuts in spending in December 1973 includes suspension... of compensation... for inflation, while rising costs... reduced the value of our grants."

London University had set up in 1970 a Committee of Enquiry into the Governance of the University chaired by Lord Murray of Newhaven with appointments by the University and also the University Grants Committee
University Grants Committee
University Grants Committee may refer to:*University Grants Committee *University Grants Committee...

. The Murray Report which covered all 34 constituent schools proposed "some kind of amalgamation" of schools for the purpose of economy in administration. By 1975/6 the cuts had begun to threaten the quality of teaching, research, the infrastructure. The incoming Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

 Government of 1979 cut another 15-15% from universities' budgets. This forced a reduction in staff by about 15% in 1981. A group of senior academics also concluded that the college could not survive alone, nor cover the academic range with reduced staff, and needed to combine with another of the smaller colleges. Before anything was finalised, Butler died suddenly on 26 November 1981 in London. Dr Roy Miller
Roy Miller (principal)
Roy Frank Miller is a British academic, educator, physicist and university administrator. He was Principal of Royal Holloway College, University of London from 1982-85.-Education:He was educated at Wembley County Grammar School...

assumed authority in his capacity as Vice-Principal and later became the next Principal.
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