John Nowell Linton Myres CBE

Order of the British Empire

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...

 (27 December 1902 - 25 September 1989) was a British archaeologist and Bodley's Librarian

Bodley's Librarian

The head of the Bodleian Library, the main library at the University of Oxford, is known as Bodley's Librarian: Sir Thomas Bodley, as founder, gave his name to both the institution and the position. Although there had been a university library at Oxford since about 1320, it had declined by the end...

 at the Bodleian Library

Bodleian Library

The Bodleian Library , the main research library of the University of Oxford, is one of the oldest libraries in Europe, and in Britain is second in size only to the British Library...

 in Oxford from 1948 until his resignation in 1965; and librarian of Christ Church

Christ Church, Oxford

Christ Church or house of Christ, and thus sometimes known as The House), is one of the largest constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England...

 before his Bodleian appointment.

His father Sir John Myres had been Wykeham Professor of Ancient History at Oxford. Nowell Myres was educated at Winchester College

Winchester College

Winchester College is an independent school for boys in the British public school tradition, situated in Winchester, Hampshire, the former capital of England. It has existed in its present location for over 600 years and claims the longest unbroken history of any school in England...

 and then New College, Oxford

New College, Oxford

New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.- Overview :The College's official name, College of St Mary, is the same as that of the older Oriel College; hence, it has been referred to as the "New College of St Mary", and is now almost always...

 and was president of the Oxford University Archaeological Society in 1923. He became a tutor at Christ Church from 1928.

He was recognised as a leading authority on British history in the time of the Anglo Saxons and earlier. He and R. G. Collingwood

R. G. Collingwood

Robin George Collingwood was a British philosopher and historian. He was born at Cartmel, Grange-over-Sands in Lancashire, the son of the academic W. G. Collingwood, and was educated at Rugby School and at University College, Oxford, where he read Greats...

 wrote the first volume of the Oxford History of England

Oxford History of England

The Oxford History of England is one of the most prominent and acclaimed modern history series, written by many of the then-leading historians of each period....

which was widely recognised as a classic. When the series was re-released in the 1980s this volume was split in two, Peter Salway

Peter Salway

Peter Salway is a British historian, who specialises in Roman Britain. He was a tutor for the Open University and later a fellow of Sidney Sussex College Cambridge and later at All Souls College Oxford. He is the author of Roman Britain , a volume in the Oxford History of England series.-References:...

writing what had been Collingwood's part and Myres rewriting his own part at an impressively advanced age.

Selected publications

• 1936: "The English Settlements", in: Collingwood, R. G. & Myres, J. N. L. (1936) Roman Britain and the English Settlements. (The Oxford History of England. [1].) Oxford: Clarendon Press; pp. 325-461 & bibliography
• 1989: The English Settlements. (The Oxford History of England. 1B.) Oxford: Oxford University Press ISBN 0192822357