Tribunal Tape Reel Fragment

Some research is needed, clearly – a quotations dictionary

Recording of fragments of the first two witnesses called to give evidence to the Tribunal of Enquiry into the disruption of Dr Inch’s lecture to the student Chemical Society on 7th May; the first witness is Peter Archard, the student who threw mustard powder over Dr Inch and one or two members of the Chemistry Department; the second is Dr. John Tillett, the member of Chemistry staff who had agreed to take over chairing what was originally scheduled as a student society meeting, once the department got wind of the demonstrators’ plans.

The tape picks up the last 25 minutes or so of Archard’s testimony, covering events from the moment he encountered Inch in the lobby outside the Committee Room at Wivenhoe House, to the minor scuffles with the police outside once they had extricated the guest; this is followed by the first five minutes or so of Tillett’s testimony, on how the department heard of the planned demonstration, and how they attempted to “foil” the plans by changing venue; the tape then abruptly ends.

The exchanges are recorded in the transcripts of the hearings (the material on the tape spans pp. 24-37); these are available in Boxes 10, 11, and 17 of the University Collection; the source for the digitised transcripts available here is Box 17, part of the collection deposited by Dr Ernest Rudd of the Sociology Department.