27th-31st May (Monday-Friday) Tribunal of Enquiry hears oral testimony from participants in the events of 7th May, allowing the panel to cross-check accounts and to put questions arising from the written evidence already submitted and available for the public. Over 30 witnesses are cross examined, with John Tillett (who was chairing the Chemical Society meeting on 7th May) taking the stand on no less than four of the five days. Approximately 32 minutes of the questioning are recorded on a tape reel, including Peter Archard and John Tillett (pp. 24-37 of transcripts).
27th May (Monday) Tribunal of Enquiry hears evidence from:
Transcripts pp./Name of witness (Written submission Ref.; Dept., staff/student)
1-34 Pete ARCHARD (Refs 11 & 35; Government graduate student)
60-64 John N. BRADLEY (Ref 1; Chair of Chemistry Dept.)
65-74 John TILLETT (Ref 23; Chemistry staff)
84-91 Reginald WYATT (Refs 25 & 75; Admin Assistant/Maintenance Officer)
91-101 Chris MULLINS (Ref 16; Physics graduate student)
102-114 W. DAVIS (Refs 26 & 79; Head Porter)
Locations: Box 10 (tape recording);
Box 17/Tribunal Hearings (complete set of transcripts)
28th (Tuesday) Letter to The Times from David Stephen defending the University as (positively) different, if not the ‘few extremists’, and affirming collective accountability (‘Disorders at Essex’, p. 11).
28th (Tuesday) Tribunal of Enquiry hears evidence from:
Transcripts pp./Name of witness (Written submission Ref.; Dept., staff/student)
44-49 John TILLETT (Ref 23; Chemistry staff)
115-116 W. DAVIS (Refs 26 & 79; Head Porter)
117-134 D. F. GREENSLADE (Ref 14; Chemistry staff)
135-157 Paul HOUGHTON (Refs 21 & 54; Comparative Studies 1st-year student)
158-177 Colin ROGERS (Ref 20; University of Essex Union)
178-182 David LEWIS (Refs 17 & 73; Chemistry Fellow)
182-212 Keith BOWDEN (Ref 36; Chemistry staff)
212-213 R. G. JOSCELYNE (Ref 8; Chemistry 2nd-year student)
214-226 David TRIESMAN (Ref 42; Government 3rd-year student)
259-260 Mike GONZALES (Ref 44; Literature graduate student)
260-265 Lucia JONES (Ref 19; student)
Location: Box 17/Tribunal Hearings
29th (Wednesday) Tribunal of Enquiry hears evidence from:
Transcripts pp./Name of witness (Written submission Ref.; Dept., staff/student)
227-237 Janet STEEL (Ref 18; student)
238-246 Manfred GORDON (Ref 37; Chemistry staff)
247-250 Alasdair MACINTYRE (No written statement; Dean of Students)
251-258 Mike GONZALES (Ref 44; Literature graduate student)
266-271 J. A. LILLEY (Ref 24; Maintenance Officer)
Location: Box 17/Tribunal Hearings
30th (Thursday) Dean of the School of Comparative Studies Jean Blondel circulates a brief memo to students in light of recent rumours of the leaking of exam questions, which are to be amended as a result.
30th (Thursday) A renewed call for Tribunal contributions is issued by Robin Dixon, Assistant Registrar and Tribunal Secretary (deadline 5pm the following day); Dixon expresses an especial interest in the planning of the demonstration, about which details are apparently a bit scarce.
30th (Thursday) Tribunal of Enquiry hears evidence from:
Transcripts pp./Name of witness (Written submission Ref.; Dept., staff/student)
75-77 John TILLETT (Ref 23; Chemistry staff)
77-83 Reginald WYATT (Refs 25 & 75; Admin Assistant/Maintenance Officer)
272-276 Derek WIGGINS (Ref 3; Chemistry student)
276-278 Brian REEVE (Ref 40; Comparative Studies 2nd-year student)
282-284 John S. BENTLEY (Ref 46; student)
284-291 Alastair HATCHETT (Ref 30; student)
292-296 Joan BUSFIELD (Refs 16 & 51; Sociology graduate student)
Locations: Box 14/ Internal Documents/Ref 63 (Blondel) & Ref 64 (Dixon);
Box 17/Tribunal Hearings
31st (Friday) Tribunal of Enquiry hears evidence from:
Transcripts pp./Name of witness (Written submission Ref.; Dept., staff/student)
278-281 John S. BENTLEY (Ref 46; student)
297-299 Dorothy E. SMITH (Ref 58; Sociology staff)
299-300 R. A. WHITE (Ref 39; Comparative Studies 1st-year student)
300-301 Phillip HOLDEN (No written statement; student)
302-307 R. M. G. ROBERTS (Ref 31; Chemistry staff)
308-313 John TILLETT (Ref 23; Chemistry staff)
314-315 F STEPHENS (Ref 73/11; Chemistry staff)
315-322 Raphael HALBERSTADT (Ref 64; student)
323-326 Gordon BLAIR (Ref 45; student)
326 Ian BRODIE (No written statement; Chair of Students’ Council)
327-328 Julian HARBER (Ref 49; Sociology student)
329-331 Paul GOODCHILD (No written statement; student, photographer)
331-333 Reginald WYATT (Refs 25 & 75; Admin Assistant/Maintenance Officer)
333-337 Chris RATCLIFFE (Ref 65; Comparative Studies 2nd-year student)
338-342 Islay FULLERTON (Ref 68; 3rd-year Sociology student)
343 Mr MARKS (No written statement; Deputy-Head Porter)
c. 31st (Friday) A leaflet is circulated by Common First Year students on the Comparative Studies programme protesting Dean Blondel’s memo (above) on the decision to amend exam papers; the leaflet calls for a boycott, in light of the potential psychological impact of the uncertainty around the summer exams, and makes a case for the abolition of exams altogether.
Locations: Box 17/Tribunal Hearings;
Box 17/May 1968 (CFY Exams protest)
JUNE 1968
6th (Thursday) Tribunal of Enquiry reconvenes to cross examine Jem Thomas on the matter of his spectacles (Thomas’ testimony is on pp. 344-345 of the transcripts); these were taken from him by Dr Bowden at the Chemical Society meeting on 7th May (witnessed by David Triesman and others) and, according to Thomas’s testimony submitted on 4th June, returned seriously damaged: ‘they were bent at the bridge, so that the lenses were looking at each other, the stalks were bent too…. I was fortunately able to straighten them out however the lenses remain slightly chipped.’
A series of near-identical statements denying that the spectacles were ‘bent parallel (with the lenses facing each other)’ prior to being returned to Thomas is swiftly gathered, presumably by Bowden, from chemists and other scientists, as well as porters and maintenance staff involved.
Wyatt, Northage, and Davis are contacted for further written evidence about the condition of the glasses, and all admit that these were in fact bent at the bridge, to one degree or another, by the time they finally arrived at lost property.
Locations: Box 9/Tribunal of Enquiry Written Evidence/Ref 71 (Thomas), Ref 42 (Triesman), Ref 73 (Northage et al.), Ref 75 (Wyatt), Ref 77 (Northage, again), and Ref 79 (Davis);
Box 17/Tribunal Hearings (Thomas’ cross-examination)
10th (Monday) Committee of Enquiry receives report of Tribunal of Enquiry.
10th (Monday) Information Officer Walter Evans reports on a meeting to plan ways to continue the discussions that had begun around the time of the Inch Incident and Enquiry; the document lists many of the names of those present, and some suggested topics for such discussions.
Locations: Box 8 (Tribunal Report);
Box 14/Internal Documents/Ref 65 (Evans on the Free University meeting)
11th (Tuesday) Committee of Enquiry circulates a memorandum (signed K. Trace, Committee Chair) to all members of University (as per p.1 of circular of 21st May); the circular canvasses responses to a proposed three-part statement of principles concerning freedom of speech “as it applies to public meetings within a university.” The memo claims the Committee’s interest lies purely in gauging consensus, and that there will be no intention to apply any new principles retrospectively; that is, it wouldn’t be used against the three rusticated students, although the wording of clause (c) came under much closer scrutiny than that of either (a) or (b). The deadline for responses is set for 10am, Monday 17th June.
Broadly the statement proposes:
- (a) every group or individual has the right to express views and knowledge, however repugnant (although subject to law);
- (b) every group or individual is free to invite whomever to speak on whatever topic, and nobody has the right to stop a talk on the subject of the speaker’s choosing;
- (c) there may be a (rare) moral imperative to divert discussion, but this still breaches the principle and University regulations; hence offenders are subject to disciplinary procedures (which may take into account “The extent of ‘moral justification’ if any”).
11th (Tuesday) The ‘June 16th Committee’ circulates a document, ‘Make a Desolation and Call it Peace’; the last item in the Internal Documents collection is an attack on Porton Down, euphemistic government language, and poor standards of civilian defence in case of CBW attack; the Committee further urges the British government to cease sharing CBW research and information with its partners in North America, in accordance with its agreed obligations.
Locations: Box 14/Internal Documents/Ref 66 (‘Make a Desolation…’);
Box 17/May 1968 (Trace’s memorandum)
c. 14th (Friday) Another leaflet from the June 16th Committee (‘care of Socialist Society’) giving details of a demonstration against Porton Down outside the Ministry of Defence on 16th June, and suggesting some theatricality might be welcome.
Location:Box 15/Revolutions
16th (Sunday) Around 200 students and other supporters join the demonstration against Porton Down outside the Ministry of Defence in Whitehall, where protestors handed in a petition, and were involved in minor scuffles with the mounted guards.
17th (Monday) Deadline for receipt of written submissions on freedom of speech to Committee of Enquiry; by far and away the most controversial of the three paragraphs (above) is 3 (c), which raises the issue of ‘moral justification’ for interrupting a speaker.
Along with the written and oral statements gathered by the Tribunal of Enquiry, and the Internal Documents collection, the 47 responses to to Trace’s memorandum of 11th June constitute the last of the University Administration’s major collections to do with the May 1968 events.
Freed to an extent from the Tribunal’s purely factual remit, the submissions in this collection perhaps best illustrate the wide-ranging multiplicity of perspectives on more abstract questions about the nature of a university and why it exists, as well as how its members should conduct themselves (and how it should discipline perceived infractions).
Location: Box 8 includes all 47 responses to the memorandum; the final item (Refs 40-47) is a table summary of eight responses that simply indicated agreement or otherwise with each of the three paragraphs.
c. 20th (Thursday) A schedule for a further four days of Free University discussions (24th-27th June) is posted on noticeboards; ‘nightly dancing and festivities’ are promised, along with a meeting between students and industrial and trade unionists the weekend prior.
Location: Box 15/Revolutions
24th (Monday) Committee of Enquiry reports on freedom of speech. The report is bookended by a cover note, signed by sixteen members of the Committee, expressing their hope that the University might now start to move on from the events of 7th May, and a minority conclusion taking a more hard-line approach to breaches of discipline, and rejecting a number of the findings in the report itself.
Location: Box 8
c. 27th (Thursday) A further, seemingly mock Free University schedule for 1st-3rd July is circulated around this time, promising (among other attractions) a live guest appearance from Che Guevara.
Location: Box 15/Revolutions
28th (Friday) SUMMER TERM ENDS.
