Photo caption: Emeritus Professor Geoff Rice donating a 15th century manuscript to UC’s Macmillan Brown Library, received by Fiona Tyson, Head of the Macmillan Brown Library.
Now an Emeritus Professor, Rice’s career at the University started 50 years ago in 1973. His influential work included research into the 1918 influenza pandemic, which subsequently informed New Zealand’s Ministry of Health response to Covid-19.
“The main lesson from the 1918 influenza pandemic was the need to respond quickly and decisively to any new pandemic threat. New Zealand’s prompt response to the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020 undoubtedly saved many lives, in contrast to the delay, denial, and confusion in most other countries. When faced with a major health crisis, it is useful to know what went wrong last time. Historians have their uses.”
Rice’s donation, a Land Grant document by Thomas Hobford of Evesham, is an example of a late medieval writing and a “Wars of the Roses” item – a period between 1455-1485. The Land Grant, written on animal skin known as vellum, will be used as an educational tool for palaeography students studying ancient writing systems.
The land was originally gifted to Thomas by his brother Geoffrey and contained the villages and fields of Eldresfeld, Staunston and Pendok, in Worcestershire, England.
Emeritus Professor Rice retired in 2012 and has authored over 16 books, numerous short essays and articles.
