NEVIL JOHNSON (1929–2006)
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9299.2006.00613.x |
| Date | 01 August 2006 |
| Published date | 01 August 2006 |
| Author | Michael Lee |
Public Administration Vol. 84, No. 3, 2006 (811–815)
© Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2006, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street,
Malden, MA 02148, USA.
OBITUARY
NEVIL JOHNSON (1929–2006)
A NOTE OF APPRECIATION ON A FORMER EDITOR
Nevil Johnson in 1967 succeeded Norman Chester (1907–1986) as the editor
of this journal when it had been for many years almost an extension of
Nuffi eld College, Oxford. Norman, editor for 20 years (1946–1966), was War-
den of the College from 1954 to 1978. The contents of the journal were often
shaped by Nuffi eld contacts, and the editor’s expenses were covered from
college funds. Nevil came to the college from the University of Warwick in
1969 and continued this tradition until 1981. Both editors had close ties with
the higher echelons of the British Civil Service. During the Second World
War Norman had served in the economic section of the Cabinet Offi ce, and
Nevil had been a principal in both the Ministry of Supply and the Ministry
of Housing and Local Government before becoming an academic in 1962.
Like the editors of Parliamentary Affairs and Political Studies in the same epoch,
both took their own decisions on what should be published. There was no
formal provision for taking the advice of referees, although both would from
time to time show a typescript to a colleague and ask for comment.
Nevil, who adored taking the trouble to compose an appropriate tribute,
received his due somewhat belatedly. His obituaries, for example, of Michael
Oakeshott (1901–1990) for the British Academy and of Vincent Wright (1937–
1999) for the Dictionary of National Biography are among his most carefully
crafted writings. But editors had to be prodded before tributes to him ap-
peared in the press. By surviving both Norman Chester and Geoffrey
Marshall, Nevil seems to have had no obvious Oxford obituarist.
This neglect demonstrates the extent to which Nevil gained a reputation
for disparaging the efforts made to ‘modernize’ the British Constitution and
for appearing somewhat misanthropic. He became a Shostakovich in the
middle of a Mozart concert who struck chords encoded with warnings
against illegitimate authority when the audience wanted to hear only the
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