Cuthbert James Shields (1840-1908), formerly Robert Laing, Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, was a historian.

Autobiography of Cuthbert Shields, written in five notebooks in the form of letters, 1884-6, to F.A. Clarke, Fellow of Corpus and Edwin Palmer, Archdeacon of Oxford, to explain the conduct which led to his confinement in an asylum in Fulham in 1878 and prolonged travel abroad. The discursive account of his own life is interspersed with reflections on biblical, historical and political subjects.

The autobiography was bought, with two printed items relating to Shields (monumental inscription and 'In memoriam' reprinted from the Oxford Magazine, MS. Eng. c. 5739, fols. 62-4) from Maggs Bros. Ltd., and given by the Friends of the Bodleian, 1996.

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A full description is available in the Library.

Autobiography

Historians | 19th century

Religion

Shields | Cuthbert James | 1840-1908 | Historian

University of Oxford

Great Britain | History

Great Britain | Politics and government