1. A lecturership shall henceforth be established and maintained in the University of Oxford called the Romanes Lecturership, and the lecturer, who shall be called the Romanes Lecturer, shall be appointed annually by the Vice-Chancellor. It shall be the duty of the Romanes Lecturer to deliver a public lecture in Oxford, on a day and at a place to be fixed by the Vice-Chancellor, on some subject approved by the Vice-Chancellor relating to Science, Art, or Literature, and public notice thereof shall be given to members of the University in the usual manner.
2. The sum of £1,000 and the stocks, funds, and securities for the time being representing the same, and any additions thereto, shall be called ‘the Romanes Lecturership Fund’.
3. The capital of the fund shall be invested in the name of the Chancellor, Masters, and Scholars of the University of Oxford, hereinafter referred to as ‘The University’, in government securities or in other securities in which trustees are by law allowed to invest trust money, with power for the University from time to time to vary such securities for others of a like nature.
4. The income accruing from the fund shall be applied under the direction of the ViceChancellor for the time being in payment to the Romanes Lecturer for the time being of an annual sum to be determined by the Vice-Chancellor.
5. Each lecturer shall deliver to the Vice-Chancellor his or her lecture or a verified copy thereof, which shall be retained in the Bodleian Library.
6. Any surplus income of the fund may be applied at the discretion of the Vice-Chancellor in any of the following ways:
(1) to form a reserve fund from which the travelling expenses of such lecturers as shall from time to time come from overseas may be paid;
(2) in payment of expenses incidental to the administration and delivery of the lecture;
(3) or otherwise to finance a lecture or series of lectures on a topic to be determined by the Vice-Chancellor either in Oxford or elsewhere.
7. From time to time the rules aforesaid may be altered by decree, and council may make and vary from time to time any rules or by-laws for or incidental to the delivery of the lectures and the management of the trust fund; provided always that the fundamental object of the endowment, viz. the delivery in the University once a year of a lecture to be called the Romanes Lecture on some subject approved by the Vice-Chancellor relating to Science, Art, or Literature, shall be always observed and maintained.
8. A copy of this decree having been delivered to each lecturer at the time of his or her appointment, the lecturer shall be deemed to have accepted the office with notice of, and to have consented to, the same.
