Dame Barbara Woodward to give Edmund Lecture at Cathedral
Following a postponement in October 2023 the Edmund Lecture at St Edmundsbury Cathedral has a new date – Friday, March 15.
The Cathedral will welcome Dame Barbara Woodward DCMG OBE (pictured above), the British Permanent Representative (Ambassador) to the United Nations in New York, as the speaker.
The lecture will take place on at 6.30pm when Dame Barbara will explore parallels between the Magna Carta, as the “great charter” which laid the foundation for the modern British values of rule of law and equality before it, of liberty and rights, and the UN Charter, which established the international rules and values that have underpinned relative peace and stability since the Second World War.
It was at the Abbey of St Edmund that a group of Barons met in 1214 and swore an oath to compel King John to accept the Charter of Liberties, a proclamation of Henry I. This act led directly to the Magna Carta.
In a world that feels increasingly uncertain and challenging, Dame Barbara will explore what we can learn from the prescience of these historical written documents, their legacy and relevance today.
Dame Barbara is a Suffolk native, born in Stowmarket and educated at South Lee School, in Bury St Edmunds, and then at Saint Felix School, in Southwold.
Her father, Arthur Woodward, MC FRICS, served in the Second World War in the Suffolk Regiment. Her mother, Gabrielle Woodward (née Fenton) taught at Ipswich School.
Dame Barbara was British Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China from February 2015 until August 2020.
Since joining the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1990, she has worked on economic and security aspects of foreign policy in China, (where she was also Deputy Ambassador 2007-2009) and Russia (1994-1998) as well as in the EU and at the UN in New York and Geneva.
From 2009 to 2011, Dame Barbara was International Director at the UK Border Agency. She joined the Board of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office as Director-General Economic and Consular in 2011.
She was awarded an OBE in 1999 for her part in securing the release of two British hostages from Chechnya. She graduated from St Andrews University, Scotland (1983) and from Yale University, USA (1990).
The Rev Canon Michael Robinson, Canon Theologian at St Edmundsbury Cathedral, said: “We’re thrilled to still be able to welcome Dame Barbara Woodward to the Cathedral, albeit at a slightly later date, to explore these historically significant and highly relevant issues for our society today. Everyone is warmly invited to hear Dame Barbara’s lecture which will undoubtedly be a rich and thought-provoking talk.”
The Edmund Lecture was relaunched in 2022 as part of the Abbey 1000 celebrations. The lecture is a way of honouring the role the Abbey of St Edmund once held as an important centre on the political, legal and intellectual landscape.
The lecture will be followed by a special service of Vespers at 7.30 pm. Vespers is a liturgy of evening prayer that, for centuries, was part of the daily rhythm of prayer kept by the monks at the Abbey of St Edmund.
Tickets are free but must be pre-booked via: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/new-date-edmund-lecture-given-by-dame- barbara-woodward-dcmg-obe-tickets-801459325417