The Alexander Waugh Award Presentation

At our recent Autumn Event, members of The de Vere Society gathered to celebrate the legacy of our late Chairman, Alexander Waugh, with the inaugural presentation of the Alexander Waugh Award — created to honour his remarkable contributions to Oxfordian scholarship and to encourage continued research in his spirit.

The ceremony featured moving tributes from Jan Scheffer, who introduced the award and reflected on Alexander’s lasting influence on the Society, and Eliza Waugh, who presented the award to this year’s recipient, Roger Stritmatter. Above, a photo captures Roger holding the award following the presentation.

“Dear All,

Members of The de Vere Society, Oxfordian guests and Eliza Waugh

For over a decade Alexander was Chairman of The de Vere Society and responsible for the growth of our society in numbers, many from the United States, through his detailed, even forensic research, all masterfully and entertainingly explained in the many presentations he gave.

His lectures, YouTube appearances and writings have obtained so many followers outside of The de Vere Society that, I imagine he must have become a terror to Stratfordians, not least because of his extraordinary finds that made some of their last pillars tumble. To be specific he showed that Avon was most likely short for Avondunum, Hampton Court, where many of Shakespeare’s plays were performed before they were adapted for the general public. In Polymanteia he found the words ‘Our de Vere, a Secret’, a find that evokes in me great admiration for the mind that produced this: there are similarities with De Vere’s mind — a photographic memory and an inclination for riddles and mysteries: to create them and to solve them. The same extraordinary mind of Alexander Waugh also unravelled the clues behind the triple tau and discovered the location of Oxford’s — Shakespeare’s — burial place: under the Shakespeare monument in Westminster Abbey.

De Vere was fully aware that he had no choice but to hide his identity — because of the Cecils, William, succeeded by Robert, who exercised control over him and his creative output — he had to invent names and characters, replacing England for Denmark in Hamlet, in order to stage his own life in his plays and remain sane.

Alexander was incredibly industrious and what he accomplished for our movement in a comparatively short time would have taken three lives in others. The Board of the DVS has experienced much of his capacity to cement a group during the meetings in the hospitable atmosphere of his home where Eliza and he treated us lavishly, including playing the piano for us, fortifying the impression of a Renaissance man, a man at home and so versatile in so many fields, with so much humour. We are privileged to have the Waugh name continue on our Board, of which his daughter Mary also forms part.

The presentations Alexander made are far too many to name here and I would refer to only one, which he named A Band of Brothers, showing all those poets and writers with whom Oxford had surrounded himself: you will likely remember the dynamic diagram on YouTube in which he visualised that group and its interrelations, so cleverly researched and portrayed, showing incontrovertibly that Oxford was our Man of the Millennium, at a creative centre. In Alexander we found the person par excellence capable of creating a similar kind of collaboration. He had many contacts and a vast correspondence with many Oxfordians, all good reasons why three years ago he was presented the Tom Regnier Award, named after the late president of the Shakespeare Oxford Fellowship.

I think the affection with which we express our gratitude towards this man is best expressed in the words: Our ever-living Alexander.

In acknowledgement of Alexander’s many and varied accomplishments for the Oxfordian movement and in remembrance of the person he was, we, the DVS Board, have decided to create an award established in Alexander Waugh’s name. This award is both a recognition of Oxfordian achievements and an encouragement for continued research in our realm.

We find the person who most deserves this reward is Roger Stritmatter. His longtime association with Alexander Waugh has culminated in the new Shakespeare Allusion Book, a landmark collection of references to de Vere which is in its final stage of editing now.

Roger Stritmatter is Professor of Humanities and Literary Studies at Coppin State University. He is founder and general editor of Brief Chronicles, a peer-reviewed journal, succeeded by the Brief Chronicles Book Series: On Oxford’s Poems and Songs, Shakespeare and the Law, Ben Jonson, The Enigma of the First Folio. He is a true scholar. His thesis on the Marginalia in Edward de Vere’s Geneva Bible is widely cited in our literature — it is a cornerstone. It is fundamental to our cause because it allows us to make a comparison between text and handwriting in the marginalia and in Shakespeare’s plays. Roger has given presentations at numerous conferences — indeed, I cannot remember one conference of the Shakespeare Oxford Fellowship without a Stritmatter contribution. In the meantime, he has continued to do research in marginalia and, with some support from the DVS, in the Audley End library. Again, he has found incontrovertible evidence in sources that have produced Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra. The images, enlarged letters, accompanied by expert explanation, are fascinating to see and absorb.

It is a privilege, Roger, to have you today among us, once more. I now gladly hand over to Eliza Waugh.

“Thank you, Jan, for your wonderful words. I am delighted and very proud to be here to present the new Alexander Waugh Award. It is a fitting tribute to Alexander, who was always infinitely generous, enthusiastic and encouraging to anyone who showed an interest in De Vere as the true author — whether it was another scholar like himself or an amateur. He loved to share his passion and it was infectious, but he also loved to encourage others, and this is what the Alexander Waugh Award is about.

Every year the award will be given to an individual who shows a particular commitment to advancing people’s understanding of De Vere as the true author, either through original and rigorous research or through writing, education, performance, or public engagement. So today it is an honour to present the award to Roger Stritmatter in recognition of the enormous contribution he has made to Oxfordian scholarship, for which we are all greatly indebted.”

The De Vere Society warmly congratulates Roger on receiving the first Alexander Waugh Award, and extends our sincere thanks to Jan Scheffer and Eliza Waugh for their eloquent and heartfelt tributes.

Photo: Roger Stritmatter receives the inaugural Alexander Waugh Award, October 2025.