The Institute of Agrarian Affairs at Oxford was founded and developed by the Dartington Hall Trust. The Trust was established in 1925 by Leonard and Dorothy Elmhirst of Dartington Hall, Devon, in order to finance various projects in which they had an interest. In 1929 the Trust funded the first of a regular series of annual meetings of the International Conference of Agricultural Economists. In 1934, the Institute of Agrarian Affairs was established in order to oversee the organisation of these conferences. The Institute was located in 3 Magpie Lane, under the direction of JP Maxton, formerly a research officer at the Institute for Research in Agricultural Economics (IRAE)*. The Institute was also responsible for the publication and international dissemination of research material, conference papers and journals. In 1942, the University granted academic status to the Institute and a Committee of Management was established which consisted of representatives of the University and the Dartington Hall Trust. Maxton was retained as Director of the Institute. The Institute was funded solely by the Dartington Hall Trust at this time. In 1954, Elmhirst began to petition the University authorities to take a part in financing the Institute. The University refused to provide financial backing and suggested that the Institute be merged with the IRAE, which carried out similar work. In order to maintain the autonomy of the Institute, Elmhirst secured grants from the Dartington Hall Trust and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation to cover the period from 1955 to 1965. The Institute had very close links with the IRAE throughout its existence. Each of the Institute's Directors had held posts with the IRAE prior to working at the Institute and all except Maxton continued to work for both. This was one of the factors which led to the merger of the Institute with the IRAE in 1971. Another factor was the foundation, in 1958, of the World Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology Abstracts (WAERSA) Journal under the auspices of the International Conference of Agricultural Economists. A proposal was put forward by the Commonwealth Agricultural Bureau to establish the Commonwealth Bureau of Agricultural Economics (CBAE) in Oxford to edit and publish the WAERSA Journal. In 1963, Colin Clark, Director of the IRAE, suggested that the IRAE, the Institute and the proposed CBAE should all be located in the same building. The Dartington Hall Trust agreed to finance such a building and the site purchased was 31 St Giles'. According to the original agreement, the Trust was to purchase the building and lease accommodation to the University and the CBAE. However, the cost of converting the building for office use exhausted the Institute's grant from the Dartington Hall Trust. In July 1971 the Institute was merged with the IRAE and ceased to exist as an independent body. * The form of the name of the IRAE was altered four times between 1913 and 1986. The form used in this list is the one by which it was known during the larger proportion of the existence of the Institute of Agrarian Affairs. 31 St Giles' is part of the development in Little Clarendon Street known as Dartington House which was opened in 1971. Directors of the institute 1934-1971: