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Hertford College, Oxford

Hertford College, previously known as Magdalen Hall, is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on Catte Street in the centre of Oxford, directly opposite the main gate to the Bodleian Library. The college is known for its iconic bridge, the Bridge of Sighs. There are around 600 students at the college at any one time, comprising undergraduates, graduates and visiting students from overseas.

The first foundation on the Hertford site began in the 1280s as Hart Hall and became a college in 1740 but was dissolved in 1816. In 1820, the site was taken over by Magdalen Hall, which had emerged around 1490 on a site adjacent to Magdalen College. In 1874, Magdalen Hall was incorporated as a college, reviving the name Hertford College. In 1974, Hertford was part of the first group of all-male Oxford colleges to admit women.

Alumni of the college's predecessor institutions include William Tyndale, John Donne, Thomas Hobbes, and Jonathan Swift. More recently, former students have included author Evelyn Waugh, the first female Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, the civil servants Jeremy Heywood and Olly Robbins, and the newsreaders and reporters Fiona Bruce, Carrie Gracie, Krishnan Guru-Murthy, and Natasha Kaplinsky. U.S. justice Byron White attended the college on a Rhodes scholarship but left to serve in World War II.

Hart Hall
The first Hertford College began life as Hart Hall (Aula Cervina) in the 1280s, a small tenement built roughly where the college's Old Hall is today, a few paces along New College Lane on the southern side. In medieval Oxford, academic halls were primarily lodging houses for students and resident tutors.

The original tenement, mentioned in the deed of 1283, which was bought by Elias de Hertford from Walter de Grendon, mercer, lay between a tenement of the university (Blackhall) on the west, and a tenement of the Prioress of Studley on the east. In the deed by which Elias de Hertford sells it to John de Dokelynton in 1301, this last tenement is called Micheldhall. The deed was made over to his son, also Elias, in 1301. The name of the hall was likely a humorous reduction of the name of its founder's home town, and allowed for the use of the symbol of a hart to be used for identification.

At that time, New College Lane was known as Hammer Hall Lane (named after a hall to the east, as New College had not then been founded), and its northern side was the old town wall. The corner of Hammer Hall Lane and Catte Street (which had a postern in the wall called Smithgate) was taken by Black Hall, which was the place of John Wycliffe's imprisonment by the Vice-Chancellor around 1378. On the other side of Hart Hall along the lane was Shield Hall. On Catte Street itself was the entrance to Arthur Hall, which lay down a narrow passage behind Hart Hall, and Cat Hall (Aula Murilegorum), which stood further south, roughly where the Principal's Lodgings now stand.

The younger Elias sold on Hart Hall (named in this deed as 'le Herthalle') after a month to a wealthy local fishmonger John of Ducklington, who, seven years later, bought Arthur Hall and annexed it to Hart Hall. In 1312, John sold the two halls to Walter de Stapledon, Bishop of Exeter, who desired to found a college. After just over a year, Stapledon moved his scholars to a larger site that he had purchased on Turl Street, which became Stapledon Hall, later Exeter College. However, Exeter College retained certain rights over Hart Hall, with which it plagued the hall's development for centuries.

In 1379, Hart Hall and Black Hall were rented by William of Wykeham as a temporary home for his scholars as his New College, to the east along what became New College Lane, was being built. The first two Wardens of New College also appear as Principals of Hart Hall. Until the 17th century, there is evidence of scholars (including Thomas Ken) matriculating at Hart Hall while waiting for a vacancy at New College. By this time, it appears that Shield Hall had been partly taken over by Hart Hall and partly demolished to make way for New College's cloister. Although Black Hall continued a separate existence, its principal was often the same as Hart Hall's. In 1490, Hart Hall is described as having a library, which was unusual for a hall. In 1530, Hart Hall annexed Black Hall also. For some time, Cat Hall was leased by All Souls College, and then by Exeter College, until it also was subsumed into the growing Hart Hall early in the 16th century, giving the hall most of the land around what is today its Old Quadrangle.

In the latter half of the 16th century, Hart Hall became known as a refuge for Catholic recusants, particularly under Philip Randell as principal (1548–1599). Because of its connection with Exeter College and that college's increasing puritanism, a number of Exeter's tutors and scholars migrated to Hart Hall. The hall attracted an increasing number of Catholics from further afield, including the Jesuit tutor Richard Holtby in 1574, who was instrumental in the conversion of his student, and later Jesuit martyr and saint, Alexander Briant to Catholicism. Coming from a Catholic family, the English poet John Donne came up to Hart Hall in 1584.

Hart Hall expanded and new buildings were put up. In the early 17th century, the current Senior Common Room was built as lodgings for the principal. From this period also, the main entrance of the hall moved from being a narrow passage off New College Lane to a gate on Catte Street. By the late 17th century, Cat Hall is described as being used as 'the ball-court of Hart Hall'. In the latter part of the 17th century, the principal, William Thornton, provided a proper gate for the Catte Street entrance of the hall, and decorated with a device of a drinking hart with the motto ('As the hart panteth after the water brooks', taken from Psalm 42, verse 1, but in a peculiar translation). Although the current gatehouse is not Thornton's original, it retains the design and motto, and houses the original decorated gates. It has been suggested that this frieze with its Latin motto is the real counterpart of the one translated for the waiting crowd by the title character of Thomas Hardy's Jude the Obscure.

In 1692, the political satirist Jonathan Swift was incorporated from Trinity College, Dublin, on the books of Hart Hall to receive his MA.

Richard Newton's Hertford College
On 28 July 1710, the Rev Richard Newton was admitted principal of Hart Hall. Newton was a well-connected, energetic, educational reformer. He was appointed principal from 'a very peaceful retirement' as Rector of Sudborough, where he was personal tutor to two brothers, who were both destined to be prime minister — Thomas Pelham-Holles and Henry Pelham — bringing the younger with him to Hart Hall. He dedicated himself to raising the hall from debt and securing a firmer financial endowment. Newton planned to redesign the hall around a proper quadrangle, with a tutor, or angler, and students living in each angle, and common buildings along the sides. However, only two buildings in his design were ever built: one angle in the south-east corner of the Old Quadrangle (nowadays known as the Cottage), and his simple stone Chapel on the south side (consecrated 25 November 1716), which now serves as the college's Library. These buildings were financed entirely from Newton's pocket, to the sum of around £2000 (around £0 adjusted for inflation).

In 1720, Newton published his Scheme of Disciplines laying out his scheme of education with a view to obtaining a charter of incorporation, and, on 18 May 1723, he presented his petition for a charter. The proposal met immediate opposition, especially from Exeter College, exercising its old rights, and All Souls, desiring to expand northward onto the hall's land. In addition, the appointments of principals for the various halls had established itself in a game of promotion, and a few would-be principals opposed the plan. John Conybeare, then a Fellow of Exeter, and later Bishop of Bristol, was Newton's most ardent opponent, penning the book Calumny Refuted against Newton's reforms. After years of struggle, Richard Newton's statutes were accepted on 3 November 1739, and the charter incorporating 'the Principal and Fellows of Hertford College' (Principalis et Socii Collegii Hertfordiensis) was received on 8 September 1740.

Newton's Hertford was a relatively spartan college, having received no real endowment. Meals were simple and cheap, and the principal insisted on eating the same as everyone else. Students were expected to work hard, and, where Newton found the university's education lacking, he supplemented it with disputations within the college. Newton allowed gentlemen-commoners to matriculate at the college, but they paid double fees for the same accommodation and food as the others. They were originally allowed to wear their coloured gowns and tufted caps, but Newton eventually made them wear the ordinary black gown. Thus, many a well-to-do family sent their sons to Hertford College to instil in them some disciplined education, unlike the privileged wining and dining had by gentlemen-commoners in other colleges.

Decline and dissolution
After Richard Newton's death in 1753, the principalship of the college fell to a succession of men mostly lacking the desire or energy to continue their predecessor's plan. One exception to this succession was David Durell, who built up the reputation and academic success of the college. Under Durell, the future statesman Charles James Fox matriculated in 1764 (Hertford, unusually for Oxford, was a Whig college). However, the scheme of four tutors in their respective angles was reduced to two, and cheaper junior fellows took over some of the burden of tutoring. It was at Hertford that the tutor Benjamin Blayney prepared his 1769 Standard Edition of the Authorized King James Version of the Bible. Apart from Durell's principalship, the college went into decline due to the mismanagement of uninterested principals and the lack of decent endowments. In May 1805, Bernard Hodgson, last principal of Hertford College died, and no suitable successor could be found and agreed upon. By 1810, matriculation had ceased, and the last students were awarded their degrees. The last tutor and vice-principal, Richard Hewitt, continued to live in his rooms without students until May 1816, when a commission declared Hertford College dissolved.

Magdalen Hall

Magdalen Hall was founded around 1490 on a site to the west of Magdalen College and next to Magdalen's grammar school. The site is now Magdalen's St Swithun's quadrangle. It took the name of an earlier Magdalen Hall in the High Street, which was founded by William Waynflete in 1448 and then closed on the opening of Magdalen College in 1458. The first master of the grammar school was appointed in 1480, and its original school building was erected in 1486. However, as the hall took independent students as well as those belonging to the college, it quickly became an independent institution under its own principal.

The hall was known for its adherence to the teachings of John Wycliffe; William Tyndale, translator of the English Bible and martyr, studied there. Another famous student of the hall was the political philosopher Thomas Hobbes, who came up in either 1601 or 1602. At the English Civil War, Magdalen Hall was known as a Puritan hall under the principalship of Henry Wilkinson. Famous Puritan graduates include Philip Nye, key adviser to Oliver Cromwell on matters of religion and regulation of the Church. The hall rarely used a badge of arms, but, when it did, it used the same arms as the college.

At the time of the demise of the first Hertford College, Magdalen College had long been searching for a way of expelling Magdalen Hall in order to expand into its buildings. Before the demise of Hertford, Magdalen College conspired to make its site ready to receive a transplanted Magdalen Hall. The current Lodge of Hertford College thus still bears the arms of Magdalen Hall (and so also of Magdalen College) beside those of Hertford College (and Hart Hall) and the university.

Move to Catte Street

John Macbride became both principal of Magdalen Hall and Lord Almoner's Professor of Arabic in 1813, and plans to move the hall to the site of Hertford College were already afoot. On 15 March 1815, Magdalen College submitted a proposal for the move to Convocation. Magdalen College proposed to repair the Hertford buildings and defray the expense of Magdalen Hall's move to the site, while the hall were to relinquish claim to their own buildings to Magdalen College. An Act of Parliament was passed supporting the plan, but no move was made until a fire accidentally started by an undergraduate on 9 January 1820 destroyed almost half of Magdalen Hall's buildings. Not long after this, one of Hertford College's buildings on Catte Street, so flimsy that it was known as the 'paper building', collapsed. With this motivation, the new foundation stone of Magdalen Hall was laid at the new site on 3 May 1820, and the hall's migration was complete by 1822. The Catte Street frontage was pulled down and rebuilt, and several buildings had an extra storey added to them. Magdalen Hall expanded to fill the space, and became the largest hall by far, numbering 214 members in 1846. Macbride and his vice-principals were active in building up the refounded Magdalen Hall. To distance the hall from its namesake college, Macbride attempted to change the name to 'Magdalene Hall', but this change was never accepted. Macbride served as principal for 54 years, until his death in 1868. The Macbride Sermon, one of the University Sermons, is preached each Hilary term in the Chapel of Hertford College in his memory.

Refounding of Hertford College

During John Macbride's principalship it became clear that the growing, energetic Magdalen Hall should be incorporated as a college to match its academic standing in the university. Since the name "Magdalen College" was already taken, the favoured option was the revival of "Hertford College". Macbride was succeeded as principal in 1868 by his vice-principal, Richard Michell, who brought a bill before Parliament in 1873 for the incorporation of Magdalen Hall as Hertford College. The bill received significant financial support from Thomas Charles Baring, then newly elected MP for South Essex. Baring had been a Fellow of Brasenose College, and had offered a substantial endowment of fellowships and scholarships to that college, but it had been refused, because Brasenose rejected his conditions of restricting the funds to members of the Church of England. However, to ease the passage of the bill, Baring removed his condition to the first instalment of the endowment (subsequent instalments were restricted), and Magdalen Hall was incorporated as "the Principal, Fellows, and Scholars of Hertford College" (Principalis, Socii, et Scholastici Collegii Hertfordiensis) on 7 August 1874. Thus, Michell became the last principal of Magdalen Hall and the first principal of the refounded Hertford College.

Baring bought a house across New College Lane from the college to serve as fellows' lodgings (at some point the house was named Clarendon House), which was the first move of the college onto the northern side of New College Lane. That was soon followed by the purchase of other houses on that side of the road, which were collectively known as Ædes, and the old Chapel of Our Lady at Smithgate, which is now the Octagon, housing the Middle Common Room. Also during that period, a gatehouse was built on the Catte Street frontage and the old doors were reinstalled there. A new dining hall was built above the gatehouse, and much of the northern side of the Old Quadrangle, apart from Old Hall, was rebuilt.

In 1877, Henry Boyd succeeded Michell, becoming the second principal of the refounded Hertford College. His energy, good connections and longevity created the modern college as it is today. Boyd's name appears carved on the landmark Bridge of Sighs, and he is commemorated by a memorial in the Chapel (to the left of the chancel) and a portrait in the Hall (at the west end of High Table). Boyd's partnership with the architect Thomas Graham Jackson brought about the expansion of the college and its endowment with its iconic "Anglo-Jackson" buildings. In 1887, Jackson began work on the Gatehouse, the Hall and its spiral staircase, and the north range of the Old Quad. In 1901, Jackson started building the college's site on the northern side of New College Lane. By 1908, he had completed a new Chapel, which he declared to be his favourite work. Eventually, after much opposition, he built the Bridge of Sighs, linking the Old and New Quads across New College Lane in 1913.

In the two world wars, a total of 171 members of Hertford College died. Those of World War I are commemorated by a memorial on the south wall of the chancel in the Chapel, while those of World War II are remembered in a memorial in the portico, to the right of the Chapel door. Notable among them is Major Percy Nugent FitzPatrick, son of James Percy FitzPatrick, who was killed near Cambrai on 14 December 1917. It was with the death of his son that James Percy FitzPatrick made the suggestion, after the war's end, to keep a two-minute silence each year on Armistice Day.

In 1922, the novelist Evelyn Waugh came up to Hertford, famously feuding with his history tutor C. R. M. F. Cruttwell (who was to become the fourth principal of the refounded college, 1930–1939), and later naming a number of odious characters after him. Waugh wrote of his time at Hertford, "I do no work here and never go to Chapel". He novelised his time at Oxford in Brideshead Revisited, having his protagonist Charles Ryder at Hertford.

Starting from 1965, Hertford made a special effort to encourage applicants from state schools through the Hertford Scheme, established by Physics Fellow Neil Tanner, under which candidates were interviewed early, outside the standard application process, and could be offered a place at the college without having to sit the university entrance exam. That had the effect of dramatically raising academic standards within the college, and other colleges introduced similar initiatives. Today, around 70% of undergraduate students at the college come from UK state schools. The percentage of individuals from state schools (out of all UK applicants/students) is higher than at most Oxford colleges. The commitment to diversity is in keeping with Hertford's earlier history of openness: in 1907 Hertford admitted the first African-American Rhodes Scholar, Alain Leroy Locke, after he had been refused by several other colleges.

Geoffrey Warnock served as the 9th Principal of the refounded college from 1971 until 1988. He presided over the latest period of growth, and established the college's leftist credentials. In 1974, Hertford became one of the first five co-educational colleges in the university (the others being Brasenose, Jesus College, St Catherine's, and Wadham). The college now has an almost equal gender balance, with slight variations from year to year. In memory of Warnock, the college named a student-accommodation building near Folly Bridge after him. He also has a memorial in the Chapel, and a portrait behind High Table in the Hall.

Buildings
Hertford College's main site is situated on Catte Street, New College Lane and Holywell Street. The site consists of three quadrangles: Old Quadrangle, New Quadrangle, and Holywell Quadrangle. The college also has three large groups of buildings for student accommodation near Folly Bridge: Warnock House, the Graduate Centre and Abingdon House. In addition to these, the college owns a number of houses around Oxford.

Old Quadrangle
The Old Quadrangle (known as Old Quad or OB Quad, for Old Buildings) is, as the name suggests, the oldest and the original quadrangle. Its entrance is the through the Gatehouse on Catte Street, directly opposite the main gates of the Bodleian Library. The Gatehouse is a late 19th-century building by Thomas Graham Jackson, bearing the image of a drinking hart above the archway. However, the wooden doors with their colourful floral decoration are the gates of Hart Hall from the 17th century. The Gatehouse houses the Lodge.

Through the Gatehouse, the quadrangle is laid out around a pleasant lawn with a few decorative trees. The lawn is off-limits during Michaelmas and Hilary terms but is accessible during Trinity term for sitting on (at any time) and croquet (on Fridays and Sundays only).

In the north-east corner of the quad is the Old Hall, the oldest remaining buildings of Hart Hall, dating from the 1570s. The Old Hall and its adjoining Buttery are now in regular use for dining, especially by the Fellows. Running southwards, along the eastern side of the quad, is a 17th-century building, with oriel windows tucked away on its southern end. Originally, the portion closest to the Old Hall was student accommodation, and the southern portion was the principal's lodgings. Today the building is mostly taken over by the Senior Common Room, with the northern ground-floor room being the Old Library. In the south-east corner is the 18th-century Cottage, the only one of the planned four 'angles' of Dr Newton that was ever built. Originally, this occupied the entire corner, around to what was the chapel (and is now the library). Its southern side was demolished to make way for Jackson's Chapel.

The southern side of the quad consists of the Chapel, built in 1908 by Jackson, which has a particularly good acoustic. Its ante-chapel houses a stained-glass window depicting William Tyndale, made in 1911 for the British and Foreign Bible Society, and installed at Hertford in 1994. West of the Chapel is the Library, which was the previous chapel built in the 18th century by Newton. The Library possesses many fine, antique books, most of which belonged to the library of Magdalen Hall. Among these are many rare 17th-century manuscripts and an original edition of Thomas Hobbes's Leviathan given as a personal gift to the college: Hobbes prepared this work while at Magdalen Hall.

The western side of the quad has the Gatehouse, with the Lodge, in its centre. On either side of this are slightly earlier buildings, the southern of which is the Principal's Lodgings, and the northern mostly houses the college's offices. In addition, the north-west building has access onto the Bridge of Sighs. Above the Gatehouse is the dining Hall, which is wood-panelled and hung with a number of college portraits. The hall is reached from the quad by a distinctive stone spiral staircase designed by Jackson, and inspired by the spiral staircase at the Château de Blois.

The northern side of the quad consists of a building by Jackson, much of which now houses the Bursary. The building is infamous as the site of the incident novelised in Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited in which Sebastian Flyte, returning from a Bullingdon Club bender vomits through a window into a ground-floor room.

New Quadrangle

The New Quadrangle (known as New Quad or NB Quad, for New Buildings) is connected to the Old Quadrangle, across New College Lane, by the Bridge of Sighs, which was designed by Thomas Graham Jackson. The north-western corner of New Quad is taken up by the Indian Institute building, which is not part of Hertford College. Most of the New Buildings are early 20th-century designs by Jackson, except the slightly later frontage onto Holywell Street by T. H. Hughes, on the northern side of the quad. The quad is entered through a gate onto Catte Street, just opposite the Clarendon Building. New Quad is mostly used for undergraduate accommodation.

The most significant building in the quad is the Octagon, just north of the gate on Catte Street, which houses the Middle Common Room. It is the 16th-century Chapel of St Mary the Virgin at Smithgate, which formed a bastion in the town walls. An original carving of the scene of the Annunciation can be seen from Catte Street, just beside the gate.

Holywell Quadrangle
Holywell Quadrangle backs directly onto New Quad, and the two are connected by an arched corridor that also contains the steps down to Hertford's subterranean bar. Holywell Quad was built in 1975, and is almost exclusively for first-year undergraduate housing. Its main features are a gate onto Holywell Street, the Junior Common Room in the south-east corner, and the Baring Room (named after Thomas Charles Baring, the college's major benefactor) which is a multi-purpose hall at the top of the southern staircase.

Student life
Undergraduate students are accommodated for the full three or four years of their study, either on the main site or on college-owned property primarily in North Oxford and the Folly Bridge area. A new Hertford Graduate Centre fronting the Isis was built near Folly Bridge and was opened in 2000.

Hertford is home to a college cat named Simpkin, who lives in the College Lodge and is the fourth of his lineage, collectively Simpkins, the collective noun for Hertford College cats; the original was called Simpkin and was introduced by the former college principal Geoffrey Warnock, named after the cat in the Beatrix Potter novel The Tailor of Gloucester. He is provided with a bursary by alumni to cover his food and veterinary treatment.

Academic achievement
Hertford's exam results are slightly above average. In the Norrington Table of results over the period 2006–2012 it has come 17th, 9th, 18th, 6th, 12th, 5th and 23rd.

Sport

Hertford College Boat Club is among the leading Oxford college boat clubs: both its women's and men's first boats are in the first division of Torpids and Eights Week, with both M1 and W1 winning "blades" in the 2015 edition of Torpids. The boats and club room are in the Longbridges boathouse on the Isis. With the transition of Magdalen Hall to Hertford College in 1874, the old blue-black of the hall stopped racing in 1873, and the new red-white of the college took to the river in 1875. Within only seven years of its refoundation, the college came Head of the River in the annual college boat races, in 1881. On achieving that victory, the crew carried their boat all the way back to the college and burnt it just inside the gates. The college archives possess a letter detailing the club's celebrations from the sub-librarian of the Bodleian Library, who spent the night on the scaffolding surrounding the work on the Old Schools Tower, directly opposite the Hertford gate, in case the fire spread to the library. In 2005, the boathouse was gutted by an arson attack carried out by the Animal Liberation Front, in protest against animal testing at the university. The new boathouse was rebuilt on the same site.

The college was endowed with a new gym in 2011 and has playing fields in New Marston, which include a pavilion with facilities for most major team sports. In August 2013 Hertford College Rugby Club became the first team from the UK to tour Mongolia in official partnership with the Mongolian Rugby Football Union. They played matches against The Mongolia Defense University and the Ulaan Baatar Warriors. Both matches were played in the national stadium and broadcast live on Mongolian national television. In 2017, the team returned to Mongolia, this time playing two matches against the Ulaanbaatar Warriors.

Music
Hertford College has the largest and most active music society of any Oxford college, drawing in musicians from around the university, with ensembles including the Hertford College Orchestra, the Hertford College Chapel Choir, the Hertford College Wind Band, the Hertford College Jazz Band and the Hertford College Bruckner Orchestra. There are two competitive organ scholarships. The Chapel's fine acoustic lends itself to concerts and recitals, and it is frequently used for recording.

Principals
The current Principal of the college, from 2020, is former UK Ambassador to Lebanon and policy advisor Tom Fletcher.

Selected current Professorial and Tutorial Fellows
The college has over 30 Tutorial Fellows in the subjects it offers at undergraduate level.

 * Hagan Bayley, Professor of Chemical Biology
 * Charlotte Brewer, Professor of English Language and Literature, Tutor in English
 * Dame Kay Davies, FRS, Dr Lee's Professor of Anatomy
 * Martin C. J. Maiden, Professor of Molecular Epidemiology, Tutor in Biology
 * Ian McBride, Foster Professor of Irish History
 * Peter Millican, Gilbert Ryle Fellow, Professor and Tutor in Philosophy
 * Christopher J. Schofield, Professor of Organic Chemistry
 * Emma J. Smith, Professor of Shakespeare Studies, Tutor in English
 * David Ian Stuart, Professor of Structural Biology
 * David Thomas, Professor of Geography
 * Claire Vallance, Professor of Physical Chemistry, Tutor in Chemistry
 * Michael Wooldridge, Professor of Computer Science
 * Alison Woollard, Associate Professor in Genetics, Tutor in Biochemistry

Emeritus Fellows
The college has a number of Emeritus Fellows, including:

 * Toby Barnard, historian
 * Martin Biddle, archaeologist
 * Robin Devenish, former professor and Tutor in Physics
 * Fionn Dunne, former Dean and Fellow in Engineering
 * Bill MacMillan, former Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Senior Tutor
 * Tom Paulin, former G M Young Lecturer and Tutor in English
 * Christopher Tyerman, former Professor of History of the Crusades and Tutor in History
 * Alison Young, former Professor of Public Law

Former Emeritus Fellows include Rebecca Sitsapesan, Anthony Cockshut, E. M. Vaughan Williams, R. W. Guillery, Philip Randle, Felix Markham, C. A. J. Armstrong, and Jean Gottmann.

Honorary Fellows

 * John Baring, 7th Baron Ashburton
 * Walter Bodmer, former principal
 * Martin Bridson, mathematician
 * Nancee Oku Bright, documentary filmmaker, director and producer
 * Sherard Cowper-Coles
 * John Dewar, former Tutor in Law
 * Richard W. Fisher, ambassador
 * R. F. Foster, historian
 * Andrew Goudie, Master of St Cross College
 * Charlotte Hogg, economist
 * Will Hutton, economist and former Principal
 * The Very Reverend Jeffrey John, Dean of St Albans
 * Sir Jeffrey Jowell QC, barrister
 * Soweto Kinch, jazz musician and rapper
 * John Landers, former principal
 * Paul Manduca, chairman of Prudential plc (2012-2020)
 * The Rt. Rev. Thomas McMahon, Catholic Bishop of Brentwood
 * Paul Muldoon, President of the Poetry Society
 * David Pannick, Baron Pannick
 * Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland
 * Jacqui Smith, former Home Secretary
 * Stephanie West, classical scholar
 * General Roger Wheeler, former Chief of the General Staff
 * Athol Williams, poet and applied philosopher
 * Tobias Wolff, author

title: Hertford College, Oxford


text:
Jesus College, Oxford

Jesus College (in full: Jesus College in the University of Oxford of Queen Elizabeth's Foundation) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship Street, Cornmarket Street and Market Street. The college was founded by Queen Elizabeth I of England on 27 June 1571. A major driving force behind the establishment of the college was Hugh Price (or Ap Rhys), a churchman from Brecon in Wales. The oldest buildings, in the first quadrangle, date from the 16th and early 17th centuries; a second quadrangle was added between about 1640 and about 1713, and a third quadrangle was built in about 1906. Further accommodation was built on the main site to mark the 400th anniversary of the college, in 1971, and student flats have been constructed at sites in north and east Oxford. A fourth quadrangle was completed in 2021.

There are about 475 students at any one time; the Principal of the college is Sir Nigel Shadbolt. Former students include Harold Wilson (who was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom), Kevin Rudd (Prime Minister of Australia), Norman Washington Manley (Prime Minister of Jamaica), T. E. Lawrence ("Lawrence of Arabia"), Angus Buchanan (winner of the Victoria Cross), Viscount Sankey (Lord Chancellor), Edwin Yoder (Pulitzer Prize winning journalist), Roger Parry (media and technology entrepreneur) and over 30 Members of Parliament. Past or present fellows of the college include the historians Sir Goronwy Edwards, Yuval Noah Harari and Niall Ferguson, the philosopher Galen Strawson, and the political philosopher John Gray. Past students and fellows in the sciences include John Houghton (physicist) and Nobel Laureate Peter J. Ratcliffe.

Foundation

Jesus College was founded on 27 June 1571, when Elizabeth I issued a royal charter. It was the first Protestant college to be founded at the university, and it is the only Oxford college to date from Elizabeth's reign. It was the first new Oxford college since 1555, in the reign of Queen Mary, when Trinity College and St John's College were founded as Roman Catholic colleges. The foundation charter named a principal (David Lewis), eight fellows, eight scholars, and eight commissioners to draw up the statutes for the college. The commissioners included Hugh Price, who had petitioned the queen to found a college at Oxford "that he might bestow his estate of the maintenance of certain scholars of Wales to be trained up in good letters." The college was originally intended primarily for the education of clergy. The particular intention was to satisfy a need for dedicated, learned clergy to promote the Elizabethan Religious Settlement in the parishes of England, Ireland and Wales. The college has since broadened the range of subjects offered, beginning with the inclusion of medicine and law, and now offers almost the full range of subjects taught at the university. The letters patent issued by Elizabeth I made it clear that the education of a priest in the 16th century included more than just theology, however:

"...to the Glory of God Almighty and Omnipotent, and for the spread and maintenance of the Christian religion in its sincere form, for the eradication of errors and heresies, for the increase and perpetuation of true loyalty, for the extension of good literature of every sort, for the knowledge of languages, for the education of youth in loyalty, morality, and methodical learning, for the relief of poverty and distress, and lastly for the benefit and well-being of the Church of Christ in our realms, [...] we have decreed that a College of learning in the sciences, philosophy, humane pursuits, knowledge of the Hebrew, Greek and Latin languages, to the ultimate profession of Sacred Theology, to last for all time to come, be created, founded, built, and established...."

Price continued to be closely involved with the college after its foundation. On the strength of a promised legacy, worth £60 a year on his death (approximately £ in present-day terms), he requested and received the authority to appoint the new college's principal, fellows and scholars. He financed early building work in the college's front quadrangle, but on his death in 1574 it transpired that the college received only a lump sum of around £600 (approximately £ in present-day terms). Problems with his bequest meant that it was not received in full for about 25 years. As the college had no other donors at this time, "for many years the college had buildings but no revenue".

17th century

The main benefactor, other than the King, was Eubule Thelwall, from Ruthin, North Wales, who became Principal in 1621; he succeeded in securing a new charter and statutes for the college from James I, having spent £5,000 of his own money on the hall and chapel, which earned him the title of its second founder. Thelwall died on 8 October 1630, aged 68 and was buried in Jesus College Chapel where a monument was erected to his memory by his brother Sir Bevis Thelwall (Page of the King's Bedchamber and Clerk of the Great Wardrobe).

Other benefactions in the 17th century include Herbert Westfaling, the Bishop of Hereford, who left enough property to support two fellowships and scholarships (with the significant proviso that "my kindred shallbe always preferred before anie others"). Sir Eubule Thelwall (principal 1621–1630) spent much of his own money on the construction of a chapel, hall and library for the college. The library, constructed above an over-weak colonnade, was pulled down under the principalship of Francis Mansell (1630–1649), who also built two staircases of residential accommodation to attract the sons of Welsh gentry families to the college.

The English Civil War "all but destroyed the corporate life of the college." Mansell was removed from his position as principal and Michael Roberts was installed. After the Restoration, Mansell was briefly reinstated as principal, before resigning in favour of Leoline Jenkins. It was Jenkins (principal 1661–1673) who secured the long-term viability of the college. On his death, in 1685, he bequeathed a large complex of estates, acquired largely by lawyer friends from the over-mortgaged landowners of the Restoration period. These estates allowed the college's sixteen fellowships and scholarships to be filled for the first time – officially, sixteen of each had been supported since 1622, but the college's income was too small to keep all occupied simultaneously. In 1713, the bequest of Welsh clergyman and former student Edmund Meyricke established a number of scholarships for students from north Wales, although these are now available to all Welsh students.

18th and 19th centuries
The 18th century, in contrast to the disruption of the 17th century, was a comparatively quiet time for the college. A historian of the college, J. N. L. Baker, wrote that the college records for this time "tell of little but routine entries and departures of fellows and scholars". The Napoleonic Wars saw a reduction in the numbers of students and entries in the records for the purchase of muskets and other items for college members serving in the university corps. After the war, numbers rose, to an average of twenty new students per year between 1821 and 1830. However, debts owed to the college had increased, perhaps due to the economic effects of the war – by 1832, the college was owed £986 10s 5d (approximately £ in present-day terms). During the first half of the 19th century, the academic strength of the college diminished: scholarships were sometimes not awarded because of a lack of suitable candidates, and numbers fell: there were only seven new entrants in 1842. Ernest Hardy wrote in his history of the college in 1899 that it had been becoming "increasingly evident for years... that the exclusive connection with Wales was ruining the college as a place of education."

A Royal Commission was appointed in 1852 to investigate the university. The college wished to retain its links with Wales, and initial reforms were limited despite the wishes of the commissioners: those scholarships that were limited to particular parts of Wales were opened to the whole of Wales, and half of the fellowships awarded were to remain open only to Welshmen if and so long as the Principal and Fellows shall deem it expedient for the interests of education in connection with the Principality of Wales. All the scholarships at the college, except for two, and all the exhibitions were still restricted to students from Wales. The numbers of students at the college still fell, despite prizes being awarded for success in university examinations. Daniel Harper, principal from 1877 to 1895, noted the continuing academic decline. Speaking in 1879, he noted that fewer students from the college were reaching high standards in examinations, and that more Welsh students were choosing to study at other Oxford colleges in preference to Jesus. A further Royal Commission was appointed. This led to further changes at the college: in 1882, the fellowships reserved to Welshmen were made open to all, and only half (instead of all) of the 24 scholarships were to be reserved for Welsh candidates. Thereafter, numbers gradually rose and the non-Welsh element at the college increased, so that by 1914 only about half of the students were Welsh.

20th century
During the First World War, "the college in the ordinary sense almost ceased to exist". From 129 students in the summer of 1914, numbers dropped to 36 in the spring of 1916. Some refugee students from Belgium and Serbia lodged in empty rooms in the college during 1916, and officers of the Royal Flying Corps resided from August 1916 to December 1918. After the war, numbers rose and fellowships were added in new subjects: history (1919 and 1933); theology (1927); physics (1934); a second fellowship in chemistry (1924); and modern languages (lectureship 1921, fellowship 1944). The improved teaching led to greater success in university examinations and prizes.

In the inter-war years (1918–1939) Jesus was seen by some as a small college and something of a backwater; it attracted relatively few pupils from the public schools traditionally seen as the most prestigious. The college did, however, attract many academically able entrants from the grammar schools (particularly those in northern England and Scotland). Among these grammar-school boys was Harold Wilson, who would later become Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. During the Second World War, many of the fellows served in the armed forces or carried out war work in Oxford. The college remained full of students, though, as it provided lodgings for students from other colleges whose buildings had been requisitioned, and also housed officers on military courses.

The college had its own science laboratories from 1907 to 1947, which were overseen (for all but the last three years) by the physical chemist David Chapman, a fellow of the college from 1907 to 1944. At the time of their closure, they were the last college-based science laboratories at the university. They were named the Sir Leoline Jenkins laboratories, after a former principal of the college. The laboratories led to scientific research and tuition (particularly in chemistry) becoming an important part of the college's academic life. The brochure produced for the opening ceremony noted that the number of science students at the college had increased rapidly in recent years, and that provision of college laboratories would assist the tuition of undergraduates, as well as attracting to Jesus College graduates of the University of Wales who wished to continue their research at Oxford. A link between one of the college science lecturers and Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) led to 17 students joining ICI between the two World Wars, some, such as John Rose, reaching senior levels in the company. The laboratories became unnecessary when the university began to provide centralised facilities for students; they were closed in 1947.

The quatercentenary of the college, in 1971, saw the opening of the Old Members' Buildings in the third quadrangle. Further student accommodation has been built at the sports ground and at a site in north Oxford. In 1974, Jesus was among the first group of five men's colleges to admit women as members, the others being Brasenose, Wadham, Hertford and St Catherine's; between one-third and one-half of the undergraduates are women. A long-standing rivalry with nearby Exeter College reached a peak in 1979, with seven police vehicles and three fire engines involved in dealing with trouble in Turl Street. Sir John Habakkuk (principal 1967–1984) and Sir Peter North (principal 1984–2005) both served terms as Vice-Chancellor of the university, from 1973 to 1977 and from 1993 to 1997 respectively.

21st century
The hereditary visitor of the college remains the Earls of Pembroke and Montgomery ex officio. The current visitor is William Herbert, 18th Earl of Pembroke, 15th Earl of Montgomery. Jesus, Magdalene College, Cambridge and Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge are the only three Oxbridge colleges that continue to prescribe by statute visitations held by hereditary peers.

Location and buildings
The main buildings are located in the centre of Oxford, between Turl Street, Ship Street, Cornmarket Street and Market Street. The main entrance is on Turl Street. The buildings are arranged in three quadrangles, the first quadrangle containing the oldest college buildings and the third quadrangle the newest. The foundation charter gave to the college a site between Market Street and Ship Street (which is still occupied by the college) as well as the buildings of a defunct university academic hall on the site, called White Hall. The buildings that now surround the first quadrangle were erected in stages between 1571 and the 1620s; the principal's lodgings were the last to be built. Progress was slow because the new college lacked the "generous endowments" that earlier colleges enjoyed. Before new buildings were completed, the students lived in the old buildings of White Hall.

First quadrangle

The chapel was dedicated on 28 May 1621, and extended in 1636. The architectural historian Giles Worsley has described the chapel's east window (added in 1636) as an instance of Gothic Revival architecture, rather than Gothic Survival, since a choice was made to use an outdated style – classical architecture had become accepted as "the only style in which it was respectable to build". Jonathan Edwards (principal from 1686 to 1712) is reported to have spent £1,000 (approximately £0 in present-day terms) during his lifetime on the interior of the chapel, including the addition of a screen separating the main part of the chapel from the ante-chapel (at the west end) in 1693. In 1853, stained glass by George Hedgeland was added to the east window. In 1863, the architect George Edmund Street was appointed to renovate the chapel. The arch of the chancel was widened, the original Jacobean woodwork was removed (save for the screen donated by Edwards and the pulpit), new seats were installed, new paving was placed in the main part of the chapel and a stone reredos was added behind the altar. Views of the changes have differed. On 21 October 1864, Building News reported that the restoration was nearing completion and was of "a very spirited character". It said that the new "handsome" arch showed the east window "to great advantage", with "other improvements" including a "handsome reredos". Ernest Hardy, principal from 1921 to 1925, said that the work was "ill-considered", described the reredos as "somewhat tawdry" and said that the Jacobean woodwork had been sold off too cheaply. In contrast, the architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner called the reredos "heavily gorgeous".

The principal of the college resides in the lodgings, a Grade I listed building, on the north side of the first quadrangle between the chapel (to the east) and the hall (to the west). They were the last part of the first quadrangle to be built. Sir Eubule Thelwall, principal from 1621 to 1630, built the lodgings at his own expense, to include (in the words of the antiquarian Anthony Wood) "a very fair dining-room adorned with wainscot curiously engraven". The shell-hood over the doorway (which Pevsner called "beautiful") was added at some point between 1670 and 1740; Pevsner dates it to about 1700.

The hall has been said to be "among the most impressive of all the Oxford college halls", with its "fine panelling, austere ceiling, and its notable paintings". Like the chapel, it was largely built by Griffith Powell between 1613 and 1620, and was finally completed soon after his death in 1620. Pevsner noted the "elaborately decorated columns" of the screen (installed in 1634) and the dragons along the frieze, and said that it was one of the earliest examples in Oxford of panelling using four "L" shapes around a centre. In 1741 and 1742, the oak-beamed roof was covered with plaster to make rooms in the roof space. Pevsner described the 1741 cartouche on the north wall, which contains the college crest, as "large [and] rich". The hall contains a portrait of Elizabeth I, as well as portraits of former principals and benefactors. There are also portraits by court artists of two other monarchs who were college benefactors: Charles I (by Anthony van Dyck) and Charles II (by Sir Peter Lely).

Second quadrangle

In 1640, Francis Mansell (appointed principal in 1630) began construction of a second quadrangle with buildings along the north and south sides; further work was interrupted by the English Civil War. Work began again in 1676, and the library (now the Fellows' Library) was completed by 1679. Under Jonathan Edwards (principal from 1688 to 1712), further rooms were built to complete the quadrangle; the project was completed just after his death in 1712. Pevsner described the second quadrangle as "a uniform composition", noting the "regular fenestration by windows with round-arched lights, their hood-moulds forming a continuous frieze". The Dutch gables have ogee sides and semi-circular pediments. The writer Simon Jenkins said that the quadrangle has "the familiar Oxford Tudor windows and decorative Dutch gables, crowding the skyline like Welsh dragons' teeth and lightened by exuberant flower boxes".

The Fellows' Library contains bookcases decorated with strapwork dating from about 1628, which were used in an earlier library in the college. Hardy's opinion was that, "if only it had an open timber roof instead of the plain ceiling, it would be one of the most picturesque College Libraries". Another author said (in 1914, after the provision of a library for undergraduates elsewhere in the quadrangle) that it was "one of the most charming of Oxford libraries, and one of the least frequented". It holds 11,000 antiquarian printed books and houses many of the college's rare texts, including a Greek bible dating from 1545 and signed by Philipp Melanchthon and others, much of the library of the scholar and philosopher Lord Herbert of Cherbury and 17th-century volumes by Robert Boyle and Sir Isaac Newton.

Third quadrangle
The long but narrow third quadrangle adjoins Ship Street, on the north of the site and to the west of the garden of the principal's lodgings, where the college has owned some land since its foundation. In the 18th century, this was home to the college stables. A fire in 1904 led to the demolition of the stables and the gateway to Ship Street. Replacement buildings adjoining Ship Street, effectively creating a third quadrangle for the college, were constructed between 1906 and 1908. It contained the college's science laboratories (now closed) and a new gate-tower, as well as further living accommodation and a library for students, known as the Meyricke Library, after a major donor – there had been an undergraduate library in the second quadrangle since 1865, known as the Meyricke Library from 1882 onwards.

The Old Members' Building, which contains a music room, 24 study-bedrooms and some lecture rooms, was built between 1969 and 1971. It was built after a fundraising appeal to Old Members to mark the college's quatercentenary, and was opened by the Prince of Wales in 1971. The Fellows' Garden is between the Old Members' Building and the rear of the rooms on the west side of the second quadrangle. In 2002, a two-year project to rebuild the property above the college-owned shops on Ship Street was completed. As part of the work, the bottom floor was converted from rooms occupied by students and fellows into a new Junior Common Room (JCR), to replace the common room in the second quadrangle, which was by then too small to cope with the increased numbers of students.

Fourth quadrangle
In 2019, work began on redevelopment of a commercial property, Northgate House, owned by the college on the corner of Cornmarket and Market Streets, to provide new student accommodation above retail facilities with a new quad and other teaching facilities behind, projected for completion to mark the college's 450th anniversary in 2021. The new building is named the Cheng Yu-tung building after the late billionaire entrepreneur and philanthropist Cheng Yu-tung whose family provided the principal donation for the project.

Other buildings
The college purchased 10 acre of land in east Oxford (near the Cowley Road) in 1903 for use as a sports ground. Residential accommodation was first built at the sports ground in 1967 (Thelwall House, rebuilt in 1998), with additions between 1988 and 1990 (Hugh Price House and Leoline Jenkins House). A further development, known as Hazel Court (after Alfred Hazel, principal 1925–1944), was built in 2000, bringing the total number of students who can be housed at the sports ground to 135.

Donations from Edwin Stevens, an Old Member of the college, enabled the construction in 1974 of student flats at a site in north Oxford on the Woodstock Road, named "Stevens Close" in his honour.

The college also owns a number of houses on Ship Street, which are used for student accommodation. It purchased a further site in Ship Street at a cost of £1.8M, which was converted at a projected cost of £5.5M to provide 31 student rooms with en-suite facilities, a 100-seat lecture theatre and other teaching rooms. The Ship Street Centre was officially opened by the Chancellor of the University of Oxford, Lord Patten of Barnes, on 25 September 2010.

Principals and Fellows

The college is run by the Principal and Fellows. The Principal must be "a person distinguished for literary or scientific attainments, or for services in the work of education in the University or elsewhere". The Principal has "pre-eminence and authority over all members of the College and all persons connected therewith" and exercises "a general superintendence in all matters relating to education and discipline". The current Principal, Sir Nigel Shadbolt, was appointed in 2015. Fourteen Principals have been former students of the college: Griffith Powell (elected in 1613) was the first and Alfred Hazel (elected in 1925) was the most recent. The longest-serving principal was Henry Foulkes, from 1817 to 1857.

When the college was founded in 1571, the first charter installed David Lewis as Principal and named eight others as the first Fellows of the college. The statutes of 1622 allowed for 16 Fellows. There is now no limit on the number of Fellowships that the Governing Body can create. The college statutes provide for various categories of Fellows. Professorial Fellows are those Professors and Readers of the university who are allocated to the college by the university. One of these professorships is the Jesus Professor of Celtic, which is the only chair in Celtic Studies at an English university. Celtic scholars such as Sir John Rhys and Ellis Evans have held the position since its creation in 1877. The chair is currently held by David Willis, who took up the position in 2020 after the previous holder Thomas Charles-Edwards retired in 2011. The zoologists Charles Godfray and Paul Harvey are both Professorial Fellows. Official Fellows are those who hold tutorial or administrative appointments in the college. Past Official Fellows include the composer and musicologist John Caldwell, the historians Sir Goronwy Edwards and Niall Ferguson, the philosopher Galen Strawson and the political philosopher John Gray. There are also Senior and Junior Research Fellows. Principals and Fellows who retire can be elected as Emeritus Fellows.

A further category is that of Welsh Supernumerary Fellows, who are, in rotation, the Vice-Chancellors of Cardiff University, Swansea University, Lampeter University, Aberystwyth University, Bangor University and the University of Wales College of Medicine. There is one Welsh Supernumerary Fellow at a time, holding the position for not longer than three years. The first of these was John Viriamu Jones in 1897.

The college formerly had a category of missionary Fellows, known as Leoline Fellows after their founder, Leoline Jenkins (a former principal). In his will in 1685, he stated that "It is but too obvious that the persons in Holy Orders employed in his Majesty's fleet at sea and foreign plantations are too few." To address this, he established two Fellowships at Jesus College, whose holders should serve as clergy "in any of his Majesty's fleets or in his Majesty's plantations" under the direction of the Lord High Admiral and the Bishop of London respectively. The last of these, Frederick de Winton, was appointed in 1876 and held his Fellowship until his death in 1932. This category was abolished in 1877 by the Oxford and Cambridge Universities Commission, without prejudice to the rights of existing holders such as de Winton. Another category of Fellowship that was abolished in the 19th century was that of the King Charles I Fellows, founded by King Charles in 1636 and tenable by natives of the Channel Islands in an attempt by him to "reclaim the Channel Islands from the extreme Calvinism which characterised them." The first such Fellow was Daniel Brevint.

Honorary Fellows
The Governing Body has the ability to elect "distinguished persons" to Honorary Fellowships. Under the current statutes of the college, Honorary Fellows cannot vote at meetings of the Governing Body and do not receive financial reward. They can be called upon, however, to help decide whether to dismiss or discipline members of academic staff (including the Principal).

Three former principals of the college (John Christie, Sir John Habakkuk and Sir Peter North) have been elected Honorary Fellows on retirement. Some Honorary Fellows were formerly Fellows of the college, others were Old Members of the college, and some were in both categories. Others had no previous academic connection with the college before their election. Some of these were distinguished Welshmen – for example, the Welsh businessman Sir Alfred Jones was elected in 1902 and the Welsh judge Sir Samuel Evans, President of the Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division of the High Court, was elected in 1918. The Welsh politician David Lloyd George was elected to an Honorary Fellowship in 1910 when he was Chancellor of the Exchequer. He wrote to Sir John Rhys, the Principal at the time, to thank the college for the honour, saying:

"I wish to express to you and to the Fellows of Jesus College my deep sense of the great honour which you have done me in electing me to be one of your body. It is a very special gratification to me to be associated in this intimate way with Jesus College. As a Welshman, I have watched with pleasure and pride the prosperity, especially since you have been Principal, of the college which is so closely connected with our country, little thinking ever to find myself a member of it; and I can honestly say that no honour can fall to my lot which I shall prize more highly than this Fellowship which you have conferred upon me. Please accept and express to the Fellows of the college my hearty and sincere thanks. Ever yours sincerely, D. LLOYD GEORGE."

The first three Honorary Fellows, all former students of the college, were elected in October 1877: John Rhys, the first Jesus Professor of Celtic (later an Official Fellow (1881–1895) and Principal (1895–1915)); the historian John Richard Green; and the poet Lewis Morris. The college noted in 1998 that the number of Honorary Fellows of the college was markedly below the average of other Oxford colleges and it adopted a more methodical approach to increase numbers. Seven Honorary Fellows were elected that year, followed by another five in 1999. The college's Honorary Fellows have included two Old Members who later became Prime Minister of their respective countries: Norman Washington Manley, who studied at Jesus College as a Rhodes Scholar and who was Chief Minister of Jamaica from 1955 to 1962, and Harold Wilson, who was twice British Prime Minister (1964–1970 and 1974–1976). The first female honorary fellow was the journalist and broadcaster Francine Stock.

Alumni

Notable former students of the college have included politicians, scientists, writers, entertainers and academics. T. E. Lawrence ("Lawrence of Arabia"), known for his part in the Arab Revolt of 1916–1918 and for his writings including Seven Pillars of Wisdom, studied history at the college. His thesis on Crusader castles (the fieldwork for which marked the beginning of his fascination with the Middle East) is held in the Fellows' Library. Other former students include Harold Wilson, who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1964 to 1970 and 1974–1976, Kevin Rudd who was Prime Minister of Australia, Norman Washington Manley who was Prime Minister of Jamaica, Pixley ka Isaka Seme (a founder and president of the African National Congress), Sir William Williams (Speaker of the House of Commons 1680–1685), and Lord Sankey (Lord Chancellor 1929–1935). Members of Parliament from the three main political parties in the United Kingdom have attended the college, as have politicians from Australia (Neal Blewett), New Zealand (Harold Rushworth), Sri Lanka (Lalith Athulathmudali) and the United States (Heather Wilson).

The founders' hopes that their college would produce prominent Welsh clergy were fulfilled in no small measure when a former student, A. G. Edwards, was elected the first Archbishop of Wales when the Church in Wales was disestablished in 1920. Two later Archbishops of Wales, Glyn Simon (Archbishop from 1968 to 1971) and Gwilym Owen Williams (Archbishop 1971–1982) were also educated at the college. Celticists associated with the college include Sir John Rhys, Sir John Morris-Jones, and Sir Thomas (T. H.) Parry-Williams, whilst the list of historians includes the college's first graduate, David Powel, who published the first printed history of Wales in 1584, the Victorian historian J. R. Green, and the historian Richard J. Evans. Angus Buchanan won the Victoria Cross during the First World War. Record-breaking quadriplegic solo sailor Hilary Lister was also a student here, whilst from the field of arts and entertainment there are names such as Elwyn Brook-Jones, actor, (1911–1962), Magnus Magnusson, presenter of Mastermind, the National Poet of Wales Gwyn Thomas, and television weather presenters Kirsty McCabe and Siân Lloyd. Nigel Hitchin, the Savilian Professor of Geometry at Oxford since 1997, studied at the college, as did Edward Hinds (a physicist who won the Rumford Medal in 2008), Chris Rapley (director of the Science Museum), and the zoologists Edward Bagnall Poulton and James Brontë Gatenby.

Student life
There are about 325 undergraduates and 150 postgraduates. About half of the undergraduates studied at state schools before coming to Oxford, and about 10% are from overseas. Students from the college participate in a variety of extracurricular activities. Some contribute to student journalism for Cherwell or The Oxford Student. The Turl Street Arts Festival (a week-long student-organised event) is held annually in conjunction with the two other colleges on Turl Street, Exeter and Lincoln colleges. The festival, which takes place in Fifth Week of Hilary term, includes exhibitions, plays and concerts. Although the college does not award choral scholarships, the chapel choir is well-attended by college members and others. The choir is non-auditioning for college members, and is run by one or more undergraduate organ scholars.

Every three years, the college co-organises the Somerville-Jesus Ball on the grounds of Somerville College. The last ball was held in April 2022.

Library and archives
The main library at Jesus College is the Meyricke Library; older printed books are housed in the historic Fellows’ Library. The medieval manuscripts should be directed to re held at the Bodleian Libraries, where they are on deposit. The archives hold the administrative documents of the college since its foundation, as well as a large collection of documents, photographs, and printed papers. There is also an extensive Celtic Library. In 2021, the College Librarian was Owen McKnight.

Medieval and early modern manuscripts owned at Jesus College date back to the 11th century and since 1886 have been deposited at the Bodleian Libraries. Some of the most important Welsh language manuscripts are at Jesus College, including the Red Book of Hergest (1285–1320). Modern manuscripts include T.E. Lawrence’s undergraduate thesis (MS. 181).

Sports

In common with many Oxford colleges, Jesus provides sporting facilities for students, including playing fields at a site in east Oxford off the Cowley Road known as Bartlemas (for its proximity to St Bartholomew's Chapel). Football, rugby, netball, field hockey, cricket, and tennis can be played there. Squash courts are at a separate city-centre site on St Cross Road. The college also provides students with membership of the university's gym and swimming pool on Iffley Road.

Jesus College Boat Club (commonly abbreviated to JCBC) is the rowing club for members of the college. The club was formed in 1835, but rowing at the college predates the foundation of the club: a boat from the college was involved in the earliest recorded races between college crews at Oxford in 1815, when it competed against a crew from Brasenose College. These may have been the only two colleges who had boats racing at that time, and the Brasenose boat was usually victorious. Neither the men's nor the women's 1st VIIIs have been "Head of the River" during Eights Week, the main college races, but the women's 1st VIII was Head of the River in the spring races, Torpids, between 1980 and 1983. Jesus boats have also had other successful seasons: the 1896 Jesus College boat had a reputation of being one of the faster boats in the university, and the women's 1st VIII of 1993 won their "blades" in the first divisions of both Torpids and Eights Week, an achievement that led to the crew being described in the Jesus College Record as vying "not just for the College team of the decade, but perhaps for the team of the last three decades", in any sport.

A number of college members have rowed for the university against Cambridge University in the Boat Race and the Women's Boat Race. Barney Williams, a Canadian rower who studied at the college, won a silver medal in rowing at the 2004 Summer Olympics, and participated in the Boat Race in 2005 and 2006. Other students who rowed while at the college have achieved success in other fields, including John Sankey, who became Lord Chancellor, Alwyn Williams, who became Bishop of Durham, and Maurice Jones, who became Principal of St David's College, Lampeter. Another college rower, James Page, was appointed Secretary of the Amateur Rowing Association and coached both the Oxford and Cambridge University boat clubs.

The college boathouse, which is shared with the boat club of Keble College, is in Christ Church Meadow, on the Isis (as the River Thames is called in Oxford). It dates from 1964 and replaced a moored barge used by spectators and crew-members. The last college barge had been purchased from one of the Livery Companies of the City of London in 1911. It is now a floating restaurant further down the Thames at Richmond, and for some years was painted in the college scarf of green and white.

Welsh connection
Education in Wales had been stimulated by the foundation of schools during the reigns of Henry VIII and Edward VI: King Henry VIII Grammar School in Abergavenny 1542 and Christ College, Brecon 1541 were established in the 1540s, and Friars School, Bangor dates from 1557. However, despite the numbers of Welsh students coming to Oxford University as a result, there was no special provision for Welshmen before 1571. Despite the links with Wales that Hugh Price and many of the founding Fellows had, neither the 1571 charter nor any of the later charters limited entry to the college to Welshmen. Nevertheless, the college students were predominantly Welsh from the outset, and the college became "the pinnacle of the academic ambition of the young men of Wales". Many of the fellows in the past were Welsh, since when new fellowships were created by benefactions (often by people of Welsh descent) there was frequently a stipulation that the recipients would be related to the donor or come from a specified part of Wales. These specific limitations were removed as part of reforms of Oxford University during the 19th century. Between 1571 and 1915, only one Principal (Francis Howell, 1657–1660) was not from Wales or of Welsh descent.

Jesus still has a particular association with Wales and is often referred to as "the Welsh college". The college is home to the university's Professor of Celtic, and a specialist Celtic library in addition to the college's normal library. Meyrick scholarships, from the bequest of Edmund Meyrick in 1713, are awarded for academic merit where the student is a native of Wales (or the child of a native of Wales), able to speak Welsh or was educated for the last three years of secondary school in Wales.

The college's undergraduate gossip sheet is entitled The Sheepshagger in allusion to an offensive joke about Welsh people's supposed penchant for sheep. Furthermore, the Welshness of the college is self-perpetuating, as Welsh students will often apply to Jesus because it is seen as the Welsh college. Old members recall the college having a majority of Welsh members until well into the 20th century; today, however, around 15% of undergraduates come from Wales. For comparison, residents of Wales comprise just under 5% of the United Kingdom population (2.9 million out of a total of 58.8 million at the time of the 2001 Census).

In modern times, the Welsh roots of the college come to the fore most prominently on Saint David's Day. The feast is marked by a choral Evensong in the chapel, decorated for the occasion with daffodils. The service, including music, is conducted entirely in Welsh (despite only a small minority of the choir usually being native speakers of the language). It is generally well attended by members of the Welsh community in Oxford. The college's annual St. David's Day Dinner traditionally culminates with the serving of Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn's Pudding. The name recalls the Welsh politician and prominent Jacobite who attended the college early in the 18th century.

The Welsh connection is also evident in the college's outreach activities, such as organising a summer school for Welsh students in partnership with the Welsh Government's Seren Network.

Silverware
The college's collection of silverware includes a silver-gilt punch bowl, presented by Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn in 1732. The bowl, which weighs more than 200 oz and holds 10 impgal, was used at a dinner held in the Radcliffe Camera in 1814, to celebrate what was supposed to be the final defeat of Napoleon. Those present at the dinner included the Tsar, the King of Prussia, Blücher, Metternich, the Prince Regent, the Duke of York and the Duke of Wellington. There is a college tradition that the bowl will be presented to anyone who can meet two challenges. The first is to put arms around the bowl at its widest point; the second is to drain the bowl of strong punch. The bowl measures 5 ft at its widest point, and so the first challenge has only been accomplished rarely; the second challenge has not been met.

Coat of arms

The college's coat of arms, in heraldic terminology, is Vert, three stags trippant argent attired or. The arms are not those of Hugh Price. His arms, according to their depiction in the margins of his will, were gules (red) a chevron ermine between three fleurs-des-lis. The arms were not granted or authorised by the College of Arms, but the length of time for which they have been used has given them a prescriptive authority. The earliest depiction of the arms was thought to be about 1590, in a document held by the College of Arms, which refers to the stags appearing on a blue (in heraldic terms, azure) background but subsequent examination of this document by Peter Donoghue, Bluemantle Pursuivant shows that the arms were added c.1680. The first known appearance of the arms is therefore on John Speed's Map of Oxfordshire in 1605 with a blue field. The green field made its appearance by 1619 in an armorial quarry painted by one of the Van Linge brothers. The green background became generally (but not universally) used by the 1730s, still appearing as horizontal hatchings indicating azure were in use on bookplates for the college library as late as 1761.

There are similarities with the arms of Lincoln College, Oxford, where one of the elements consists of three golden stags statant (standing still); this was derived from the coat of arms of Lincoln's so-called "second founder", Thomas Rotherham. It was once claimed that Jesus had stolen the stags from Lincoln, but the counter-argument (from an antiquarian with close Lincoln connections) was that the origins of each were distinct. One suggestion (by Paul Langford, the Rector of Lincoln College) is that Jesus College continued the arms adopted by a theological college founded by Rotherham in his home town – Jesus College, Rotherham – which had been suppressed in the time of Edward VI.

The arms of Maud Green, Lady Parr, mother of Catherine Parr (the last of the six wives of Henry VIII and stepmother to Elizabeth I), were of three stags on an azure background, and this became one of the elements of the arms of Catherine Parr on her marriage. Her sister, Anne Parr, married William, 1st Earl of Pembroke, whose grandson (the 3rd Earl, also called William) became the first Visitor of the college in 1622. Maud Green's arms are depicted in plasterwork from about 1592 at Powis Castle, owned by a kinsman of the earls. One writer has suggested that the college may have adopted the arms in order to be associated with one of the leading Welsh families of the day.

This latter theory is not heraldically tenable as the quarters in an achievement after the first and pronominal quarter brought into the family by marriage to heraldic heiresses cannot meaningfully exist on their own to represent the person who now quarters them. It is more probable then that the arms of the college really are those of Archbishop Rotherham and were assumed to be those of the college by John Speed who saw them on one of its buildings in 1605 when preparing his map. Lawrence Hall in Ship Street was given to Rotherham in 1476 and leased to Jesus in 1572. It may well have displayed the Archbishop's arms in its structure as did the building on the south side of the front quad of Lincoln which he completed. These arms for Jesus College could not be confused with those of Lincoln as that college, since 1574, already had a complex tripartite coat granted to it by Richard Lee, Portcullis Pursuivant, in which the colour of the stags in the centre section had been changed to Or (gold) and their attitude to statant.

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title: Jesus College, Oxford


text:
Keble College, Oxford

Keble College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its main buildings are on Parks Road, opposite the University Museum and the University Parks. The college is bordered to the north by Keble Road, to the south by Museum Road, and to the west by Blackhall Road.

Keble was established in 1870, having been built as a monument to John Keble, who had been a leading member of the Oxford Movement which sought to stress the Catholic nature of the Church of England. Consequently, the college's original teaching focus was primarily theological, although the college now offers a broad range of subjects, reflecting the diversity of degrees offered across the wider university. In the period after the Second World War, the trends were towards scientific courses (proximity to the university science area east of the University Museum influenced this). As originally constituted, it was for men only and the fellows were mostly bachelors resident in the college. Like many of Oxford's men's colleges, Keble admitted its first mixed-sex cohort in 1979.

It remains distinctive for its once-controversial neo-gothic red-brick buildings designed by William Butterfield. The buildings are also notable for breaking from Oxbridge tradition by arranging rooms along corridors rather than around staircases, in order that the scouts could supervise the comings and goings of visitors (Girton College, Cambridge, similarly breaks this tradition).

Keble is one of the larger colleges of the University of Oxford, with 460 undergraduates and 525 graduate students in 2021/22. Keble's sister college at the University of Cambridge is Selwyn College.

History
The best-known of Keble's Victorian founders was Edward Pusey, after whom the Pusey quad and Pusey room are named. The college itself is named after John Keble, one of Pusey's colleagues in the Oxford Movement, who died four years before the college's foundation in 1870. It was decided immediately after Keble's funeral that his memorial would be a new Oxford college bearing his name. The chosen architect was William Butterfield. Two years later, in 1868, the foundation stone was laid by the Archbishop of Canterbury on St Mark's Day (25 April, John Keble's birthday). The college first opened in 1870, taking in thirty students, whilst the chapel was opened on St Mark's Day 1876. Accordingly, the college continues to celebrate St Mark's Day each year.

Butterfield produced a notable example of Victorian Gothic architecture, among his few secular buildings, which Pevsner characterised as "actively ugly", and which, according to Charles Eastlake, defied criticism. The social historian G. M. Trevelyan expressed the then commonly held, and highly dismissive, view: "the monstrosities of architecture erected by order of the dons of Oxford and Cambridge colleges in the days of William Butterfield and Alfred Waterhouse give daily pain to posterity." Sir Kenneth Clark recalled that during his Oxford years it was generally believed in Oxford not only that Keble College was "the ugliest building in the world" but that its architect was John Ruskin, author of The Stones of Venice. The college is built of red, blue, and white bricks; the main structure is of red brick, with white and blue patterned banding. The builders were Parnell & Son of Rugby.

On its construction, Keble was not always admired within the university. Undergraduates at St John's College started the Destroy Keble Society, which aimed to dismantle the college brick by brick.

An apocryphal story claims that a French visitor, on first sight of the college exclaimed C'est magnifique mais ce n'est pas la gare? ("It is magnificent but is it not the railway station?"). This is a play on Field Marshal Pierre Bosquet's memorable line, referring to the Charge of the Light Brigade, C'est magnifique, mais ce n'est pas la guerre ("It is magnificent, but it is not war"). This story may have been borrowed from Arthur Wing Pinero's identical quip said to have been made at the opening ceremony for the Royal Courts of Justice in London.

Keble is mentioned in John Betjeman's poem "Myfanwy at Oxford", as well as in the writings of John Ruskin and in Monty Python's "Travel Agent" sketch. Horace Rumpole, the barrister in John Mortimer's books, was a Law graduate of Keble.

In 2005, Keble College featured in the national UK press when its bursar, Roger Boden, was found guilty of racial discrimination by an employment tribunal. An appeal was launched by the college and Boden against the tribunal's judgement, resulting in a financial out-of-court settlement with the aggrieved employee.

In Christmas of 2017, a team of alumni from Keble College won the University Challenge Alumni Christmas Special, a seasonal programme on BBC2. They beat the University of Reading by 240 points to 0 in the final.

Buildings
The main site of Keble contains five quads: Liddon (the largest, named after Henry Parry Liddon), Pusey (named after Edward Bouverie Pusey), Hayward (named after Charles Hayward), De Breyne (named after Andre de Breyne) and Newman (named after John Henry Newman).

Original buildings
The best-known portion of Keble's buildings is the distinctive main brick complex, designed by Butterfield. The design remained incomplete due to shortage of funds. The Chapel and Hall were built later than the accommodation blocks to the east and west of the two original quadrangles and the warden's house at the southeast corner. The Chapel and Hall were both fully funded by William Gibbs and were also designed by Butterfield.

Modern buildings
A section west of the chapel was built in a different style in the 1950s with funds from Antonin Besse. Later still further significant additions have been added, most notably the modern, brick Hayward and de Breyne extensions by Ahrends, Burton and Koralek (ABK). The extensions were made possible by a generous response from the businessmen Charles Hayward and André de Breyne and other fund-raising efforts. The ABK buildings included the college's memorable, futuristic "goldfish bowl" bar, opened on 3 May 1977 and later refurbished and expanded. In 1995, work was completed on the ARCO building by the US-born architect Rick Mather. This was followed in 2002 by another similarly styled building also designed by Mather, the Sloane Robinson Building. Along with a number of additional student bedrooms the Sloane Robinson Building also provided the college with the O'Reilly Theatre (a large multipurpose lecture theatre), a dedicated room for musical practice, several seminar rooms and a large open plan space which during term time is used as a café and social space for all members of the college. The original fellows' garden was lost in the programme of extension, as were a range of houses on Blackhall Road.

O'Reilly Theatre
The O'Reilly Theatre is a flexible studio theatre that was completed in 2002.

The seating capacity of the space ranges from 128 to 250, depending on the setup chosen. The standard configuration is end-on, but alternatives include traverse and in-the-round. The theatre is named after Sir Tony O'Reilly, the billionaire Irish businessman and former international rugby union player, who contributed most of the funds.

Construction
The theatre is part of the Sloane Robinson Building development which was designed by Rick Mather Architects from 1996–2002. Theatreplan designed the theatre itself in collaboration with Rick Mather Architects, at a cost of £1.2 million. The project won the following awards:

 * 2003
 * Brick Awards Building of the Year
 * Brick Awards Best Public Building
 * Oxford Preservation Trust Environmental Award

 * 2004
 * RIBA Award

 * 2005
 * Civic Trust Award – Commendation

Performances
The Theatre is managed by the Martin Esslin Society, who are responsible for choosing the productions staged in the theatre each term. Talks are also given by well-known actors.

 * 2020

 * The Entertainer (February 6 – February 10)

 * 2018

 * Twelfth Night (January 17 – January 20_
 * The 39 Steps (January 31 – February 3)
 * Oxford Alternotives (March 7)

More performances have occurred but are not listed. Performances are often reviewed in the Oxford Mail newspaper.
 * Other performances

H B Allen Centre
In July 2004 Keble announced the purchase of the former Acland Hospital for £10.75 million. This 1.7 acre site, situated a couple of minutes walk from the main college buildings, housed an estimated 100 graduate students. In October 2015 it was confirmed that Keble College had received funding from The H B Allen Charitable Trust to redevelop the Acland Site in order to provide double the number of graduate rooms. This was the largest single donation in the college's history. Work on construction of the H B Allen Centre, designed by Rick Mather, began in 2016, with the first graduate students moving in in October 2018. Keble previously owned several houses across Oxford which were used as additional student accommodation, but these were sold following the purchase of the Acland site.

The H B Allen Centre was officially opened by Prince William, Duke of Cambridge on 3 October 2019.

Student life
The college publishes a termly magazine called The Brick which is sent to Keble alumni to update them on college life. Students used to publish an irreverent spoof version on the last Friday of each term, also named The Brick, recording college gossip but this version has not been published since Hilary 2006. The college has since seen the release of a student publication calling itself The Breezeblock, containing both college gossip and a satirical take on college life.

Each graduate is given a red brick along with their degree certificates.

Keble were champions of the television quiz show University Challenge in 1975 and 1987.

Each year the Advanced Studies Centre invites distinguished speakers for their Creativity Lecture Series. In 2011 the list included Nicholas Humphrey, Tim Ingold and Steve Rayner; in 2012 Robin Dunbar, Kevin Warwick and Margaret Boden were featured.

The Keble Ball is planned by the student committee to coincide with the day-long graduation ceremony in Trinity term week 2, although in 2020 the 150 year commemoration ball will be held in week 9 outside of term.

Sport
Keble fields several sports teams. Its rugby teams have been successful in winning the intercollegiate league for five seasons in a row and triumphing in the 2007, 2009, 2011, 2015 and 2017 rugby Cuppers, having also been finalists in 2008 and 2010. Keble College Boat Club, the college rowing club compete annually in Torpids and Summer Eights. Keble has also had significant success in football, with the college football team (colloquially known as KCFC) recently completing a historic treble by winning the Men's first XI, second XI and Women's Cuppers in the same season.

Keble College Sports Ground is located on Woodstock Road, and as well as hosting intercollegiate ("Cuppers") matches, also lays the stage for annual fixtures between current undergraduates and Old Members ("Ghosts"), particularly in football and cricket. Keble famously won a historic footballing Treble in the 2023/24 season when they won the Men's, Men's Reserve and Women's Football Cuppers. The first ever Football Cuppers Treble. Commemorative photographs of important matches adorn the walls of the Keble Cricket Pavilion inside the ground.

The Light of the World
Keble owns the original of William Holman Hunt's painting The Light of the World, which is hung in the side chapel (accessed through the chapel). The picture was completed in 1853 after eight years of work and originally hung in the Royal Academy. It was then given as a gift to the college. Hunt originally wanted the painting to be hung in the main chapel but the architect rejected this idea, as a result, he painted another version of the painting which is in St Paul's Cathedral, London. This copy was painted by Hunt when he was nearly 70.

College stamps
Keble College has the distinction of being the first college to issue stamps for the prepayment of a porter/messenger delivery service in 1871 only one year after it was founded, and it set the pace for other Oxford colleges to issue their own stamps. This service was successfully challenged by the post office in 1886. Keble also issued a college stamp in 1970 to mark its 100th anniversary.

Notable conferences at Keble

 * The Declaration of Clergy on Ritual Conference (January, 1904)
 * The Conference on New Ideals in Education (31 March – 7 April 1923)
 * The Oxford Movement Conference (July, 1983)
 * The J. R. R. Tolkien Centenary Conference (17–24 August 1992)
 * The 12th International Conference on Brain Tumour Research and Therapy (September, 1997)
 * The 19th International Radiocarbon Conference (April, 2006)

In popular culture
Keble, under snow, appears as Baidley College in an episode of the television detective show Endeavour, with the young Morse investigating the murder of a don.

title: Keble College, Oxford