Showing 374 results

Joseph Bickersteth Mayor was born in the Cape of Good Hope, on October 24th 1828, to Rev. Robert Mayor and his wife Charlotte. He was educated at Rugby School—of which he would later become a Governor—before going up to Cambridge in 1847; following his two older brothers, Robert and John. All three Mayor brothers would become Fellows; Joseph was appointed Fellow in 1852, the year after he took his degree. He was also given the position of College Lecturer in Moral Science.

Mayor was ordained as a Deacon in 1859, and a Priest in 1860, the same year that he became a Tutor at Cambridge. Three years later, his marriage to Miss A.J. Grote made it necessary to give up his position at the College, and he instead became the Head Master of a school in London. This was later followed by his appointment as a Professor at King’s College, first in Classical Literature and then in Moral Philosophy. He left his post in 1883, and moved to live out the rest of his life in Kingston-on-Thames.

There, Mayor undertook important work with local schools, but most of his focus fell to writing. He published many different works, the most important of which include his translations of Cicero, De Natura Deorum, Epistle of St. James, Clement of Alexandria, and Epistle of St. Jude and Second Epistle of Peter.

Mayor died on the 29th of November, 1916.

Obituary in the Eagle, vol. 38, Easter 1917, p. 323

Kenneth Budden was born on 23rd June 1915 in Portsmouth, the son of George Easthope Budden, Engineer and Civil Servant, Admiralty, and Hannah Gertrude Homer Rea. He was admitted to St John’s in 1933 to study Natural Sciences where he chose to specialise in Physics. He graduated BA in 1936 and subsequently joined a research group in the Cavendish Laboratory working on the propagation of very-long-wavelength radio waves, being awarded his PhD in 1940.

Between 1939 and 1941 Budden was employed by the Telecommunications Research Establishment, before moving to the British Air Commission, Washington, DC 1941-1944. In 1945 he was engaged with Air Command, South-East Asia before working at Delanium Limited as Director of Research until 1947.

In 1947 he returned to the University of Cambridge and St John’s, initially as a University Demonstrator in Physics until 1953 when he became Lecturer in Physics, a position he held until 1965. Between 1965 and 1982 Budden achieved the position of Reader in Physics (Emeritus 1982). Parallel to this, at St John’s he was a Supervisor in Physics from 1947 to 1956, as well as Lecturer between 1956 and 1982, and Director of Studies for Physics 1961-77. He was also a Fellow of the College from 1947 until his death in 2005.

Budden wrote numerous books and papers on the propagation of radio waves, and in 1999 was awarded the Gold Medal of The Royal Astronomical Society in recognition of his contribution to Geophysics.

Obituary in The Eagle: Vol 88, 2006, p. 80

Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, was born in Westminster to William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley, and his wife Lady Mildred, on the 1st of June 1563. Due to a sickly childhood, Cecil was educated at home by his notably-learned mother, and also tutors; one of these tutors was almost certainly Richard Howland, who would go on to become bishop of Peterborough and Master of St John’s College. The family’s mansion was often used to entertain the royal court, so Cecil was likely acquainted with Queen Elizabeth I from his childhood.

In 1580, Cecil was admitted to Gray’s Inn. The following year he was also at Cambridge, but never obtained a degree. He was tutored at home by William Wilkinson, a fellow of St John’s, before travelling to Paris. He spent the next several years travelling and sitting in the House of Commons. He was knighted in 1591, and subsequently elevated to the privy council. In the same year, he also became the high steward of Cambridge University. At the time, his father was the acting secretary of state, and Cecil often assisted him with his work. In 1596, he was finally granted the title of secretary of state for himself, after seemingly being poised to take the role for several years.

Cecil competed with Elizabeth I’s favourite, the Earl of Essex, for various positions both before and after the death of his influential father. In May 1599 Cecil became master of the wards, a position which Essex had hoped for and which had previously been held by Burghley. The pair also clashed over their opinions on foreign policy; Essex sought escalation of warfare, while Cecil desired peace. Cecil went on to collect evidence against Essex after his 1601 revolt, and spoke at the trial which led to his execution.

After Essex’s death, Cecil was widely recognised as the most powerful privy councillor. Because of this, he was able to undertake a secret-- and technically treasonous-- correspondance with James VI of Scotland to assure him of his future ascension to the English throne. As Elizabeth’s health failed, Cecil drafted the proclamation of the new king’s ascension. His friendliness with James I ensured that Cecil held his privy council position in the court of the new king. He was also appointed lord high steward to the king’s wife. Cecil’s power increased under James I, owing in part to the king’s frequent absences from court. Cecil led the commission to investigate the Guy Fawkes plot. His position under James was cemented on the 4th of May, 1605, when Cecil was elevated to the earldom of Salisbury. In 1608, he also became the lord treasurer.

Cecil married Elizabeth Brooke, a servant of Elizabeth I, in August 1589. She was a favourite of the queen, and her influence likely contributed greatly to Cecil’s early career. They had a son, William, in 1591, and a daughter, Frances, in 1593. However, a third pregnancy sadly led to a miscarriage and Lady Cecil’s death in January of 1597. She was buried at Westminster Abbey on the insistence of the Queen, and Cecil never remarried. He died on the 24th of May, 1612.

Anthony Tuckney was educated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and a fellow there from 1619 to 1630. He was town preacher at Boston, Lincolnshire from 1629 and in 1633, succeeded John Cotton as vicar of St Botolph's Church, Boston. From 1645 to 1653 he was Master of Emmanuel and then from 1653 to 1661 Master of St John's College, Cambridge. In 1655, he became the Regius Professor of Divinity at Cambridge – then the seat of Puritan thought. After the English Restoration in 1660, he was removed from his positions and retired from professional life.
For more information on Tuckney see the Oxford DNB

Sarah was the daughter of Edward Alston of London, physician, President of the College of Physicians, who was knighted by King Charles II at the Restoration in 1660, and his wife Susanna, daughter of Christopher Hudson of Norwich and widow of Jasper Hussey, fishmonger of Billingsgate. Sarah married in 1652 George Grimston, son of barrister and politician Sir Harbottle Grimston. George Grimston died three years later and their two children died in infancy. Sarah married, secondly, Lord John Seymour, son and heir of the second Duke of Somerset. Unlike her first marriage, this was a marriage of convenience by which Seymour benefitted financially and Sir Edward gained entrance into the circle of the aristocracy; it was an unhappy match. Her marriage settlement did allow for a measure of financial independence, with £300 per annum set aside for her sole use, a wise precaution given the Somerset family's financial difficulties and her husband's gambling addiction. Following Somerset's death in 1675, Sarah was permitted to retain her title and her control of her late husband's estates in Herefordshire. In 1682 she married Henry Hare, second Baron Coleraine, again through the marriage settlement retaining some financial autonomy. She died in 1692.

Member of Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge; Fellow of St Catharine's College, Cambridge, 1979-1989

Benians was born in Goudhurst, Kent in 1880. His father was the headmaster of Bethany School in Goudhurst, and it was here that Benians received his schooling. He was admitted to St John's in 1899 and achieved his BA in 1902. He became Lightfoot Scholar in 1903, Allen Scholar in 1903, and achieved his MA as well as being the Adam Smith Prizeman in 1906. He also became a Fellow in 1906, and then in 1911 he was elected to the Albert Kahn Travelling Fellowship. For the period 1913-19, Benians was a Local Adviser to Indian Students. He was appointed Lecturer in History in 1910, became a Tutor in 1918, and Senior Tutor in 1927. In the same year he was made University Lecturer in History, specialising in the history of the British colonies and dependencies, and the United States of America. He was Master of St John's from 1933 until his death in 1952, and served as Vice-Chancellor of the University 1939-41. In 1939 he was awarded an honorary LittD from Trinity College Dublin, before then also becoming an Honorary Fellow in 1947.

Benians married Sylvia Mary Dodd, daughter of J. Thoedore Dodd, at St Giles', Oxford in 1918, and together they had one son and two daughters. He died on 13 February 1952.

The Reverend Charles Edward Graves was born in London on 11th November 1839, the son of James John, a silk manufacturer. He attended Leamington College and Shrewsbury School, before matriculating at St John’s in 1858. He graduated BA (2nd Classic) in 1862 and was elected a Fellow in 1863; however he had to renounce this position when he married in 1865. Graves was ordained the following year, serving for two years as curate of St Luke’s in Chesterton, and for eight years as chaplain of Magdalene College. Following the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge Act of 1877, which meant that Fellows were no longer required to remain celibate, Graves was re-elected a Fellow in 1893. It was during this stint that he also served as a Tutor, alongside Dr Tanner, from 1895 to 1905.

He was popular while engaged as a private Tutor for Classics, as well as when employed as a lecturer, and was known for his generosity and humour. He died on 21st October 1920, and was survived by his son and four daughters.

Obituary in The Eagle: Vol 42, Lent 1921, p. 57

Daughter of Hugh de Kevelioc, 5th Earl of Chester, and Bertrade de Montfort of Evreux. She had four sisters and one brother, Ranulf, who succeeded his father as 6th Earl of Chester when he died when Hawise was one year old. In 1231 Ranulf resigned the title of Earl of Lincoln in Hawise's favour, making her Countess of Lincoln suo jure (in her own right), with which title she was formally invested by the King in 1232, the day after Ranulf's death. With her sisters, she was his co-heiress, and inherited the castle and manor of Bolingbroke as well as other large estates. Hawise married first Robert de Quincy, with whom she had one daughter, Margaret, who inherited her title and estates. She married secondly Sir Warren de Bostoke, with whom she had one son, Sir Henry de Bostoke.

Edward Miller, known more commonly as Ted, was born in Northumbria on the 16th July 1915. He was the son of a farm steward, and was educated as a northern grammar school before coming up to Cambridge in 1934 to earn starred Firsts in both Parts of the Historical Tripos. In 1939, he was elected to a Research Fellowship, but took a six-year leave of absence in 1940 for war service; Miller served with the Durham Light Infantry, and then the British Control Commission in Germany.

After the war, Miller returned to Cambridge in order to teach. Throughout his time at the College, he was appointed as Director of Studies in History, Tutor, Assistant Lecturer, and Lecturer in History. He focused on the history of medieval England, publishing works such as The Abbey and Bishopric of Ely, The Agrarian History of England and Wales (drawing on his own youth) and the two-volume Medieval England. Miller also later became an Honorary Fellow of Fitzwilliam College, of which he was the second Master after a stint as Professor of Medieval History at the University of Sheffield.

Miller married Fanny Salinger in 1941, and their son John went on to become a Professor of history at Queen Mary and Westfield College London. Miller died in Cambridge on the 21st December 2000.

Obituary in the Eagle, vol. 83, 2001, p. 80

Associate professor in History of Architecture, Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Edile e Architettura, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italia; Visiting Professor at Silpakorn University Bangkok, Thailand; Life Member St John's College, University of Cambridge, UK; Life Member Clare Hall, University of Cambridge, UK; Membro Associazione degli Storici di Architettura (Aistarch); Member Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain (SAHGB)

Born on 3 September 1945 to Herbert Charles and Rosina Sarah Goddard, Peter Goddard was educated at Emanuel School, London, before entering Trinity College, Cambridge where he obtained his BA (1966), and both his MA and PhD (1971). He then became a Research Fellow at Trinity College (1969-73), during which time he also became a Lecturer in Applied Mathematics at Durham University (1972-74). He then returned to Cambridge, where he progressed through a multitude of university positions, including: Assistant Lecturer (1976-5); Lecturer (1976-98); Reader in Mathematical Physics (1989-92); Professor of Theoretical Physics (1992-2004); and was a member of the University Council (2000-03). Goddard was also the Department Director, Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences (1991-94), becoming a Senior Fellow (1994-2010) after resigning this position, and then an Honorary Fellow (2011).

During his time teaching at Cambridge, Goddard also held positions at St John's College. He was elected to a Fellowship of the College in 1975, and then proceeded to be: Lecturer in Mathematics (1975-91); Tutor (1980-87); and Senior Tutor (1983-87). He remains a Fellow, but did take a break from his fellowship during the period 1994-2004, when he was serving as Master of the College. Goddard was also elected as Fellow of the Institute of Physics (1990), Fellow of Imperial College (1987), and an Honorary Fellow of Trinity College Dublin (1995). He was awarded a Fellowship of the Royal Society in 1989 and appointed CBE in 2002. He was also awarded an ScD Cantab in 1996, and has held a significant number of roles in the US as well as Britain.

He married Helena Barbara Ross in 1968, and together they have one son and one daughter. Goddard is currently Emeritus Professor at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, having started there as Director (2004-12) and then becoming Professor (2012-16).

Youngest child of Ernest Bertram and Isabella Hinde, born on 26 October 1923 in Norwich. He was educated at Oundle's preparatory school followed by Oundle senior school. At the start of the Second World War Hinde signed up for the RAF, and following a length training in Africa, Hinde was posted to a Coastal Command, initially on Catalina flying boats, and then Sunderlands, before being promoted to flight lieutenant (1941-5). Following demobilization, Hinde received an exhibition to St John's College, where he read chemistry, physiology, and zoology; achieving a First in Part II of the Zoology Tripos in 1948. On 11 August the same year, he married Hester Cecily Coutts, who had been studying at Newnham College, Cambridge. They then moved to Oxford where Hinde undertook his DPhil at the Edward Grey Institute, and had four children together (two sons, two daughters). In 1950, Hinde returned to Cambridge at the invitation of William Thorpe to take up the position of curator of the Ornithological Field Station at Madingley, which he retained until 1965. Under Hinde's guidance, Madingley field station evolved as an important centre for the study of behaviour. Hester and Robert Hinde divorced in 1970, and on 7 May 1971 Hinde married Joan Gladys Stevenson, an American psychologist. They had two daughters together, and collaborated on the study of child development.

During his career, Hinde published a vast amount of work, and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (1974), Honorary Fellow of the British Academy (2002) and the Royal College of Psychiatrists (1988), foreign associate of the National Academy of Sciences, USA (1978), and an honorary foreign member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1974). He also received awards and medals for his various research. Nevertheless, he was always a devoted member of St John's College, being a Fellow (1951-54, 1958-89, and 1994-2016) and, after retiring from his Royal Society Professorship in 1989, serving as Master (1989-94). He was also made an Honorary Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford (1986), and Trinity College, Dublin (1990), and received honorary doctorates from from the Université Libre (Brussels, 1974), Université de Paris (Nanterre, 1979), Stirling University (1991), Göteborg University (Sweden, 1991), Edinburgh University (1992), University of Western Ontario (Canada, 1996), and Oxford University (1998). In 1988 he was made a CBE and in 1996 was awarded the royal medal of the Royal Society.

Hinde was not only a dedicated academic, but also recognised the need for a responsible society, and was committed to the peace movement. He became chair and president of the British Pugwash Group and president of the Movement for the Abolition of War. He maintained an academically active life long after his official retirement age, during which period he wrote some of his most socially-important books. He died of prostate cancer at the Arthur Rank Hospice in Great Shelford, Cambridge on 23 December 2016. A memorial service was held in St John's College Chapel on 13 May 2017, and a conference in his honour was organised by the college on 1 June 2018.

Born on 26 November 1918 in Walsall, to Thomas Henry and Emma Hinsley. He was educated at the local elementary school, and then at Queen Mary's Grammar School, Walsall, before winning a scholarship to St John's College to read history. He obtained a First in Part I of the Historical Tripos (1939), but never went on to complete a first or any subsequent degree. After the breakout of the Second World War, Hinsley was recruited into the naval section at the Government Code and Cipher School at Bletchley Park. Here, he became the leading expert on decryption and analysis of German wireless traffic and, after the capture of the German Enigma Code machines and materials, played a vital role in supplying the Admiralty with crucial intelligence analysis derived from Admiral Doenitz's signals, which helped to win the battle against U-boats in the Atlantic. In later life he wrote both official and more personal accounts of the work that had been undertaken at Bletchley Park.

At the conclusion of the war Hinsley returned to St John's College, where he had been elected a research fellow in 1944. On 6 April 1946, Hinsley married Hilary Brett Brett-Smith (Goldsmith's reader in English at Oxford 1939-47), with whom he went on to have three children (2 sons, 1 daughter). He became a university lecturer in history (1949-65), tutor (1956-63) reader in the history of international relations (1965-69), and professor of the history of international relations (1969-83). He also served as President (1975-9) and then Master (1979-89) of St John's College, and in the office of University Vice-Chancellor (1981-3). One of his greatest achievements during his time at Cambridge was the establishment of the research school in the history of international relations in the 1960s and 70s. His research and publications, as well as the research and publications of his PhD students changed the way in which both international relations and their history were studied, and the result was an alteration in the intellectual basis of discussion.

Hinsley was made OBE for his work at Bletchley Park in 1946, was awarded an FBA in 1981, and was also knighted in 1985. He was an Honorary Fellow of Trinity College Dublin (1981), and Darwin College, Cambridge (1987), and was awarded an Honorary DLitt from Witwatersrand (1985) and DMilSci from Royal Roads Military College, Canada (1987). He died of lung cancer at Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, on 16 February 1998.