Showing 374 results

Authority record

Tatham, Ralph

  • GB-1859-SJCA-PN343
  • Person
  • c. 1778 - 1857

Born c. 1778 in Barton, Whittingham, Northumberland, Ralph Tatham was the eldest son of Rev. Ralph Tatham (BA 1776). He was baptised there on 6 November 1778, and was educated at Durham School before being admitted as pensioner to St John's. He matriculated Michaelmas Term 1796, and was then admitted as Scholar. He graduated as 12th Wrangler in 1800, and achieved his MA 1803, BD 1811, and DD (per Lit. Reg.) 1839. Both his brothers, Thomas Tatham (BA 1806) and William Tatham (BA 1810) also attended St John's College. Ralph Tatham became a Fellow of the College in 1802; was a tutor 1814-30; was President 1827-39; and on the death of James Wood he was unanimously elected Master in May 1839, a position he held until his death in 1857. He was also Junior Proctor 1809-10, and Public Orator for the University of Cambridge 1809-36. For the years 1839-40, and 1845-6 he also served the office of University Vice-Chancellor.

He also had interests in the Church, and was first ordained Deacon by the Bishop of Rochester on 8 July 1804, followed by Priest on 30 September that same year. He was Curate of Longstowe with Croxton, Cambridgeshire, in 1807, and Chaplain of Horningsea in 1809. In 1816 he was instituted Rector of St Mary Colkirk with Stibbard, Norfolk, and he held this position until his death. He died on 19 January 1857, at St John's Lodge, aged 79, and was buried beside his brother, Thomas Tatham, in the old Ante-chapel. The slab covering his grave can be seen on the site of the old Chapel.

Scott, Sir Robert Forsyth, Master of St John's College

  • GB-1859-SJCA-PN36
  • Person
  • 1849 - 1933

Robert Forsyth Scott was born on 28 July 1849, at St Thomas Manse, Leith, Edinburgh. He was the eldest son of the Rev. George Scott and his wife, Mary (daughter of Robert Forsyth). He was baptised on 16th August 1849, and was educated at High School, Edinburgh, and then in Stuttgart and London before being admitted pensioner to St John's College in 1871. At St John's he was elected to a scholarship in 1873, after which he obtained his BA (4th Wrangler, 1875), MA (1878), before being elected to a fellowship in 1877, which he retained until 1908. He was Assistant Master at Christ's Hospital 1877-9. Scott then went on to study law, being admitted to Lincoln's Inn in December 1876 and then being called to the Bar in 1880. He was Junior Proctor to the University 1887-8 and Senior Bursar for St John's College 1888-1908, before being elected to the office of Master following the death of Charles Taylor in 1908. He also served the office of Vice-Chancellor for the period 1910-12, and received the honorary degree of LL.D. at St Andrews. In 1922 he became a Bencher of Lincoln's Inn, and in 1924 he received the honour of Knighthood.

During the course of his career he had several important publications, which included the History of St John's College in 1907, and many papers on the College History. His recreational interests included rowing, as well as antiquarian and biographical pursuits. In 1898 he married Jenny Webster, the daughter of General Thomas Edward Webster. Robert Forsyth Scott died on 18th November 1933, at Cambridge.

Mansergh, Philip Nicholas Seton

  • GB-1859-SJCA-PN346
  • Person
  • 1910 - 1991

Younger son of Philip St George Mansergh and Mrs E. M. Mansergh, born on 27 June 1910 in Tipperary, Ireland. Mansergh was educated at Abbey School, Tipperary and St Columba's College, Dublin (1923-9). He then entered Pembroke College, Oxford, in 1929, where he read modern history. Despite not managing to obtain a first, he began postgraduate research under W.G.S Adams (Gladstone professor of political theory and institutions). He achieved his DPhil in 1936, and was subsequently appointed as a tutor (but not Fellow) in politics at Pembroke. This post enabled him to produce a major work, Ireland in the Age of Reform and Revolution (1940). At this time he was also secretary to the Oxford University Politics Research Committee. In 1939 Mansergh married Diana Mary Keeton (undergraduate at Lady Margaret Hall, daughter of the headmaster of Reading School) on 12 December 1939, and their marriage produced 5 children (3 sons and 2 daughters).

During the Second World War , Mansergh became the Irish expert and director of the empire division of the Ministry of Information, which led to his appointment as OBE in 1945, and then as an assistant secretary at the Dominions Office (1946-7). After this foray into the civil service, Mansergh returned to academic life in 1947 as a research professor at the Royal Institute of International Affairs. In 1953 he moved to Cambridge as the first Smuts Professor of the history of the British Commonwealth. From this position, which he held from 1953-1970, Mansergh was concerned to raise the profile of the study of both Irish and Commonwealth history. During this time, Mansergh also became an honorary fellow of Pembroke College, Oxford (1954), and Trinity College, Dublin (1971), obtained an Oxford DLitt in 1960, as well as a fellowship of the British Academy in 1973. He was Master of St John's College from 1969-1979, after which he returned to being a Fellow until his death in 1991. Perhaps his greatest work was the publication, as editor-in-chief, of the 12-volume, highly-acclaimed series Transfer of Power in India, 1942-7 (TOPI), which appeared from 1970 at the rate of one a year.

Mansergh died at Brookfields Hospital, Cambridge, on 16 January 1991, from pneumonia which set in at the end of a prolonged period of ill health which was unfortunately begun by a fall on an escalator of the London underground.

Boys Smith, John Sandwith

  • GB-1859-SJCA-PN39
  • Person
  • 1901-1991

The Reverend John Sandwith Boys Smith was born in Hampshire on 8th January 1901, the son of Edward Percy Boys Smith, Clerk in Holy Orders and St John’s College Alumnus, and Charlotte Cecilia Sandwith. Boys Smith matriculated at St John’s College, Cambridge, in 1919 and read Economics/Theology, graduating BA in 1922.

After a short time at Marburg University in 1924-25, Boys Smith was appointed to the Fellowship of St John’s in 1927. This was to be the start of a long commitment to the College, and it was a position which, apart from the 10 years he was Master of the College (1959-69), he was to hold until his death in 1991. He served as Chaplain 1927-1934, Director of Studies and Supervisor in Theology 1927-1952, Praelector 1929-1931, Assistant Tutor 1931-34, Tutor 1939-1939, Junior Bursar 1939-1944 and Senior Bursar 1944-1959.

Wordie, James

  • GB-1859-SJCA-PN35
  • Person
  • 1889-1962

James Mann Wordie was born on the 26th April 1889, the son of John Wordie and Catherine Mann. He came up to St John’s in 1910 after taking his degree at the University of Glasgow, to study Natural Sciences.
During the First World War, Wordie joined the Royal Artillery and served in France. Upon returning to Cambridge, he was elected a Fellow of the college in 1921, and became a Tutor in 1923. In the same year, he also started a tenure as Junior Proctor of the University. Then, in 1933, Wordie was appointed Senior Tutor, before becoming President in 1950 and, finally, Master of the College in 1952.
Outside of his services for St John’s College, Wordie was a keen enthusiast of Polar exploration. In 1914, he was a geologist and chief of scientific staff on the Endurance expedition: Sir Ernest Shackleton’s attempt to make the first land crossing of Antarctica. The party’s boat became stranded in ice, and Wordie was marooned for some months on Elephant Island. However, this experience did not dent his enthusiasm, and Wordie remained involved in Polar exploration for the rest of his life. He was Chairman of the Scott Polar Institute in Cambridge and president of the Royal Geographic Society. Wordie’s work afforded him many honours, including the Founders’ gold medal of the Royal Geographical Society, the Daly medal of the American Geographical Society, and, in 1957, a knighthood.
In 1923, Wordie married Gertrude Henderson; together they had two daughters and three sons; all of their sons also attended St John’s College. Sir James Wordie died on the 16th January 1962, but his name lives on in the Wordie glacier in Greenland and the Wordie Crag in Spitzbergen; both are named for him.

Powell, William Samuel

  • GB-1859-SJAC-PN340
  • Person
  • 1717-1775

Elder son of the Revd Francis Powell and his wife, Susan. He was born at Colchester on 27 September 1717, and was educated at Colchester grammar school. He was admitted pensioner at St John's College Cambridge in 1733, matriculating several years later in 1738. In November 1735 he was elected a foundation scholar, holding exhibitions from the College in November 1735, 1736, and 1738. He graduated BA (1738-9), MA (1742), BD (1749), and DD (1757). He was admitted as a fellow of St John's in 1740. In 1741 he became private tutor to Charles Townsend, who later became Chancellor of the Exchequer. In December 1741 he was ordained deacon and priest, and was presented to the rectory of Colkirk in Norfolk on 13 January 1742. He then returned to College, and was Assistant Tutor for two years; becoming Principal Tutor in 1744. In 1745 he acted as Senior Taxor of the University, and became a Senior Fellow of St John's in 1760. He resigned his fellowship in 1763, and was admitted a Fellow of the Royal Society in March 1764. On 25 January 1765, he was unanimously elected Master of St John's College, and succeeded to the Vice-Chancellorship of the University for the period 1765-6. In December 1766 he was appointed to the archdeaconry of Colchester by the Crown, and then in 1768 he somewhat controversially claimed the rich College rectory of Freshwater on the Isle of Wight for himself, resigning the benefice of Colkirk as he did so.

During his first year as Master of St John's, Powell established College examinations, the success of which led him into an engagement with John Jebb and his wife about annual examinations for the University as a whole. He also provoked two further controversies during his time at Cambridge. The first, his sermon preached in 1757 and subsequent publication of A Defence of the Subscriptions Required in the Church of England inadvertently initiated the major controversy concerning the undergraduate and clerical subscription to the Thirty-Nine Articles which led to the Feathers tavern petition in 1772. The second was his anonymous debate and attempted sabotage of Edward Waring's candidature for the Lucasian Professorship of Mathematics in 1760. Powell had a stroke of apoplexy in 1770 and died from paralysis on 19 January 1775. He was buried in St John's College Chapel on 25 January, the anniversary of his election as Master.

Bateson, William Henry

  • GB-1859-SJCA-PN344
  • Person
  • 1812 - 1881

Fifth son of Richard Bateson and Lucy Wheeler Gordon, William Henry Bateson was born on 3 June 1812 in Everton. He was educated at Shrewsbury School, and admitted as pensioner to St John's College on 12 October 1829. He graduated in 1836, senior optime in mathematics and third in the first class of the classical tripos (BA 1836, MA 1839, BD 1846, DD 1857). He was elected to fellowship in 1837 and became second master at Leicester collegiate school. He briefly studied for the bar, being admitted to Lincoln's Inn on 12 April 1836, before taking holy orders. He was ordained deacon on 1 December 1839, and priest c. 1840. Between 1840 and 1843 he was attached to the Cambridgeshire parish of Horningsea, and was Vicar of Madingley 1843-7.

Bateson was a tripos examiner at Cambridge and a successful private classics tutor, before becoming St John's College preacher in 1843, followed by steward, and then Senior Bursar 1846-57; a position from which he was able to restore financial security to St John's. In 1841 he was the Rede Lecturer, and for the period 1848-57 he was Public Orator of the university. Bateson was also a key link between two important reformative committees, serving as secretary to both the 1849 revising syndicate established to modify university statutes, and the 1852 royal commission on Cambridge which recommended general university improvements. Following his success as Senior Bursar, Bateson was elected as Master of St John's in 1857. Later that same year, on 11 June, he married Anna Aiken, with whom he had six children. In 1858, he served the office of Vice-Chancellor of the university, and in 1872 he as one of several academics appointed to the second royal commission on Oxford and Cambridge universities, which investigated the extent of their property and income. A strong believer in the improvement of education, he was on the Cambridge improvement board and was on the governing bodies for Shrewsbury and Rugby Schools. He was also the inaugural chairman of the Perse Girls' School, Cambridge, where he was regarded as an enthusiastic promoter of higher education for women.

Generally thought of as leader of the liberal party in academical matters, Bateson used his positions of Bursar and then Master of St John's to introduce reforms in the College, such as leading other Cambridge clergy in a successful campaign to abolish religious tests and liberalising St John's College statutes in 1848 and 1857. In 1880 he succeeded Chief Justice Cockburn on the 1877 statutory commission and was influential in framing new college statutes for St John's, which were effected in 1882, a year after his death. Bateson was responsible for the construction of the new chapel and lodge at St John's in 1865-9, personally financing the wooden-panelled ceilings, and a few weeks before his death he anonymously donated £500 to college funds. He died in the Master's Lodge on 27 March 1881, and was buried on 31 March in Madingley churchyard.

Newcome, John

  • GB-1859-SJAC-PN47
  • Person
  • 1684-1765

Son of John Newcome, born at Grantham, Lincolnshire. He was admitted as sizar to St John's College in 1700, graduating BA 1704-5. He obtained his MA in 1708, his BD in 1715, and his DD in 1725. He was a Fellow of the College 1707-1728, and Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity 1727-1765. He was ordained as a priest in Ely on 19 September 1708, was Vicar of Thriplow, Cambridgeshire, and Rector of Offord Cluny, Huntingdonshire 1730-65. He then served as Master of St. John's College from 1735 and Dean of Rochester from 1744 until his death. He died in St John's College on 10 January 1765.

Lambert, Robert

  • GB-1859-SJAC-PN52
  • Person
  • 1677-1735

Son of Joseph Lambert, born in 1677 in Beverley, East Riding of Yorkshire. He was admitted to St John's College as a pensioner in 1693, achieving his BA in 1696/7, his MA in 1700, and being appointed to a fellowship in 1699. He was ordained as a priest on 6 January 1705/6, and achieved his BD in 1707, his DD in 1718, and was the Lady Margaret preacher for the College 1722-1734. He succeeded Robert Jenkin as Master in 1727; a position he retained until his death on 25 January 1734/5. He was also Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge 1727-8, and again 1729-30.

Craven, William

  • GB-1859-SJAC-PN342
  • Person
  • c. 1730 - 1815

Son of Richard Craven. Born c. 1730 at Gouthwaite Hall, Nidderdale (West Riding of Yorkshire), he was educated at Sedbergh. He was admitted as sizar to St John's College in 1749, and graduated BA (1753), MA (1756), BD (1763), and DD (1789, Lit. Reg.). He was a Fellow of the College 1758-89, and Master 1789-1815. He was also University Vice-Chancellor in 1790. He was ordained deacon in Chester in 1756, and priest in Lincoln in 1759. For a time he was assistant Master at Harrow. He was Professor of Arabic 1770-95, and Lord Almoner's Reader in Arabic, 1770-1815. He died on 28 January 1815.

Chevallier [Chevalier], John

  • GB-1859-SJAC-PN341
  • Person
  • c. 1730 - 1789

Son of Nathaniel Chevalier, born c. 1730, at Casterton. He went to school at Stamford, Lincolnshire. He was admitted as sizar to St John's College, and graduated BA (1750-1), MA (1754), BD (1762), and DD (1777, Lit. Reg.). He was a Fellow of the College 1754-75, and Master 1775-89. He was also University Vice-Chancellor 1776-7, and ordained as a priest at Cambridge in 1754. He died on 7 March 1789.

Jenkin, Robert

  • GB-1859-SJAC-PN339
  • Person
  • c. 1656 - 1727

Robert Jenkin was born c.1656 on the Isle of Thanet, Kent, and was the son of Thomas and Mary Jenkin. He was educated at the King's School Canterbury, before matriculating at St John's College, Cambridge in 1674. He obtained his BA in 1678, after which he was admitted to a fellowship on the foundress's foundation in March 1680, and achieved his MA 1681. Retaining his fellowship, he entered holy orders and was initially presented to the vicarage of Waterbeach, Cambridge (1680-89), before moving to become chaplain to Bishop John Lake. Lake then collated him to the precentorship of Chichester Cathedral in 1688. He was a controversial figure, who opposed King James' ecclesiastical policy and supported the Nonjuring Schism. In 1691 Jenkin relinquished his preferments, but was able to retain his college fellowship. In 1696 he published his most successful work, The Reasonableness and Certainty of the Christian Religion. Upon the death of Henry Gower in 1711, Jenkin became the Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity, as well as Master of St John's College. New legislation in 1715 led to a vote being taken in 1717, which forced Jenkin to remove the Nonjuring fellows from the College, for which he was heavily criticised by his Nonjuring contemporaries. He died on 7 April 1727, whilst living with his brother, Henry Jenkin, at the rectory in South Runcton, Norfolk. He was buried in Holme Chapel in South Runcton, where a mural monument with a Latin inscription was erected to his memory.

Watson, Thomas

  • GB-1859-SJCA-PN139
  • Person
  • 1515-1584

Thomas Watson was born near Durham in 1515. Watson matriculated in 1529 and received his B.A. in 1532/3 and his M.A. in 1536. He received his degree in theology in 1543, the year in which he became domestic chaplain to Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester.
On the accession of Queen Mary, Watson was admitted Master 28 September 1553, but he soon left the College, being appointed Dean of Durham 18 November 1553; he was then appointed Bishop of Lincoln by Papal Bull dated 24 March 1556-1557, but was deprived of his bishopric on the accession of Queen Elizabeth I and spent the rest of his life in imprisonment or restraint of various kinds.

For more information see: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

Smoult, Thomas

  • GB-1859-SJCA-PN338
  • c. 1632 - 1707

Son of Edward (or Edmund), of Lathom, Lancashire. Born in Lathom, Lancashire. Admitted sizar at St John's, 19 May 1651, aged 19. School at Winwick, Lancashire. M.A. 1659; B.D. 1666; D.D. 1684. Fellow of St John's College from 1664. Incorporated at Oxford, 1663. First Knightbridge Professor of Moral Theology, 1683-1707. Rectir of Northchurch, Hertfordshire; vicar of Bexley, Kent, 1659-65; vicar of Barkway, Hertfordshire, 1666-94; rector of Berkhampsted, 1693. Chaplain to the King, c. 1697-1707. Died 9 Jul., 1707, aged 74. Monumental Inscription in Barkway Church, Hertfordshire.

Rogerson, George Bayldon

  • GB-1859-SJCA-PN337
  • Person
  • 1818-1881

Born at Darton, Yorkshire. Matriculated St John's 1844; Scholar, 1847; B.A. (17th Wrangler) 1848; Tyrwhitt Hebrew Scholar, 1851; M.A. 1851. Ordained deacon (Oxford) 1848; priest, 1848; curate of Bicester, Oxon., 1848-9; curate of Brighouse, Yorks., 1849-51. Usher at Bradford Grammar School, 1851-71. Curate of Hartshead with Clifton, Yorks., 1859-73; curate of Mirfield, 1873-8. Latterly of King's End House, Bicester

Pennington, Sir Isaac, physician and chemist

  • GB-1859-SJCA-PN336
  • Person
  • 1745-1817

Of Lancashire. Baptised 17 Dec. 1745. Died 3 Feb. 1817. Attended Sedbergh Grammar School. Entered St John's as a sizar, 12 August 1762. Fellow of St John's from 22 March 1768. President of the Faculty of Medicine, 1787 to 1802. Professor of chemistry, 1773 - 1793. Regius professor of physic, 1793 - 1813. Physician to Addenbrooke's Hospital, 1785 - 1817. Knighted in 1796.

Palyn, George

  • GB-1859-SJCA-PN335
  • Person
  • d. c. 1610

Of London. Girdler, served as Master of the Girdlers' Company. Charitable bequests by him included to the Girdlers' Company to fund almshouses, and to Brasenose College, Oxford. He is an ancestor of the actor, broadcaster, comedian and writer, Michael Palin.

Sandys, Sir John Edwin

  • GB-1859-SJCA-PN22
  • Person
  • 1844-1922

Sir John Sandys was born in May 1844 in Leicester, to the Reverend Timothy of Calcutta and Rebecca. He came into residence at St John’s in Michaelmas Term 1863. He obtained many awards during his studies including the Bell scholarship at the end of his first year of study, Browne Medal and Porson Prize in 1865, the Porson Prize for a second time the following year, Members’ Prize in 1866 and 1867, before graduating BA as Senior Classic in 1867. The same year, he was elected to the Fellowship, and he was to remain a Fellow until his death. He served as a College tutor for 30 years between 1870 and 1900, and as Public Orator for the University between 1876 and his retirement in 1919.
Sandys wrote a number of books on classical subjects, most notably a 'History of Classical Scholarship'. Published in three volumes between 1903 and 1908, it still remains a valuable reference guide. Sandys married Mary Grainger in 1880, was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 1909 and died in 1922. He was a generous benefactor to the College, and also bequeathed a sum of money to the University to found a studentship.

Obituary in The Eagle: Vol. 43, Michaelmas Term 1922, p. 15

Hill, Edwin

  • GB-1859-SJCA-PN30
  • Person
  • 1843-1933

The Reverend Canon Edwin Hill was born in 1843 at the Collegiate School in Leicester, where his father, the Reverend Abraham Hill, was Headmaster. He matriculated at St John’s in 1862 and graduated BA 5th Wrangler in 1866. He was elected to the Fellowship of St John’s in 1867 serving until 1890. During this time he was a Steward 1874-5 and Tutor 1875-1889, before moving to Cockfield, Suffolk to take up the post of Rector. He held that position for 40 years, including a period 1901-19 as Rural Dean of Lavenham. He was made Honorary Canon of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich in 1914 until his death in 1933.

Hill died in June 1933 at home in Bury St Edmunds. He had never married and left a substantial proportion of his estate St John’s College.
Obituary in The Eagle: Vol 48, Mich 1933, p. 67

Robinson, Henry

  • GB-1859-SJCA-PN334
  • Person
  • d. 20 Sept. 1642

Ctizen of Canterbury, [of Monkton, Thanet, Kent, probably the pensioner adm. 1612, B.A.1616]

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