ST. EDMUND HALL
Origin
Tradition has long associated St. Edmund
Hall with the site of the house where
St. Edmund of Abingdon (Archbishop of
Canterbury, 1234–40) lived while he was lecturing in
Arts in the University. (fn. 1) It is known that with lecturefees (collecta) received from his pupils St. Edmund
erected in Oxford a chapel in honour of our Lady 'in
the parish in which he resided'. (fn. 2) Architectural evidence
points to the Lady Chapel attached to the Church of
St. Peter-in-the-East as most likely to have been the
chapel which St. Edmund had built. This identification supports the long-standing tradition that St.
Edmund Hall, which is situated on the south side of
St. Peter's churchyard, commemorates in its designation the residence of St. Edmund in a house on its site.
So far as is known, the earliest mention of the hall
under the designation Aula Sancti Edmundi is found in
a rental of the Oxford property of Oseney Abbey for
1317–18, one of the few that survive for the 13th and
14th centuries. (fn. 3)
As an academical hall for the residence of undergraduates, St. Edmund Hall knows no founder, and
consequently received no initial endowment or statutes.
The academical halls that multiplied in Oxford during
the course of the 13th century owed their origin to the
initiative of graduates who voluntarily assumed the
responsibility of renting and maintaining premises
suitable for use as boarding-houses for undergraduates. (fn. 4)
The date of the first opening of St. Edmund Hall is not
known. The occupation of the original part of its site
after St. Edmund's time by three beneficed clerics in
succession may have some academical significance. (fn. 5)
The Oseney rental of 1317–18 which contains the
first known mention of the hall as such also contains
the first mention of a Principal, Mag. I. de Cornubia
or de Eglosfeyl. William Boys, who is entered as
tenant of the same premises in an incomplete rental of
about 1316, may have been Principal, although he is
not so designated. (fn. 6)
Site
Early in the 13th century (fn. 7) John de Bermingham, rector of Iffley, a member of the Warwickshire family of that name, owned the whole of
the site covered by the existing front quadrangle, but
later divided it into four plots, retaining for himself the
one bordering on the lane leading to St. Peter's Church
and giving away the other three, one to the Benedictine
priory of Sandwell, Staffs., one to the priory of Austin
Canons at Wroxton, Oxon., and the easternmost to the
hospital of St. John the Baptist, Oxford. Subsequently
the plot which he retained for himself passed into the
hands of two relatives, Roger de Bermingham, rector
of Enville, Staffs., and his brother, Sir Brian de
Bermingham. (fn. 8) In 1261–2 Sir Brian with the concurrence of his brother sold this messuage to Thomas de
Malmesbury, perpetual vicar of Cowley, Oxford.
Nine years later it was granted in frankalmoin by
Thomas de Malmesbury to the abbey of Oseney, and
thereafter continued in the possession of the abbey
until its dissolution. (fn. 9)
In 1318 the Abbot and Canons of Oseney effected an
exchange of properties in Oxford with Edward II, as a
result of which the site of the hall was extended eastwards by the inclusion of ground that had comprised
the two plots which Sandwell and Wroxton Priories
had received from John de Bermingham. (fn. 10) In the
middle of the 15th century the frontage of the hall on
the lane was extended southwards by the addition of
two small properties. (fn. 11) About 1469 the full extent of
the present front quadrangle was completed by Oseney
Abbey purchasing from Magdalen College a piece of
garden that had previously been rented by the Principals of the hall. (fn. 12)
During the 15th century the provision of more
accommodation in rooms became necessary. This provision was secured by the annexation of two adjacent
halls, first, White Hall, and later, St. Hugh Hall, which
was used as a Grammar Hall. (fn. 13) As the prosperity of
a hall depended largely on its Principal, extensions made
in this way had the advantage of being easily terminable,
since the tenancies were usually annual.
In the reign of James I the site occupied by the little
building which stands beside the chapel at the east end
of the quadrangle became matter for dispute. It was
successfully contended by Mr. Martin Powdrell, innholder of the 'Angel', that the late Principal, Mr.
Thomas Bowsfield, in erecting this building had
encroached on the store-yard behind the King's Arms,
which was rented by him from Magdalen. (fn. 14) Consequently Dr. Aglionby, Bowsfield's successor, was
obliged to obtain a lease of the site. After successive
renewals of the lease the site was bought for the hall
in 1783 from Magdalen by The Queen's College. (fn. 15)
The King's Arms has given place to a dwelling-house,
No. 48 High St., and the store- or timber-yard behind
it to a garden. In 1922 the upper part of this garden
was acquired by the hall from Magdalen.
When in 1680 Stephen Penton, Principal, formerly
fellow of New College, laid plans for the erection of the
chapel and library, he was granted the requisite site at
a nominal rent of one shilling a year by the Warden and
fellows of his former college, 'pro pio suo erga bonas
literas affectu'. (fn. 16)
Until recently the south side of the quadrangle still
remained in alien hands. In 1925 the hall purchased
from Magdalen a small plot of ground in rear of Nos.
42 and 43 High St. In 1934 the sale by The Queen's
College of a plot of ground in rear of Nos. 44 and
45 High St. placed the hall in complete control of the
south side of its quadrangle.
Endowments
As the medieval halls, unlike
the colleges, received no original
endowment, their Principals met
the current expenses of their establishments from the
fees paid to them by their resident members. It was
not until the 17th century that the few remaining halls
first began to receive benefactions for particular purposes, such as the provision of exhibitions. Under his
will dated 20 Jan. 1630–1, Dr. John Rawlinson,
Principal 1610–31, bequeathed to the Principal of the
hall for the time being a quit-rent of £6 a year on land
of his at Cassington, Oxon., 'for the mayntenance of a
Divinitie Lecture'.
Thomas Lancaster, Archbishop of Armagh and
Primate of All Ireland, the first post-Reformation
Principal of the hall, made a will in which he provided
for the foundation of a free school or college at Drogheda, to be called 'Queen Elizabethes Colledge', to
which were to be attached eight scholarships or
exhibitions tenable at St. Edmund Hall. The circumstances under which this will was made—it was
dictated when the primate lay in lodgings at Drogheda,
'crased', it was said, 'and sycklye after his travell thyther'—led to litigation, and his bequest came to nothing. (fn. 17)
The first exhibition to benefit the hall formed part
of a bequest of Sir Charles Thorold, kt., Alderman of
the City of London. Under his will, dated 13 Apr.
1709, Sir Charles made over an annuity of £40 for
99 years, payable to him out of the Exchequer, to the
Ironmongers' Company in trust that the Master and
Wardens should grant eight yearly exhibitions of £5
each to poor students in eight colleges or halls in the
Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, of which St.
Edmund Hall was named as one. During the 18th
and 19th centuries the hall was several times disappointed in the establishment of exhibitions through
change of mind or inadequate dispositions on the part
of benefactors. (fn. 18) Admiration for Dr. Joseph Smith,
newly appointed Provost of Queen's, led the Lady
Elizabeth Hastings to settle on that college the six
exhibitions of £20 per annum which she had intended
to leave the hall. When the time came for Dr. Smith
to make his own will he, fittingly enough, remembered
the hall. After his death in 1756 it was found that he
had left to the Provost and scholars of Queen's the sum
of £700, part of the capital sum of £800 subscribed
by him to the British Fishery, in trust to be laid out by
them in the purchase of an estate held from some
collegiate or cathedral church, the interest on which
was to be used to furnish, in addition to certain awards
affecting his own college, 'two distinct Exhibitions of
£10 per annum each to be settled upon Edmund Hall
for the benefit of two young Scholars who are or shall
be born in the Diocese and regularly bred up in the
Free School at Durham to be enjoyed by them two
years after their taking a B.A. Degree'. Investment in
the British Fishery, which led many others in this
country besides the Provost to expect that 'we were to
supply all Europe with herring upon our own terms',
proved a hopeless failure; consequently this bequest
came to nothing.
In 1855 the Rev. Edmund Hobhouse, fellow of
Merton and vicar of St. Peter-in-the-East, and subse
quently Bishop of Nelson in New Zealand, set aside
the sum of £5,000, part of the patrimony recently
inherited from his father, to form a trust 'for the
maintenance and education or otherwise for the
benefit of ten of the undergraduates for the time being
of St. Edmund Hall'. The trust was made subject to
his revocation. The assistance given by it seems, for
some time at least, to have taken the form of a remission
of tuition fees and, in the case of occupants of certain
rooms in hall which Bishop Hobhouse had furnished,
of a remission of room-rents. On the death of Bishop
Hobhouse in 1904 this trust came to an end.
During his principalship (1864–1913) Dr. Edward
Moore provided a fund for the award of an Organist
and a Librarian Exhibition, each of the annual value of
£24. During his latter years he had at his disposal
temporarily a sum of about £200 a year for providing
small exhibitions of varying amounts ranging from £24
to £10 a year.
When in 1913 the struggle to prevent the absorption
of the hall into The Queen's College had been won, the
college generously agreed to contribute an annual sum
of £300 to the Exhibition Fund of the hall. This
grant, under the terms of the statute, approved by the
King in Council on 21 Dec. 1937, dissolving the
connexion between the college and the hall, will cease
after 1952.
In 1924 the Rev. J. C. Gawthern, who entered the
hall in 1861, gave securities of the value of £1,700,
subject to a life interest, for the formation of an
Exhibition Fund to be known as the Secker Exhibition
Fund in memory of his great-great-uncle, Dr. Thomas
Secker, Archbishop of Canterbury (1693–1768). In
making this gift Mr. Gawthern was prompted by a
desire to make some restitution for the action of a Mr.
Thomas Frost, who married a niece of the archbishop,
in obtaining through the Courts the setting aside of a
valuable bequest which the archbishop made for the
benefit of poor students at the University.
A fund to provide one or more exhibitions for the
assistance of undergraduates of the hall intending to
enter Holy Orders was instituted by public subscription in 1929 to commemorate the centenary of the
birth of Dr. H. P. Liddon (Vice-Principal 1859–62):
it has at present a sum of £1,000 invested. A Bursary
Fund for the assistance of ordinands who have already
completed one year of residence at the hall was formed
in 1928 by the Rev. W. L. Martin, who entered the
hall in 1866, by a gift of securities of the value of
about £800. In 1931 and 1932 respectively two
graduates of the hall, Mr. H. N. ffarington and Mr.
H. C. Ingle, each made a gift of £1,000 for the
establishment of exhibitions. In 1941 Mrs. Dorothy
Little bequeathed the sum of £1,000 for the endowment of a scholarship in classics. In 1944 the Rev. A. C.
Keene, also a graduate of the hall, bequeathed the
residue of his estate for the provision of scholarships.
Under his will, dated 4 June 1763, Dr. George
Holme, rector of Hedley, Hants, and sometime fellow
of Queen's, left the sum of £1,000 to the University
to be invested, until, with the interest, it should amount
to a sum sufficient to purchase the advowson of a
living of at least £200 yearly value, with the object of
attaching such living to the principalship of St. Edmund
Hall. In 1821 the rectory of Gatcombe in the Isle of
Wight was purchased and in 1844 Dr. William
Thompson, then Principal, was appointed rector. In
1913, the attachment of this rectory having been found
inconvenient, an Act of Parliament was obtained
severing the living from the principalship but charging
the emoluments of the living with the annual payment
of a sum of £150 to the Principal of the hall. (fn. 19)
Constitution And Statutes
No example is known to survive of the statutes which there
is reason to believe Principals of
halls drew up from time to time during the medieval
period for the internal government of their respective
societies. Between 1483 and 1490, during the chancellorship of John Russell, Bishop of Lincoln, Statuta
Aularia were promulgated for the regulation of the
halls of the University. (fn. 20) This 15th-century code was
supplemented by Cardinal Pole (fn. 21) and amended early in
the 17th century (fn. 22) and again by Archbishop Laud in
the course of his thorough revision of the Statutes of
the University. The Laudian recension gave place in
1835 to the existing code. (fn. 23)
During the reigns of Elizabeth and the first two
Stuarts the halls underwent periodical visitation by the
Vice-Chancellor. The usual procedure would seem
to have been for the Vice-Chancellor to cause a copy of
the Articles of Inquiry which he had drawn up for his
Visitation to be posted in every hall, and at the same
time to appoint a day on which he would visit the
Principal, scholars, and servants of each hall in respect
of the articles 'to everie whereof true presentment is to
be made by them or such of them, as shall have speciall
charge therefore, in writinge with their names thereto
subscribed'. These Articles of Inquiry, which underwent some little variation at the hands of successive
Vice-Chancellors, were very largely based on the
Aularian Statutes. On the occasion of these visitations
inquiry was always made 'whether the statutes of your
Hall be openlie readde in the presence of all your
house once everie halfe yere': but there is reason to
believe that the statutes thus referred to were the
Aularian Statutes, a copy of which was required to be
kept in every hall for the information of its members,
and not statutes specially pertaining to the hall in
question.
It may be safely assumed that in its main essentials
the constitution of St. Edmund Hall during the
medieval period was identical with that of other
academical halls. A medieval Principal was responsible
for the annual payment of the rent. His tenure
depended upon his depositing with the Chancellor
each year on 9 Sept. a caution covering the annual rent
due from him. He could look to the landlord of his
hall to carry out all necessary repairs, so long as he gave
him proper notification. From the close of the 16th
century the Principals of St. Edmund Hall were
expected to undertake the entire charge of maintaining
the fabric. A Principal made such arrangements as he
thought fit for the employment of tutors to assist him in
the instruction of undergraduates. He had complete
control over the financial affairs and internal economy
of his hall. Down to the end of the 17th century it was
customary for the Principal or a tutor appointed by
him to supervise the expenditure of the undergraduate
members of his society. In all matters affecting his hall
a Principal was free to act on his own responsibility,
and was under no obligation to take his tutors into
consultation.
In 1912 the University made with the concurrence
of The Queen's College a statute 'providing for the
continuance of the Hall as a place of education, religion, and learning separate from The Queen's College,
while preserving the right of the College to appoint the
Principal of the Hall'. (fn. 24) This statute, which was
approved by the King in Council on 11 Feb. 1913,
regulated in certain directions the powers of the
Principal but did not appreciably limit his authority.
After the First World War this statute was revised.
The new statute received the approval of the King in
Council on 25 Feb. 1926. (fn. 25) As the hall, unlike a college,
is not a corporate society, it is not able to hold real and
personal property in its own name. This inability was
common to all the medieval halls. In the case of St.
Edmund Hall, such small benefactions as it had received had been vested either in the Chancellor, Masters
and Scholars of the University or in the Provost and
Scholars of The Queen's College in trust for the hall.
The statute of 1926 provided for the creation of a body
of six trustees.
When, in 1934, The Queen's College generously
acceded to the suggestion that the growth and development of the hall warranted its liberation from the
leading-strings in which it had been held by the college
since the first year of Elizabeth's reign, a revision of
statutes once again became necessary. (fn. 26) Before the
dissolution of the connexion between the hall and the
college could take place, it was necessary to make
arrangements for the transfer of the freehold of the site
and buildings of the hall, which since 1557 had been
vested in the college, and to make new provision for
election to the principalship. This transfer was secured
by a separate statute and by a conveyance whereby the
freehold has been vested in the Official Trustee of
Charity Lands, as Custodian Trustee, thus avoiding
the necessity of a fresh conveyance every time that a
new trustee is appointed.
The election to the principalship has been transferred to the trustees of the hall. Under the new
statute, approved by the King in Council on 21 Dec.
1937, the number of the trustees has been raised to ten.
Their powers have been enlarged so that they now share
with the Principal responsibility in regard to all important matters affecting financial administration and
outlay. With the exception of the site and buildings of
the hall, all real and personal property belonging to the
hall is vested in the University, as Custodian Trustee;
but the trustees of the hall are left free as managing
trustees to decide in conjunction with the Principal all
questions of investment and reinvestment at their own
discretion.
The statute of 1937 was no less radical in the changes
made in the constitutional relationship between the
Principal and the Vice-Principal and tutors of the hall.
Hitherto the Vice-Principal and tutors had had no
constitutional part in the government of the hall.
Under the new statute their consent is required, very
much in the same way as that of the fellows of a college,
in matters affecting 'the internal administration and
educational policy of the Hall'. In consequence of this
closer association of the Vice-Principal and tutors with
the Principal in the government of the hall in so far as
its academical activities are concerned, it seemed fitting
that they should, in conformity with the usage of
colleges, be accorded the title of fellows. It may be
pointed out in this connexion that in colleges a reverse
process has taken place. The title tutor was originally
confined to the graduate members of halls who were
engaged in the instruction of undergraduates. But
when colleges ceased to restrict their attention to postgraduate studies and began to compete with the halls
in the admission of undergraduates, the title of tutor
was accorded to fellows of colleges who undertook the
instruction of undergraduates; and even to-day in
colleges only a certain number of fellows have the
status of tutor.
The statute of 1937 has, in important respects,
approximated the administration of the hall to that of
a college. 'The Principal shall have charge of the Hall',
the statute lays down in its initial definition of the
constitution of the hall, 'subject to the superintendence
of the Trustees and the collaboration of the Fellows.'
Buildings
The original buildings of the hall
were grouped at the north-west corner
of the present site. As at present, the
refectory, with rooms above, flanked the lane leading to
St. Peter's-in-the-East, and at right angles, contiguous
with the churchyard, stood the buttery and the
kitchen, also with rooms overhead. (fn. 27) All expenditure
on the fabric of the hall was carried out by the landlords of the hall, the Abbot and Canons of Oseney.
Entries relating to work done at the hall are to be found
in the surviving computus rolls of the abbey. (fn. 28) During
the principalships of John Thamys (c. 1438–c. 1459)
and Thomas Lee (c. 1459–c. 1470) considerable building operations took place, including an extension at the
south end of the refectory on a site which, as has been
already stated, was acquired for the hall about 1450. (fn. 29)
This extension contained the chambers which, 'being
very ruinous were pulled down', as Wood says, 'by Dr.
Airay, Principal, and those Edifices now standing in
their place (which are on the south side of, and over,
the common entrance into the Hall) were by him, at
his own charges built, and finished about 1635'. The
refectory, too, which, according to Wood, 'looked very
old and ruinous', was demolished in 1659, and replaced by the present one. (fn. 30)
In medieval times the further half of the present
quadrangle served as a garden. (fn. 31) No building was
erected in it before 'about the year 1596', when the
eastern part of the range of rooms that now forms the
north side of the quadrangle was added, Wood says,
by Thomas Bowsfield, Principal 1581–1601. (fn. 32)
Adam Airay, Principal 1631–58, took a lease of the
messuage on which the grammar hall had stood in the
15th century. (fn. 33) After his death in 1658 the lease was
taken over by his nephew, Christopher Airay, a bookbinder, who erected on the part of the site that abuts on
the quadrangle a five-storied building 'for the accommodation of Chambers when those belonging to the
Hall were full'. (fn. 34) In a lease dated 6 Dec. 1683 this
new building, 'consisting of six chambers whereof one
is used for the common room, and the five chambers
have two studies in each of them', is described as 'lett
to Edmund Hall', as are also 'three other chambers of
the tenement of Christopher Mickleton', now No. 42
High St. (fn. 35) Airay's Lodgings, as this new building was
called, provided the hall with the extra accommodation that was needed during the golden period of Dr.
Tullie's principalship, and there is reason to believe
that Christopher Airay intended that they should be
permanently attached to the hall, but died before the
necessary arrangements had been made. It is known
that by Dec. 1694 Airay's Lodgings were no longer
annexed to the hall, but had passed into the occupation
of Ann Croney, widow.
ST. EDMUND HALL
In 1680 Stephen Penton, Principal 1675–84, took
steps to satisfy in one building the twofold need of the
hall for a chapel and a library. (fn. 36) On 19 April that year
the foundation stone was laid by Dr. John Fell, Bishop
of Oxford, and on 7 Apr. two years later the chapel
was consecrated by the bishop with the dedication:
'St. Edmund's Chapel in the University of Oxford.'
Although the chapel had been consecrated, a good deal
still remained to be done before the chapel and the
library were properly furnished. It was not until 1688
that the work was brought to completion by Dr. John
Mill, after ill health had obliged Penton to resign. The
master-mason employed was Bartholomew Peisley.
The original woodwork, carried out by Arthur
Frogley, the leading Oxford joiner of the period, is
still intact in the chapel, but, except for the balustrade
of the gallery, all his furnishing of the library was
cleared away in the early part of the 19th century to
make room for new shelving. The gallery is in itself a
feature of some interest for, as Dr. Streeter has pointed
out, this library was probably the first college library
in Oxford to be furnished on the wall system, just as it
was the last library in Oxford to be furnished with
chains. (fn. 37) In common with other college libraries, the
chains were removed from the books about 1760. The
Principal's Ledger-Book contains two inventories of
the 'Utensils in the Chapell', the one relating to
Penton's time and the other to the first year of Dr.
Mill's principalship. The 'two great brass Candlesticks' on the altar belong to the original equipment. A
silver-gilt chalice and paten were given in 1688 by
James Clavering, an upper commoner of the hall, and
a handsome silver-gilt flagon in 1692 by Henry
Partridge, also an upper commoner of the hall. The
earliest catalogue of the contents of the library was
made by Thomas Hearne while he was a B.A. resident
in the hall. The earliest book-plate for the use of the
library was engraved in 1704. An organ was first
installed in the chapel in 1862. A sacristy was added
to the antechapel in 1931 and at the same time the
organ was rebuilt and placed in an organ chamber
constructed on the north side of the chapel. The east
window of the chapel (inserted 1865) is the earliest
example in Oxford of the work of Sir Edward BurneJones and William Morris in stained glass. BurneJones provided cartoons for all the panels in the window
except the two on the right-hand side, which were
designed by Morris. The rest of the glass in the
window was designed by Philip Webb, who was also
responsible for the general arrangement.
When Dr. Shaw came to the hall as Principal in
1741 he found that it had been 'for many years', to
quote his own words, 'in a ruinous Condition; occasioned as well from length of Time, as for the want
of proper Repair, whenever they became necessary'.
The measures that he was obliged to take for the
restoration of the buildings are set out in the appeal
which he made for funds to help him complete the
work. (fn. 38)
'He was', he writes, 'under an immediate Necessity of
laying out, of his own private Fortune, more than four
hundred Pounds, in order to repair the Chapel and
Refectorium, and in making the Lodgings, together with
one Half of the North Side of the Quadrangle, fit to be
inhabited. But the other, and the much larger Half, having
been built more than 400 years agoe, was ready to drop
down, and not capable of being repaired; (as all the old
materials were found, upon Examination, to be rotten and
decayed;) and estimate was made, the last spring (1746) of
the whole Expence of pulling down and rebuilding the
Same, which was then given in to be, a little more or less,
three hundred Pounds. But as it was presumed, when this
Estimate was made, contrary to what was afterwards found,
upon pulling down, that the old Foundation, together with
five or six foot of the wall above it, would have been of
sufficient strength to have built upon: the above said valuation has fallen short of what will compleat the same, in
glazing, flooring, harthing and plaistering, by upwards of
one hundred Pounds.'
In the reconstruction this half of the north side of the
quadrangle was raised one story and given an elevation
similar to the other half which had been erected at the
close of the reign of Elizabeth. The only portion of
the medieval building that was saved was the open
fire-place of the kitchen, which now forms an interesting feature of the junior common room.
The Principal's Lodgings in the south-west corner
of the quadrangle have been several times enlarged
during the last 150 years. (fn. 39) Adjacent to it, on the site
of Airay's Lodgings, a building containing a new
library for the use of undergraduates was erected in
1927. The rest of the south side of the quadrangle
was completed by the erection of the Canterbury
Building in 1934, in commemoration of the 700th
anniversary of the consecration of St. Edmund of
Abingdon as Archbishop of Canterbury. In 1930 No.
48 High St., and in 1932 Nos. 46 and 47 High St.,
were annexed on 21 years' leases from Magdalen
College and converted to the uses of the hall.
The original well from which the hall derived its
water-supply was reopened in 1927 and a new wellhead erected over it. Down to the 16th century the
water was obtained by windlass and bucket, but
subsequently two lead pipes were inserted in the well
and the water drawn by two pumps, one placed in the
middle of the north side of the quadrangle, the other at
the north-west corner by the Principal's Lodgings.
General History
Under its earliest known
Principals St. Edmund Hall
would seem to have been a
resort for West Country students. When the hall first
appears as an academical hall in the rentals of Oseney
Abbey its rent amounts to 35s.; after the extension of
its site in 1318 its rent was raised to 46s. 8d. If this
latter figure be compared with the rents of other halls,
it will be seen that at this period St. Edmund Hall
ranked with the larger but not with the largest of them.
Owing to gaps in the sequence of Oseney rentals it is
not possible to determine how long the West Country
connexion of the hall continued. (fn. 40) Edward Upton,
who was Principal about 1385, may be identified with
the author of a small treatise on the subject of natural
philosophy, entitled Septem Conclusiones Proportionum. (fn. 41)
An interval divides Edward Upton from Henry Rumworth or Cirencester, who appears as Principal in
1395. (fn. 42) It is during his principalship that White Hall
is first found annexed as a dependent hall at a yearly
rent of 35s. If, again, comparison be made with the
rents of other halls, it may be reckoned that at the close
of the 14th century St. Edmund Hall was capable of
housing about thirteen and White Hall about twelve
students. Rumworth is the first Principal who is
known to have been connected with The Queen's
College. Elected a fellow, probably, in the academical
year 1402–3, he continued to enjoy his fellowship
until 1406, by which time he had ceased to be Principal. Leaving Oxford he entered the royal service, was
rewarded by the deanery of the King's Free Chapel of
Hastings in 1408, and was one of the royal chaplains
who accompanied Henry V on his second expedition
to France. For the last four years of his life he served
Archbishop Chichele as Archdeacon of Canterbury.
His effigy in painted glass is preserved in a window in
the north aisle of the nave of Horley Church, Oxon., a
chapelry attached to the prebend of King's Sutton to
which Rumworth was appointed in 1412. (fn. 43)
If Rumworth's immediate successor as Principal was
William Taylor, then it is Taylor who must be credited
with being responsible for the change whereby the
hall became a stronghold—probably the last stronghold—of Wyclifism in Oxford. (fn. 44) Taylor brought himself
under the notice of the ecclesiastical authorities as the
result of a sermon that he preached at St. Paul's Cross
in 1406 or 1407. After persevering in preaching, in
spite of excommunication, he was eventually condemned for heresy and burned at the stake in Smithfield on 2 March 1423. (fn. 45) The Wyclifite cause had hardly
a less stalwart champion in the next Principal but one,
Peter Payne. (fn. 46) Besides making himself prominent in
the University through controversy with the Friars, he
gained particular notoriety when, in 1406, on the eve
of the new academical year he dispatched to Hus and
his associates at Prague letters testimonial from the
University in commendation of Wyclif's life and teaching, securing—his enemies said, stealing—for the
purpose the common seal of the University. Notwithstanding the efforts of Archbishop Arundel to
eradicate Wyclifite opinions from Oxford, Payne
continued in residence until 1412. By the end of 1411
the University had surrendered to the pressure exerted
by Arundel and framed measures for the exclusion of
all supporters of Lollardry. At the same time Payne's
landlord, Nicholas Bishop, terminated his lease of
White Hall, at the instigation, it may be suspected, of
his enemies. If he was to avoid a martyr's death there
was no alternative for him, as he himself admitted, but
to escape from England. This he did, probably in the
late autumn of 1413, and found refuge in Prague.
During the forty years or more that he was in exile—he died at Prague in 1455—he took rank as one of the
chief religious leaders in Bohemia after the death of
Hus. (fn. 47)
John Darley, Payne's successor in the principalship,
brought the hall back into the paths of orthodoxy. The
connexion with The Queen's College was renewed by
Darley's election to a fellowship in 1421. Ten years
later he vacated both offices and left Oxford for Herne
in Kent, where his faithful tenure of the benefice is
still commemorated by a memorial brass. (fn. 48) With the
accession of John Thamys to the principalship about
1438, the hall grew to be one of the leading halls in
the University. (fn. 49) The additions to the site and the
building operations that took place while he was
Principal have already been mentioned. His annexation
of St. Hugh Hall to serve as a dependent grammar hall
is specially notable, as it would seem to have been the
only one of the five grammar schools then existing in
Oxford to be attached to an academical hall. By so
doing, Thamys appears to have anticipated on a small
scale the arrangement which characterized the new
Magdalen foundation of Bishop Waynflete; but with
the difference that St. Hugh Hall was not a free grammar school, but unendowed and looking, therefore,
to fee-paying pupils for its support. It seems probable
that it was the rapid success of Waynflete's school,
opened in 1480, that brought St. Hugh Hall to a close
during the principalship of Richard Broke. Thamys's
achievement is the more significant as his principalship
coincides with the period during which the medieval
halls may be said to have reached their fullest development.
On his appointment in 1458 to be vicar of Ross, in
Herefordshire, Thamys was succeeded as Principal by
his former pupil, Thomas Lee, who, in his turn, was
succeeded by another graduate of the hall, Richard
Broke. (fn. 50) Under Lee the hall continued to flourish, but
under Broke it began to feel the ill effects of the years
of depression which so adversely affected the University and its constituent halls at the close of the 15th
century. The hall's dependent establishments were
given up, and Broke combined with the principalship
the charge of the town parish of St. Mary Magdalene.
On Broke's death in 1500, after a brief tenure of the
principalship by Humphrey Wistowe, sometime fellow
of All Souls', the hall entered on a new phase in its
history. (fn. 51)
The succession of Thomas Cawse in 1501 brought
the hall into a fresh relation with The Queen's College. (fn. 52)
Hitherto such connexion as there had been between the
two societies had resulted from Principals of the hall—Rumworth and Darley—becoming fellows of the
college; but Cawse would appear to be the first fellow
of Queen's to become Principal. In 1503 he was
followed in the principalship by another fellow of the
college, William Patenson. This combination of
principalship and fellowship does not signify the existence of any formal bond between the hall and the
college; it was typical of a practice, already well
established, whereby fellows of colleges were able to
supplement their stipends at a time when preferment
outside Oxford was difficult to obtain. It also marks
the first stage in the process by which the older colleges
came to open their doors to the admission of undergraduates. On the evidence of the lists of Principals'
cautions entered in the Chancellor's Registers, it may
be estimated that between 1469 and the end of the
century a dozen halls had ceased to exist, and that in
the first quarter of the next century the number had
been further reduced from about 24 to 12. (fn. 53)
John Pyttes, Principal of Magdalen Hall, followed
Patenson; but on Pyttes's appointment as rector of
Shere, Surrey, the sequence of Principals from Queen's
was resumed in the person of John Cuthbertson, a
fellow of the college. (fn. 54) When Cuthbertson resigned,
Miles Braithwaite, a Queen's man, but not a fellow,
was admitted Principal in 1528. In the course of
Braithwaite's principalship the hall was brought for
the first time into official relationship with the college.
About 1531 the college obtained a lease of the hall
from Oseney Abbey, and, thereafter, as the Long Rolls
of the college show, the college received the room-rents
and became responsible for the repairs. (fn. 55) But even so,
the college seems to have had difficulty, owing to the
uncertainty of the times, in finding fellows who would
undertake the responsibilities of the principalship. (fn. 56)
In Nov. 1539 the abbey of St. Mary of Oseney was
surrendered with all its property into the king's hands.
In spite of the efforts made by the college to secure
recognition of its lease, the freehold of the site and
buildings of the hall was sold by the Crown in 1546 to
John Bellowe and Robert Bygott, both considerable
speculators in monastic property, and a month later
passed into the hands of William Burnell, a gentleman
of London. (fn. 57) The Provost, William Denysson, had
particular reason for annoyance, as Ralph Rudde,
whose expulsion from his fellowship he had procured
the previous year, had seized the occasion to assume
the principalship. From this vantage-point Rudde
renewed his attacks on the Provost; but in 1553
Denysson was able to purchase the freehold from
Burnell, thus securing himself and his successors against
the possibility of the hall being used again as a base for
the conduct of hostile operations. So long as Rudde
continued punctually each year to pay his rent, Denysson was precluded by University custom from extruding him; but on Rudde's death in June 1557 he lost no
time in completing his intentions. (fn. 58) On 29 July he
executed a conveyance transferring the freehold of the
site and buildings of the hall to his college, and on 28
Jan. 1559 he received the authority of Convocation to
elect the Principal, subject to conditions to be laid
down by Congregation. On 1 March the same year a
composition was made in Congregation whereby the
right of election to the principalship was vested in the
college, provided that 'henceforth for ever they will
preserve the aforesaid Hall and will preserve it to
literary uses'. This exceptional privilege was granted
by the University in recognition of the good service
which the college had rendered by saving St. Edmund
Hall from conversion 'to uses not agreeable with good
learning' and by undertaking to ensure its continuance
as an academical society. Ten years later the rights of
nomination to the principalships of the five other halls
which survived into the reign of Elizabeth were vested
in the Chancellor of the University. (fn. 59)
Rudde had brought the hall to the verge of extinction. In the census taken of the colleges and halls in
1552 it was returned as comprising, in addition to the
Principal, one graduate, six students, and a manciple,
whereas the numbers returned for the other halls
ranged from 49 to 23.
After the hall came under the control of The Queen's
College its fortunes remained for some years at a low
ebb. Considerable expenditure on the part of the
college was needed to put the buildings of the hall into
repair. (fn. 60) No new Principal was appointed until 1564;
but, even so, the hall at no time seems to have been
entirely without residents. (fn. 61) When the college came
to fill the principalship, Bishop Lancaster, Treasurer
of Salisbury, was elected and was duly admitted by
the Vice-Chancellor on 26 Feb. 1564–5. (fn. 62) It was a
curious choice. Thomas Lancaster had been consecrated Bishop of Kildare in 1549, had been deprived
by Queen Mary in 1554, had lived in retirement
during the rest of her reign, and, on the accession of
Elizabeth, had been appointed Treasurer of Salisbury
and a royal chaplain, and, as Bishop of Marlborough,
acted as suffragan to Bishop Jewel. (fn. 63) He seems to
have managed to combine the principalship of the hall
with his other appointments. In the autumn after he
became Principal he crossed over to Ireland with the
new Lord Deputy, Sir Henry Sidney, and was soon
immersed in Irish affairs. (fn. 64) In 1568 he was appointed
Archbishop of Armagh and resigned the principalship.
He still continued, however, to keep the hall in mind,
and in 1581 broached to Sir Francis Walsingham his
intention of erecting in Drogheda a free grammar
school for the maintenance of eight scholars who were
afterwards to enter Oxford with exhibitions at the
hall. (fn. 65) This project, as has been mentioned above, (fn. 66)
was frustrated as the result of litigation over his will.
The next three Principals followed one another in
quick succession. Nicholas Cooke, a fellow of Queen's, (fn. 67)
resigned within twelve months of his appointment
and was succeeded in 1570 by a former fellow of the
college, Nicholas Pullen, vicar of Aldermaston and
Buckland, Berks., (fn. 68) who in his turn was succeeded in
1572 by a fellow of the college, Philip Johnson. (fn. 69) On
his appointment as domestic chaplain to Archbishop
Grindal, Johnson made way in 1576 for another
fellow of the college, Henry Robinson, who became
Principal at the age of about 24. Under Robinson the
hall gained 'a good measure of popularity'. (fn. 70) When in
1579 the Vice-Chancellor called for a return of
numbers from the halls, the Vice-Principal of St.
Edmund Hall was able to report that there were
thirty commoners on the hall books. As a result of
the appointment of Queen's men to the principalship
the north country connexion of the college was communicated to the hall. One of the first-fruits was
George Carleton, Bishop of Chichester, (fn. 71) a favourite
pupil of Bernard Gilpin, 'the Apostle of the North'
and his biographer, who entered the hall as an undergraduate in the year that Robinson assumed the
principalship. In 1581 Robinson returned to his
college as Provost, and in 1598 was appointed Bishop
of Carlisle. (fn. 72)
In his place Thomas Bowsfield, son of Provost
Bowsfield, was appointed Principal. (fn. 73) Bowsfield, after
graduating from Pembroke College, Cambridge, in
1575, had migrated to Queen's, where he held the post
of lecturer in logic. (fn. 74) In 1578 he had succeeded his
father as rector of Trotterscliffe, Kent. (fn. 75) In the year of
his appointment as Principal he accepted presentation
to an additional living, that of Romney Newchurch,
situate in another part of Kent, and in the following
year he became a prebendary of Sarum. (fn. 76) Reference
has already been made to the new buildings erected in
the hall during his principalship. It is credited to him
by a contemporary, Miles Windesor, fellow of Corpus,
that 'ab ipsis fundamentis aulam suam renovavit'. (fn. 77)
But Bowsfield's zeal seems to have outrun his discretion. At the end of 1600 an inquiry was instituted by
the Vice-Chancellor into his administration of the hall.
He was charged with having raised contributions
towards new building within the hall by obtaining
payments from the manciple and other officers of the
hall in consideration of a guarantee of security of
tenure during the period of his principalship, and by
making other undesirable bargains. Among other
charges it was objected that 'by reason of the often
absence of you the sayde Principall from the saide Hall
especially in the terme tymes there hath bine greate
neglecte of the ordinarie lectures, disputations and
other exercises required by the Statutes of the saide
Hall and of the devoute frequentinge of devine
prayer'. Bowsfield put up a defence, but before the
inquiry closed he decided to settle matters by resigning
the principalship. (fn. 78)
On the resignation of Bowsfield the right of The
Queen's College to elect the Principal was challenged
by Mr. Justice Walmesley who cast doubts on the
validity of the composition of 1559. On his motion
the Chancellor of the University, Lord Buckhurst,
raised the question whether the right of election ought
to belong to the Chancellor, as in the case of the other
halls, or to the college, or to the scholars of the hall
itself. After consultation with the Vice-Chancellor, he
appointed a commission of inquiry, consisting of two
nominees of his own, two of Queen's, and two of the
hall. The commissioners upheld the right of the
college and the matter was allowed to drop. (fn. 80) This
interference on the part of Mr. Justice Walmesley
seems to have been due to a desire on his part to secure
the principalship for his son, Henry, a fellow of
Brasenose. (fn. 81)
Confirmed in the exercise of their privilege, the
Provost and fellows of Queen's appointed one of their
number, Dr. John Aglionby, to be Principal. (fn. 82) Aglionby
at the time of his appointment was a chaplain-inordinary to the queen with the reputation of being 'a
most polite and learned preacher'. (fn. 83) In addition to the
principalship he accepted in 1601 the rectory of
Bletchingdon, Oxon., and in 1607 that of Islip in the
same county, and later received permission from the
Crown to hold a third living along with these other
two, provided that he found a sufficient curate when
non-resident. (fn. 84) As Principal he enhanced his reputation
as a scholar by the part that he took in the translation
of the New Testament for the Authorized Version of
the Bible. 'To the very great reluctancy of all learned
and good men', (fn. 85) he died in 1610 at the age of 43.
During his principalship the number of members of
the hall on the books stood at about 38. (fn. 86)
The Provost and fellows of Queen's lost no time in
electing a new Principal. On the day following
Aglionby's death Barnabas Potter, a fellow of the
college, was elected, but, before he could be admitted
by the Vice-Chancellor, placed his resignation into the
hands of the Chancellor, Archbishop Bancroft. (fn. 87) According to Archbishop Laud, (fn. 88) Bancroft exerted
influence with the college to secure in Potter's place
the appointment of a former fellow of his own college,
St. John's, Dr. John Rawlinson, rector of Taplow,
Bucks. (fn. 89) On becoming Principal, Rawlinson resigned
the living of Taplow, but subsequently he accepted
presentation to the rectories of Selsey, in Sussex, and
Whitchurch, in Shropshire, 'in all which places he was
much followed by his frequent and edifying preaching
and great charity and public spirit'. (fn. 90) His reputation as
'a fluent and florid preacher' received some measure of
recognition by his appointment as a prebendary of
Sarum and as a chaplain-in-ordinary to James I. After
holding the principalship for nearly twenty-one years
he died at his rectory at Whitchurch in Feb. 1631.
The benefaction which he made to the hall under his
will has already been mentioned. (fn. 91)
During this period, as has been stated above, The
halls were subject from time to time to visitation by
the Vice-Chancellor. Although the Articles of Inquiry
issued on these occasions have been preserved, the only
visitation for which complete returns exist for St.
Edmund Hall is that which took place in April 1613. (fn. 92)
Besides the Principal, there were present, on that
occasion, 6 Master of Arts, 3 B.A.s, 8 of the 20
undergraduates who had their names on the books at
the time, the manciple, the butler, and the cook. In
the absence of other documentary evidence these
returns furnish acceptable information concerning the
cost of residence and the regulations in force in the
hall at this date. The respondents to the Articles of
Inquiry reported that all 'our Undergraduates have
tutors' and that only one member of the hall had not
been duly matriculated. Proper provision, it was said,
was made for 'lectures, disputations, theames, and
such like', and 'weekelie corrections' were held in the
hall: but in reply to the question 'whether all Scholars
and Bachilars do speke latin not onlie to the Principall,
Readers and Maisters of the house, but amongst themselves also' it was admitted that 'the bachelours and
schollars are negligent in speakinge of latine'. It appears
from these returns that three of the graduates resident
in the hall were beneficed. A detailed schedule is
given of all the payments to which members of the hall
were liable, and it is noted concerning the fees that
had been raised during the preceding twenty years that
'all these augmentations stand with the consent and
good likinge of the studentes'. Estimate is made that
'our schollars spend in battles ordinarilie 5s., wch summe
if anie exceede he is usuallie punished by the principall'.
The returns are free from any complaints, except that
in 'our dining-hall some windowes and stayres are not
well repayred'. 'All our students in our house', it is
stated, 'are sworne to be true to commons: our allowance of bread, drinke and meate is reasonably provided:
our manciple layeth out readie money: wee have
alwayes single beere: … we have one cooke, one
butler, one manciple, and one bible-clarke who is our
porter: they doe all their duties in their owne persons:
such officers wee have had time out of minde: they came
freelie to their places for anie thing wee know, or have
cause to suspect.' Morning prayer is said daily in
term-time between 5 and 6 a.m., out of term between
7 and 8, and on Sundays and holy days at 8. A chapter
is read at dinner time by the bible clerk and 'heard
with silence'. The gates are ordinarily shut after 9
o'clock every evening, and undergraduates of the hall,
it is affirmed, no longer go into the town without leave
of the Principal or their tutor, as they used to do.
From 1620, when he graduated B.C.L., to 1627,
when he proceeded to the doctorate, there were
lodging in the hall Matthew Nicholas, subsequently
Dean of St. Paul's, (fn. 93) and with him, as a chamber mate,
his cousin, John Ryves, both sometime members of
New College. Nicholas took his lodgings on a 7 years'
lease, 'for which I give £4 fine and £4 yearly rent'—in
his estimation 'too harde a bargaine'. (fn. 94) As Nicholas
says that his cousin 'hath newly resigned his place in
Newe Colledge', it seems probable that their residence
at the hall was in accordance with the practice, not
infrequent at this period, of graduates of one society
migrating to another where they could live more
economically while studying for one of the higher
degrees.
On the day following Dr. Rawlinson's death the
Provost and fellows of Queen's appointed Adam Airay,
B.D., vicar of Sparsholt, Berks., a former fellow of the
college, to be Principal. (fn. 95) This haste on the part of the
college to fill the vacancy was remarked upon by Bishop
Laud, who had been appointed Chancellor of the
University in the previous year. In communicating to
the Vice-Chancellor his confirmation of the election
made by the college he wrote: 'This I am content to do
for the love of justice, without reflection upon the
suddenness of their late choice, which might have been
done with more respect to me and less hazard to themselves.' (fn. 96) Mention has already been made of Airay's
reconstruction of part of the hall buildings in Queen's
Lane, and of his concern for the extension of its accommodation. But with the outbreak of the Civil War the
halls suffered a severe set-back, as they had no endowments to help them through a period during which
the number of students entering the University was
greatly diminished. When war began, St. Edmund
Hall had probably as few undergraduates in residence
as any of the halls, and for a time entries fell off altogether. (fn. 97) Airay's name is apparently not mentioned
in connexion with the Parliamentary Visitation, but it
is to be assumed that he made his submission, as he
continued vicar of Sparsholt until 1653, when he was
appointed rector of Charlton-on-Otmoor, Oxon., also
a Queen's College living. At Charlton he died in
1658. (fn. 98)
Thomas Tullie, fellow of Queen's, was appointed
Principal in his place. (fn. 99) Ten years earlier, when he
was 34 years of age, Tullie was described by Provost
Langbaine as 'a very hopefull young man'. (fn. 100) 'He was
forced abrod', the Provost went on to say, '(for want of
maintenance) during the troubles; & taught schole at
Tetbury in Glocestershyre; after the surrender of
Oxford, he return'd home & repeopled the Colledge
with a new Colony of Commoners to whom he is
Tutor & Reader of Hebrew in the House.' On his
transference to the hall as Principal, Tullie found full
scope for his ability. The hall was depleted in numbers,
as were other academical societies in Oxford at the close
of the Protectorate. One of Tullie's first cares, as has
been already noted, was the reconstruction of the
dining-hall and the rooms above it. (fn. 101) He encouraged,
at the same time, a good custom whereby upper commoners on going out of residence made the hall a
present of plate (fn. 102) or of money for the purchase of books.
In this way a beginning was made with building up a
library of books for the hall. (fn. 103)
Under Dr. Tullie's firm but kindly rule the number
of undergraduates at the hall rapidly increased. By
1662 the annual entry had risen to 20, and, among the
other halls, was only exceeded by that of Magdalen
Hall. In 1667–8 as many as 29 undergraduates were
matriculated. As was customary Tullie held a benefice
in conjunction with the principalship: he was appointed
rector of Grittleton, Wilts., the same year that he came
to the hall. It is noteworthy that several of the under
graduates who entered the hall in his time and achieved
later some prominence in public life belonged to
Wiltshire families, as, for example, William Ashe,
Henry Calne, Sir Thomas Estcourt, Thomas Jacob,
and John Methuen of the Methuen Treaty with
Portugal, all of whom served as members of Parliament. It may be mentioned here, too, that, among the
various distinctions gained by undergraduates whom
Tullie admitted to the hall, two, Sir Thomas Littleton
and Sir Richard, subsequently 1st Baron, Onslow,
became Speakers of the House of Commons. Tullie
was well supported by his Vice-Principal, John March,
who had been his pupil at Queen's and had followed
him to the hall, where he 'became a noted Tutor'. (fn. 104) It
was the opinion of Andrew Allam, who was an undergraduate of the hall under Tullie and became tutor,
and then Vice-Principal under his successor, that the
hall during Tullie's principalship 'flourish'd in proportion to its bigness equall wth any other in ye
University; & this was effect'd by means of ye exercise
of a strict, even, & regular discipline'. (fn. 105) According to
the Poll Tax returns for 1667 the members of the hall
numbered about 65. (fn. 106)
An intimate picture of the life of an undergraduate
at the hall under Dr. Tullie is preserved in the correspondence between John Freind and his father, which
the latter transcribed into a book as a memorial to his
son, who died at the age of 17 in 1673, at the end of
his first year of residence as a commoner. (fn. 107) The
correspondence reveals a closely related academical
family: the doctor 'visiting the schollars chambers as he
did almost every day to observe whether they followed
their studyes', (fn. 108) giving encouragement to John Friend
when he found him in tears because, to quote the boy's
own words, 'I have bene wth my Tutor and my Lecture
is to hard for mee'; the Vice-Principal, the Rev. John
March, the conscientious director of John's work,
whose 'method of studying' Nathaniel Friend found
carefully pasted up in his son's study where he might
always see it; (fn. 109) Daniel Fogg, John's room-mate, who
'being soe much dejected for the loss of my Chamber
fellow' migrated to Queen's after his death; (fn. 110) and, on
the day of the funeral, 'the schollers of Edmond Hall',
who 'were pleased many of them to exercise their
Fancyes & to shew their love to him' by penning verses
and fixing them to his hearse cloth. (fn. 111) John Friend left
careful accounts of all his expenditure, from which it
appears that in his time a commoner of frugal disposition could meet all his expenses in hall for £18 16s. a
year, while his outlay in books amounted to £2 5s. 9d.,
and in clothes to £11 18s. 8d.; and in other necessaries
such as furniture for his room, to £2 9s. 7d. (fn. 112) In
addition there are his travelling expenses and tips
amounting to £1 10s. 6d., and certain 'unnecessary
expenses' amounting to 5s. 10d. including such items
as 'oranges twice, 4d.', 'apples severall times & coffee,
5d.', 'milkhouse 3 times, 7½d.', 'at pye house, 4d.',
and 'seeing a shew, 4d.' In all John Friend cost his
father £37 6s. 4d. during the year that he was at the
hall, excluding the expenses connected with his illness
and his funeral. An attractive glimpse of life at the
hall under Dr. Tullie is also given by the anonymous
biographer of John Kettlewell, the Non-Juror, who
entered the hall two years before John Freind. (fn. 113)
Towards the end of his principalship Tullie's health
began to fail him, and he spent much of his time at his
country parsonage, He had been appointed chaplainin-ordinary to Charles II in 1660, but subsequent
preferment came too late. As a result of the good
offices of Lord Crewe, Bishop of Durham, and Sir
Joseph Williamson he was appointed Dean of Ripon in
April 1675, but, as he himself protested, his was
already 'a crazy body', and in the following January,
before he had been able to take up his new duties, he
died. (fn. 114)
As a successor to Tullie the Provost and fellows of
Queen's by arrangement with the Warden and fellows
of New College appointed Stephen Penton, a former
fellow of the latter college. (fn. 115) Preliminary to his
appointment Penton had resigned the rectory of
Tingewick, Bucks., a New College living, on the
understanding that the next presentation to the living
would be given to The Queen's College. Penton's
chief undertaking as Principal was the building of the
chapel and library, to which reference has already
been made. (fn. 116) In order to raise the requisite funds he
began by selling all the silver plate, to the value of
£187, that had been presented to the hall during the
principalship of his predecessor by members on going
down. (fn. 117) He himself gave generously, and contributions
amounting to a little over £500 were received from
members of the hall, past and present, and from other
well-wishers; but even so, Penton found that he had
over-estimated his ability to meet the full cost of the
building. In March 1684 he resigned the principalship
on account of ill health, and found retirement in the
quiet vicarage of Glympton, Oxon. Thomas Hearne,
who never errs on the side of leniency, writes of Penton
at the time of his death twenty-two years later: 'he
might have had other Preferment if he had pleas'd;
but he always declin'd Greatness, being a truly Honest,
good Man, & an Excellent Scholar, & of so good &
facetious a temper (wth out Reserve) yt he was belov'd
by all that knew him.' (fn. 118) But Andrew Allam, who was
first a tutor and then Vice-Principal under Penton,
thought that Penton's administration compared poorly
with that of Tullie. He complains of his changeableness and liking for experiment. 'In a short time', he
avers, 'we ran after all ye idle whims which could
possibly be hatch'd by ye many labours and throes
of an humersome and peevish brain.' (fn. 119) In particular
Allam was aggrieved at the preference shown by
Penton for 'an inconsiderable set of gentlemen commoners, now his only darling creatures', with the result,
he claims, that, whereas the hall in Tullie's time had
'receiv'd generally 60 and sometimes more of all ranks,
by these means is dwindled into less yn halfe so many'.
The evidence of the buttery books certainly shows that
in 1681–2 seven out of the eleven undergraduates
admitted to the hall were gentlemen commoners. It is
true that a decline in numbers had set in, but other
halls, too, were beginning to experience a similar
shrinkage, and in fairness to Penton it needs to be
pointed out that the decline in numbers at St. Edmund
Hall dates from the closing years of Tullie's principalship. In 1674–5 the number of matriculations had
dropped to 12. Under Penton it rose to 22 in 1676–7
and did not drop below 12 until 1680–1; but by the
last year of his principalship it had fallen as low as 4.
In succession to Penton The Queen's College elected
Thomas Crosthwaite, a fellow of the college; but the
Vice-Chancellor declared his appointment void 'for
his having neglected to subscribe the Declaration
against taking up arms required by the Act of Uniformity'. Elected again by a majority of the fellows,
he was refused admission by the Vice-Chancellor. On
the Vice-Chancellor's action being upheld by the
Visitor of the college, the Provost and fellows proceeded
to a new election and appointed a former fellow of the
college, Dr. John Mill, rector of Bletchingdon, Oxon. (fn. 120)
Mill had the reputation of being 'a ready extempore
Preacher' (fn. 121) and had at an early age been appointed
a chaplain-in-ordinary to Charles II. He had also
attracted the attention of Bishop Fell as having 'a
good warm impetuous Inclination to Studies and
Labor', and at his suggestion had embarked upon 'the
laborious Task of giving a new Edition of the Greek
Testament with various lections'. This great undertaking continued to absorb his attention after he
became Principal; so much so that 'he had not leisure
to attend to the Discipline of the House, which rose
and fell according to his different Vice-Principals'—an opinion recorded by the most eminent of them,
White Kennett, subsequently Bishop of Peterborough.
In a valuation of the headships of colleges and halls
made about this period it is estimated that the principalship of St. Edmund Hall is worth £30 a year at a
time when there are 20 commoners in residence. (fn. 122) To
supplement the exiguous income which the principalship brought them, Principals of the hall, in accordance
with accepted practice within the University, had
since the reign of Elizabeth, as has already been noted,
ordinarily held one or more benefices. The consequent
absences of the Principal had made the post of VicePrincipal a necessary and responsible one. It is evident
that in the 17th and in the two succeeding centuries
the fortunes of the hall depended in no small degree
upon the choice made of Vice-Principal. Hearne
records that on White Kennett's leaving the hall in
1695 on his appointment as rector of Shottesbrook,
some undergraduates migrated from the hall to
Lincoln College, (fn. 123) and he criticizes Mill for taking
'successively three Vice-Principals from other places
viz. Mr. Milles in room of Dr. Kennett, when there
were several of the Hall who would have accepted of
it'. (fn. 124) Hitherto it had been customary for a resident
graduate of the hall to be appointed Vice-Principal,
and it was expected, so it would appear, that the choice
would be determined by seniority. Whatever his reason
for making the change may have been, Mill's action
was the more liable to criticism from members of the
hall, as several of the Vice-Principals and tutors whom
Tullie and Penton had appointed from among graduates
of the hall, were able men who won a good reputation
in other fields. Such were John March, Andrew Allam,
Sir Richard Blackmore, and Thomas Tullie, Dean of
Carlisle, nephew of the Principal. So, too, was White
Kennett, whom Mill had himself appointed VicePrincipal in 1691 and who was the last member of the
hall to be appointed Vice-Principal for many years.
Two of the Vice-Principals whom Mill appointed
from outside the hall, Thomas Milles of Wadham
College, subsequently Regius Professor of Greek and
Bishop of Waterford and Lismore, and Robert Pearce
of Lincoln College, both suffer much disparagement
in the pages of Hearne's diaries.
It is not possible to ascertain how many graduates in
addition to the Vice-Principal acted from time to time
as tutors of the hall: indeed the names of the VicePrincipals during the first half of the 17th century are
not all known. Tutors, it would seem, continued, as in
the Middle Ages, to be chosen from graduates of the
hall who remained in residence for the purpose of
studying for the higher degrees. At the beginning of
Dr. Mill's principalship there appear to have been four
Masters of Arts in residence besides the Vice-Principal. (fn. 125)
Another change made by Mill was the abolition of
the Act Supper. (fn. 126) Hitherto on their inception as
Masters of Arts, members of the hall, in accordance with
long-established usage in the University, had contributed 'to make up a competent Act Supper'. (fn. 127) In place
of the supper Mill required all Masters of Arts to make
an extra contribution of 20s. towards the purchase of
books for the hall library, over and above the payment
of 20s. for the same object which since Dr. Tullie's time
all members of the hall had been required to make on
proceeding to a degree. (fn. 128) On his appointment as Principal Mill lost no time, as has already been stated, in
setting about the completion and equipment of the
chapel and library which his predecessor had been
obliged to leave unfinished.
The reputation of the hall continued to stand high.
'The great Honour I have for your Person, & ye no
less good Report I have heard of ye Discipline of yr
Hall have invited me to send a Son unto you': (fn. 129) in
these terms Sir Daniel Fleming addressed Dr. Mill,
when in 1688 he entered at the hall his son George,
subsequently Bishop of Carlisle.
The correspondence which passed between George
Fleming and his father while he was at the University
furnishes interesting particulars of the life of an undergraduate at the hall during the closing years of the 17th
century. On admission Fleming was placed 'under the
tutorige of the Vice-Principal Mr. Codrington, who
is very sober, civil, diligent, and a laborious man', and
was given by him a lecture in logic daily. (fn. 130) In his
letters to his father he reports from time to time the
subsequent course of his studies and renders detailed
accounts of all his disbursements. During his first year
his total expenditure, including clothing and books,
amounted to £34 12s. 11d., and during the three
remaining years of his residence it rose by about £10
each year. He spent all his vacations at Oxford except
one, and then Dr. Mill wrote to his father expressing
regret that 'we are to part with one of the best and most
exemplary Scholars we have, for a whole Winter'. (fn. 131)
In the year that George Fleming entered the hall the
number of undergraduates matriculated amounted to
10, but only twice again during Mill's principalship,
in 1692–3 and 1694–5, was this figure reached. After
1691 the matriculations each year only averaged about
5. It was particularly unfortunate that Mill should
have been ill-served by his Vice-Principals at a time
when the completion of his edition of the New Testament in Greek was monopolizing his attention. Moreover, in 1705 he was appointed by the Crown a
Prebendary of Canterbury. In June 1707 his great
work was published; but he had overtaxed his strength
and within a fortnight he had an apoplectic seizure at
his rectory at Bletchingdon and died. (fn. 132) Hearne
detested Mill's Whiggism and was quick to note that
in his lodgings alone in Oxford were illuminations to be
seen in celebration of Marlborough's victories; but he
was not blind to his merits. (fn. 133) 'He has left', so runs the
entry that he made in his diary at the time, 'the Character behind him of a Learned Divine, a charitable Man
to the Poor, and in several respects of a Publick
Spirit'. Mill died intestate; but Hearne had reason to
think 'that had he made a Will he would have been a
very great Benefactor to the Hall'. (fn. 134)
The Provost and fellows of Queen's experienced
some little difficulty in filling the principalship, 'none
of the College being willing to accept it, (the Hall
being but thin at present) unless upon very considerable
Terms of Advantage from the College'. (fn. 135) At length it
was arranged that if one of their number, Thomas
Pearson, accepted it, 'he should have the option of a
Parsonage and in the mean time a Pension from the
College equivalent to a Fellowship'. In the following
year Pearson was presented to the living of Sulhampstead Abbots, Berks. Hearne describes him as bearing
the character of 'a modest, good natur'd Man, and a
plain practical Preacher', and remarks on the occasion
of the accession of George I that he was not present at
the Convocation which consented to an address to the
new king. When Hearne forfeited his offices in the
University on refusal to take the oath, he owed it to
Pearson's kindliness that he was allowed to retain the
use of his rooms in the hall. Although Hearne continued
to reside in the hall until his death in 1735, his diaries
have little to tell of what happened within its walls
during those years. His most valuable contribution
is his pithy and, often, outspoken descriptions of
individual members. The hall continued 'thin' throughout Pearson's principalship: the matriculations in any
one year never exceeded five. During the last five or
six years of his life Dr. Pearson was afflicted with 'the
dead palsey' and spent most of his time at his country
parsonage. (fn. 136) His ill health and absence must have led
to a further decline in numbers, as during some of
these latter years there were no matriculations at all.
In Feb. 1722 Dr. Pearson died at Sulhampstead 'a
very poor man'.
His successor, Dr. Henry Felton, rector of Whitwell,
Derbyshire, and chaplain to the 2nd Duke of Rutland,
was a former member of the hall. (fn. 137) He entered in
1696, but migrated to Queen's after graduating B.A.
He had been tutor to the Marquis of Granby, to whom
he dedicated his Dissertation on reading the Classics
and forming a just Style, a book which passed into five
editions but is dismissed by Hearne as 'a meer injudicious Rhapsody'. (fn. 138) He had the reputation of having
been 'an eminent preacher in and about London'.
On coming to the hall Felton, much to Hearne's
satisfaction, did not reappoint Pearce Vice-Principal, (fn. 139)
but, on the other hand, the new Vice-Principal, James
Creed, a young graduate of Queen's, soon showed
himself, in Hearne's estimation at least, unsuited for
the office. (fn. 140) Felton also quickly earned Hearne's
disapproval by the changes he made. The time of
evening prayers was moved back from 9 to 5; (fn. 141) the
time of dinner moved forward from 11 to 12; (fn. 142) fastdays were no longer observed on Fridays; (fn. 143) nor
fritters served at dinner on Shrove Tuesday 'as there
used always to be'. (fn. 144) 'When laudable old Customs
alter', comments Hearne, ' 'tis a Sign Learning
dwindles'; and a few months later he expresses the
conviction that Felton is letting 'all manner of litterary Discipline fall down in Edmund Hall'. (fn. 145)
As in Dr. Pearson's time so in Felton's, matriculations from the hall never exceeded five in any one year,
and during four of the last years of his principalship
there was none. Some undergraduates were admitted
on migration from other societies (fn. 146) —formerly a very
general practice in the University, but one that was
eventually to bring the halls into disrepute in their
final struggle for existence. In 1727 Dr. Felton
considered rebuilding the north side of the quadrangle,
but his project came to nothing. (fn. 147) Outside the hall he
commanded attention by his books and sermons in
defence of Anglicanism, but Hearne's merciless pen
writes him down 'a poor, vain, half-strained, conceited
man'. (fn. 148) In 1736 he was presented to the living of
Barwick in Elmet by his former pupil, the 3rd Duke
of Rutland, and resigned that of Whitwell to which
he had been presented in 1712 by the 2nd Duke. He
died at Barwick on 1 March 1740.
His successor in the principalship, Dr. Thomas
Shaw, a fellow of Queen's and vicar of Godshill, Isle
of Wight, was a man of vigorous personality and
varied experience. (fn. 149) After leaving the University
Shaw had spent thirteen years as chaplain to the English
factory at Algiers. During his residence abroad he had
not only travelled widely in Algeria, Morocco, and
Tripoli, but had also made expeditions into Egypt
and the Levant. While still in Africa he had been
elected a fellow by his college. He had returned to
England in 1733 and in the following year had been
elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. The publication of his Travels or Observations relating to parts of
Barbary and the Levant, in 1738, won for him European
reputation as a scholar and natural historian. In the
year after he became Principal he was appointed Regius
Professor of Greek.
The dilapidated condition in which Shaw found the
buildings of the hall and the extensive measures that
he took for their restoration have already been mentioned. (fn. 150) In addition to his own generous contributions, he enlisted support outside the hall to help him
in meeting the cost. (fn. 151) In 1742 he became vicar of
Bramley, Hants, on the presentation of The Queen's
College, being the first of seven Principals of the hall
who successively held this living in conjunction with
the principalship. (fn. 152) On coming to the hall Shaw
appointed as Vice-Principal a Queen's man, Thomas
Camplin, subsequently Archdeacon of Bath, who left
as his monument in Oxford the Holywell Music
Room, for the design of which he was responsible. (fn. 153)
Camplin was followed in 1747 by Joseph Edwards, of
Magdalen Hall. (fn. 154)
On Shaw's death in 1751 Dr. George Fothergill
was appointed to succeed him. Fothergill, the eldest
son of a Westmorland 'statesman', had entered Queen's
as a servitor in 1722 and had been elected to a fellowship
in 1734. A pleasing impression of his character may be
obtained from the correspondence which passed between him and his family from his undergraduate days
onwards. (fn. 155) The hard struggle that he had during his
early years at Oxford to live on the meagre resources
at his disposal would seem to have left a permanent
ill effect upon his health. He died in 1760 at the age
of 54 and was the first Principal to be buried in the
chapel of the hall.
The Queen's College appointed in his place Dr.
George Dixon who, prior to his election as a fellow in
1748, had 'preferred the labours of a parochial ministry
to the indolent or even literary retirement of a college'. (fn. 156)
The number of undergraduates at the hall, which
under his two immediate predecessors had amounted
on the average to about a dozen, now showed signs of
increasing a little, and that notwithstanding the fact
that the hall was beginning to lie under the odium 'of
there being too much religion there'. (fn. 157) Dixon, a
spiritually minded man of kindly disposition, was
ready 'to esteem religion wherever he found it and to
excuse errors and imperfections where he thought he
discovered truth': but the Vice-Principal, John Higson,
who had been appointed by Shaw a few months before
his death, was a man of violent prejudices. In 1768
Higson complained to the Principal that there were
in the hall several enthusiasts 'who talked of regeneration, inspiration and drawing nigh unto God'. On the
Principal refusing to take action, Higson laid charges
against seven of his pupils before the Vice-Chancellor,
Dr. Durell, Principal of Hertford. An inquiry was
conducted in the hall by the Vice-Chancellor and four
assessors. (fn. 158) The occasion was taken to register official
reprobation of any activities within the University
that might savour of Methodism; and six of the seven
young men charged were expelled. The expulsion of
these six students from the University provoked a
vehement controversy throughout the country. Dr.
Johnson had no doubt that the expulsion was 'extremely
just and proper'. 'A cow', he remarked, 'is a very
good animal in the field; but we turn her out of a
garden.' (fn. 159)
For the next ten years the hall suffered a diminution
of numbers. Dr. Dixon, greatly to his credit, had done
his best to shield his offending students, although he
himself had no sympathy with their Calvinistic
tendencies. As a result of these events his connexion
with the University was rendered 'less agreeable than
formerly'; but, even so, he continued in the principalship for nineteen years more until his death in 1787. (fn. 160)
Within a week of the expulsion of his six pupils
Higson ceased to be Vice-Principal. Edward Bowerbank, who took his place, also proved himself no friend
of Methodism, as is evidenced by his refusal to sign
letters testimonial for the ordination of Joseph Benson,
who had been classical master at Wesley's school at
Kingswood. (fn. 161) Bowerbank and Thomas Breeks, who
succeeded him as Vice-Principal in 1775, were both
Queen's men and fellows of the college. (fn. 162) In 1783
Dixon reverted to an earlier practice and appointed a
member of the hall, Isaac Crouch, to the vice-principalship.
Dr. William Dowson, (fn. 163) who succeeded Dr. Dixon
as Principal, and his immediate successors, Dr. George
Thompson, (fn. 164) appointed in 1800, Dr. Anthony Grayson, (fn. 165) appointed in 1824, and Dr. William Thompson, (fn. 166) appointed in 1843, all of whom were fellows of
Queen's, left the general charge of the hall very much
in the hands of their Vice-Principals. Under the
influence of Isaac Crouch the hall came to be recognized as the headquarters of the Evangelical Revival
in Oxford. He also impressed upon it 'a novel character
for erudition no less than seriousness'. (fn. 167) After holding
office for twenty-four years, Crouch resigned the
vice-principalship in 1807 and was succeeded by the
most distinguished of his pupils, Daniel Wilson, subsequently Bishop of Calcutta and Metropolitan of India. (fn. 168)
Wilson well maintained the tradition that Crouch had
built up: 'amid the traditional College laziness which
Oriel was only just beginning to break up, the Hall
and its virtual Head—for Principal Thompson, like
his predecessors, took no part in the tuition—began to
rank extraordinarily high'. Wilson, in addition to his
academic work, officiated as curate of two villages 16
miles from Oxford, Upper and Lower Worton,
driving out there and back in a post-chaise each
Sunday. In 1812 Wilson handed over the viceprincipalship to his pupil John Hill, who for thirtynine years faithfully kept the lamp of Evangelical piety
alight within the hall. (fn. 169)
The Oxford University Commissioners of 1852
reported that notwithstanding its lack of endowment
the hall 'is at present one of the cheapest places of
education in Oxford'. (fn. 170) In his answers to the Commissioners' inquiries, Hill stated that 'the highest amount
of the bills of any one Member during the year 1849
was 80l. 0s. 5d., the lowest was 60l. 18s. 7d.' At this
date the number of undergraduates in residence was
about 25. Hill, being married, lived out, as had his
two predecessors. (fn. 171) Edward Arthur Litton, who succeeded Hill in 1851, belonged to the same school of
thought: after graduating from Balliol, Litton had held
a fellowship at Oriel until his marriage had obliged him
to relinquish it. (fn. 172)
On the death of Dr. William Thompson in 1853
Dr. John Barrow, fellow of Queen's, was elected
Principal. Very shortly after Barrow's appointment
a petition was submitted to the University Commissioners requesting that 'the appointment to the
Principalship may be adjusted with a view of hereafter
throwing the post open to the University, and also of
securing to the Hall its proper independence'. Public
attention was directed to this request by a pamphlet
addressed to the new Principal by the Rev. George
Hill, a graduate of the hall, which appeared in 1855. (fn. 173)
This pamphlet drew a severe reply from the Bursar of
Queen's, the Rev. William Thomson, subsequently
Provost and Archbishop of York. The petition on
behalf of the hall had, of course, no legal basis, and
nothing came of it; but it is noteworthy as showing
that at that date it was already coming to be felt to be
an anachronism that at every vacancy the principalship
should be offered to the fellows of Queen's in order of
seniority.
The appointment of Dr. Barrow as Principal
brought the hall under Tractarian influences, for
Barrow was a friend of the leaders of the movement. (fn. 174)
His first Vice-Principal was Henry Walford, subsequently headmaster of Lancing: Walford had been at
Rugby under Arnold and encouraged the belief that he
was the 'Slogger' in Tom Brown's Schooldays. (fn. 175) His
second Vice-Principal was Henry Parry Liddon, who
came to the hall in 1859 from Cuddesdon, where he
had been obliged to resign the vice-principalship in
consequence of the attacks made upon him from
Evangelical quarters. During the three years that
Liddon was at the hall he laid the foundation of his
great influence as a religious leader in Oxford, especially
among undergraduates. (fn. 176) On the resignation of Barrow
in 1861, (fn. 177) the principalship was again filled by a HighChurchman, John Branthwaite, sometime fellow of
Queen's and headmaster of Lancing. (fn. 178) When in 1862
Liddon took up residence again in Christ Church, his
place at the hall was taken by Charles Eddy, fellow of
Queen's.
In 1864 Edward Moore, fellow of Queen's, aged
29, was appointed Principal to fill the vacancy caused
by the death of Branthwaite, who was drowned while
bathing in Morecambe Bay. During the course of his
long principalship of forty-nine years Moore made a
world-wide reputation for himself as a Dante scholar. (fn. 179)
At first Moore managed without a Vice-Principal: (fn. 180)
from 1864 to 1869 Thomas Kelly Cheyne, subsequently Oriel Professor of the Interpretation of Holy
Scripture, acted as chaplain and Divinity Lecturer and
was succeeded by Andrew Wallace Milroy, subsequently Professor of Latin at Queen's College, London,
as lecturer. In 1871 George Francis Lovell was
appointed Vice-Principal, and thereafter Dr. Moore
was aided in his administration of the hall by a succession of able Vice-Principals: the Rev. Robert Garland
Plumptre from 1889 to 1893, Mr., subsequently Sir,
Ernest Nathaniel Bennett from 1893 to 1895, the Rev.
Herbert Louis Wild, subsequently Bishop of Newcastle,
from 1895 to 1903, and the Rev. Sidney Leslie Ollard,
subsequently Canon of Windsor, from 1903 to 1913.
When in 1874 the University was once again
subjected to a Royal Commission, Dr. Moore took
a pessimistic view of the future of the halls, as he
considered that the 'unattached students' system
introduced in 1870 would supplant the halls in the
important service that they had hitherto rendered to
'those who desire to live as quietly and economically
as possible'. (fn. 181) The Statutory Commissioners of 1877
were of the same opinion and legislated for the extinction of all the halls except St. Edmund Hall. With the
approval of The Queen's College a special scheme was
provided for the hall whereby at the next vacancy in
the principalship it was to become a dependency of
the college and its membership limited to twentyfour exhibitioners. (fn. 182)
In 1903, when Dr. Moore was appointed to a
residentiary canonry in Canterbury Cathedral and
expressed his intention of resigning the principalship,
The Queen's College attempted to secure the passage
through Congregation of an amending statute under
which the partial union of the hall with the college
proposed by the Commissioners in 1877 was to become
a total union. (fn. 183) Opinion in the University was roused
in defence of the last of the medieval halls and the
statute was rejected by a decisive majority. A deadlock ensued, until Lord Curzon after his appointment
in 1907 as Chancellor, and, by virtue of that office,
Visitor of the Hall, exerted his influence on behalf of
the hall. Eventually, in 1912, as has been already
noted, a statute was made by the University, and
approved in the following year by an Order of the
King in Council, by which the preservation of the
identity of the hall, as a separate academical society,
was secured.
In 1913, with the fear of the extinction of the hall
removed, and with more than forty undergraduates in
residence, Dr. Moore felt free to bring his long tenure
of the office of Principal to an end. At the same time
Canon Ollard, who as Vice-Principal had worked
indefatigably in defence of the hall during the ten
years that its fate was in the balance, also resigned.
With the appointment of the Rev. H. H. Williams,
Fellow of Hertford, subsequently Bishop of Carlisle,
as Principal, there opened for the hall a new chapter
of progress and development.
Library.
St. Edmund Hall owes the start of its
library to Dr. Tullie, who on becoming Principal
instituted the good custom whereby gentlemencommoners, on going out of residence, made the hall
a present of the value of £5 at least, to be expended
either in plate or in books. (fn. 184) It was in this way that
during the reign of Charles II a beginning of the
collection of books was made. It is not known where
these books were kept before the library over the antechapel was erected, but there is preserved among the
papers of White-Kennett, Bishop of Peterborough,
a register kept during his Vice-Principalship with
notes of books borrowed. (fn. 185) In 1920 all modern
books likely to be required for general use were taken
from the Old Library and placed in another room, and
in 1927 found their home in the New Library. The
remaining books in the Old Library were rearranged,
so far as possible, in their original order as catalogued by
Thomas Hearne. (fn. 186)
Dr. Mill was careful that the gifts made for the new
chapel and library were duly recorded in a book of
Benefactors: after his death, in 1717, this good practice
lapsed for a while, but was subsequently resumed.
From the second catalogue compiled about 1776 it
appears that the library then contained about a thousand
volumes. In 1704 Dr. Mill had a bookplate engraved
for the use of the library. It has been pointed out by
Dr. Streeter that this library was probably 'the first
college library to be built on the Wall System', and also
has the further distinction of being 'the last library on
the Wall System built with the idea of being chained'. (fn. 187)
The chains were removed from the books about the
year 1760. The library, containing over 200 volumes,
belonged to Dr. Thomas Tullie, Dean of Carlisle, a
former member of the hall and nephew of the former
Principal, and to Dr. John Waugh, Bishop of Carlisle
(1655–1734).
Plate.
The earliest inventory of silver plate belonging to the hall was made in 1679, when all the plate
was sold to help provide funds for the building of the
chapel. Subsequent to this date a few pieces of silver
plate were given to the hall in the early years of the
18th century, and then followed a long period when
no gifts were made owing to the good valedictory practice instituted by Dr. Tullie falling into neglect.
Portraits.
Since the full description of the portraits
in the possession of the hall was made by Mrs. R. L.
Poole, (fn. 188) there have been given or bequeathed to the hall
the following portraits of interest; all three are in oils:
Dr. George Dixon (Principal 1760–87) by an
unknown painter; Dr. H. P. Liddon, Vice-Principal
1859–62, by H. M. Paget; and Alexander Pope,
ascribed to William Hoare.
Principals
(Where the date of appointment is not known, the
earliest date is given at which a Principal is known to
have been in office.)
William Boys, c. 1315.
John de Cornubia or Eglosfeyl, M.A., 1317.
Robert Luc de Cornubia, M.A., 1319.
John de Bere, M.A., 1325.
… Throp, 1351.
William Hamsterley, 1381.
Edward Upton, M.A., 1384.
Henry Cirencester or Rumworth, B.D., 1395.
William Taylor, M.A., 1405.
Robert Berughdon, M.A., 1408.
Peter Clerk or Payne, M.A., 1411.
John Darley, D.D., 1414.
William Bryton, M.A., 1435.
John Thamys, B.D., 1438.
Thomas Lee, B.D., 1460.
Richard Broke, B.D., 1478.
Humphrey Wystowe, D.D., 1500.
Thomas Cawse, B.D. Admitted 7 Nov. 1501;
resigned 13 Feb. 1502–3.
William Patenson, D.D., 1502–3.
John Pyttes, M.A. Admitted 11 Feb. 1507–8.
John Cuthbertson, B.D., 1527: resigned 19 Sept.
1528.
Miles Braithwaite, M.A. Admitted 29 Sept. 1528;
resigned 24 Sept. c. 1533.
William Robertson, M.A. Admitted 24 Sept. c.
1533.
Ottwell Toppyng, M.A. Admitted 12 Jan. 1537–8.
Thomas Peyrson, M.A. Admitted 21 Sept. 1540.
Ralph Rudde, M.A., 1547: died June 1557.
Thomas Lancaster. Admitted 26 Feb. 1564–5;
resigned.
Nicholas Cooke, M.A. Admitted 23 May 1569;
resigned.
Nicholas Pullen, M.A. Admitted 7 Mar. 1569–70;
resigned.
Philip Johnson, M.A. Admitted 24 Sept. 1572;
resigned.
Henry Robinson, M.A. Admitted 9 May 1576;
resigned.
Thomas Bowsfield, M.A. Admitted 22 July 1581;
resigned.
John Aglionby, D.D. Admitted 4 Apr. 1601; died
6 Feb. 1609–10.
Barnabas Potter. Elected 7 Feb. 1609–10; resigned
before admission.
John Rawlinson, D.D. Admitted 1 May 1610;
died Feb. 1630–1.
Adam Airay, B.D. Admitted 9 Mar. 1630–1;
died 16 Dec. 1658.
Thomas Tullie, D.D. Admitted 22 Dec. 1658; died
14 Jan. 1675–6.
Stephen Penton, B.D. Admitted 17 Feb. 1675–6;
resigned 7 Mar. 1683–4.
Thomas Crosthwaite, D.D. Admitted 4 Apr. 1684;
but appointment subsequently disallowed by the
Vice-Chancellor.
John Mill, D.D. Admitted 5 May 1685; died 23
June 1707.
Thomas Pearson, D.D. Admitted 9 Aug. 1707; died
15 Feb. 1721–2.
Henry Felton, D.D. Admitted 23 Apr. 1722; died
1 Mar. 1739–40.
Thomas Shaw, D.D. Admitted 27 Nov. 1740; died
15 Aug. 1751.
George Fothergill, D.D. Admitted 23 Oct. 1751;
died 3 Oct. 1760.
George Dixon, D.D. Admitted 30 Dec. 1760; died
8 Mar. 1787.
William Dowson, D.D. Admitted 13 Oct. 1787;
died 10 Jan. 1800.
George Thompson, D.D. Admitted 15 Apr. 1800;
died 16 May 1823.
Henry Wheatley, M.A. Elected 19 June 1823; died
before admission.
Anthony Grayson, D.D. Admitted 3 Feb. 1824;
died 6 Sept. 1843.
William Thompson, D.D. Admitted 6 Nov. 1843;
died 15 Sept. 1854.
John Barrow, D.D. Admitted 19 Oct. 1854;
resigned.
John Branthwaite, M.A. Admitted 1 May 1861;
died 5 July 1864.
Edward Moore, D.D. Admitted 15 Oct. 1864;
resigned.
Henry Herbert Williams, D.D. Admitted 29 Sept.
1913; resigned.
Gerald Burton Allen, D.D. Admitted 7 Dec. 1920;
resigned.
George Bernard Cronshaw, M.A. Admitted 10
Oct. 1928; died 20 Dec. 1928.
Alfred Brotherston Emden, M.A. Admitted 17 Jan.
1929.
John Norman Davidson Kelly, admitted 11 Oct.
1951.