No . 136
The Trusty Servant
Reading the Records – Kirby ’ s Scholars
Suzanne Foster ( College Archivist , 05 - ) offers some tantalising glimpses of College life in previous centuries . Research topic , anyone ?
There is a fair amount of serendipity in my job . Enquiries on one thing very often lead on to something unrelated and unexpected . Kirby ’ sScholars , the edited version of the Registers of Scholars , is a book that I have used countless times but is only recently that I started to notice the number of unusual notes included with some of the entries .
One might expect to find references to boys who have been expelled but possibly not the reasons why . Some are curious because of the detail – Mathew Kyng , Scholar 1581 , was removed from New College in 1593 ‘ for a clandestine marriage ’, and Richard JenkinsRunwa , Scholar 1779 , lost his place at New College because he was caught ‘ climbing over the Meads walls to hear Pitt ’ s maiden speech on the circuit ’. College was evidently a troublesome place in the mid-18 th century as the Register records a great many early departures , plus others who are removed for various misdemeanours such as ‘ insubordination ’, violence towards other boys ( beatings , woundings and stabbings are noted ), rioting , and in one extreme case , two scholars were expelled in 1743 for assaulting and beating theHostiarius .
There are the inevitable early deaths from disease – plague in the 1550s and 1560s is listed as the cause of death of a number of scholars , and there are run of deaths from smallpox in the 1660s . WilliamBanley , Scholar 1516 , went to study in Italy and died of a fever . NicholasSawnder , Scholar 1540 , died in Ireland in the early 1580s of ‘ cold and hunger ’ during his posting there as Papal Nuncio . Perhaps the worst example is the death in 1696 of a former scholar from syphilis , the details only recorded in Latin , presumably for reasons of discretion . And another unfortunate scholar , admitted in 1715 , is noted as being detained in Bethlem ‘ until his mind will get better ’. Poor William Cropp , Scholar 1758 , died from a flea bite in 1761 .
The dangers of exercise are noted – William Abbot , Scholar 1741 , died of a chill after a game of tennis . Falls from horses and gigs crop up a number of times – a former scholar called Thomas Hayward went on to be Warden of New College and sadly died as a result of a fall from his horse whilst on Progress in 1768 .
And there are murders – ThomasTeesdale , Scholar 1590 , was assassinated whilst he was a student at Gray ’ s Inn , and Charles Hacket , Scholar 1677 , is also noted as having been murdered in London . The case of John Collins , Scholar 1742 , needs further investigation as the Register just notes ‘ killed at Richmond in the holidays 1745 ’.
Accidental deaths are common . William Holloway , Scholar 1614 , was killed by his own gun at Oxford in 1621 . There are various deaths from drowning : George Craig , Scholar 1641 , downed whilst crossing the Solent to the Isle of Wight in 1657 , and Thomas Downes , Scholar 1714 , drowned in the Isis in 1729 , and Thomas Lee , Scholar 1738 , drowned in the Thames at Bedloe ’ s Hive on 10 June 1747 . For the unfortunate RichardLydiat , Scholar 1716 , the ‘ cure ’ proved more dangerous than the illness as he died ‘ of James ’ Powder taken for gout ’ - the same fate was suffered by the dramatist
Oliver Goldsmith later in the century . Even more unfortunate was Charles Blachford Mansfield , Scholar 1831 , noted as the inventor ofBenzole , who died after an accident in his laboratory in 1855 . The most unfortunate was poor William Slater , Scholar 1722 , who was ‘ killed in Thames St by the fall of a sack of caraway seeds ’ in 1778 .
Departures and deaths which were the result of religious allegiances are also recorded . Edward Bromborough , Scholar 1545 , was expelled for recusancy in 1545 , as were three other scholars from the 1546 Election Roll . Henry Garnet , Scholar 1567 , was hanged in 1606 for complicity in the Gunpowder Plot .
Some had unusual careers – JohnWaggat , Scholar 1574 , became an iron founder . Robert Pope Blachford , Scholar 1754 , and Richard Smith , Scholar 1735 , didn ’ t need careers as one ‘ succeeded to a fortune ’ and the other ‘ married an heiress in Northamptonshire ’.
Others were adventurers – Edward Turner , Scholar 1620 , died in Virginia , and a scholar called John Langworth died in America in 1692 . William George Pode , Scholar 1849 , travelled but suffered as a result . His entry in the Register says ‘ Entered bank in India , then invalided home ’. Definitely one description which doesn ’ t mean quite what it says !
The homesick and troubled are noted too - Richard Almon , Scholar 1578 , left the same day as he was admitted , and perhaps the saddest of all is a former scholar who died in 1766 ‘ unnoticed by his friends ’.
Many of these entries would merit further research – any offers ?
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