Pembroke College

PEMBROKE COLLEGE

Architectural History

Pembroke College, founded in 1624, was the direct descendant of Broadgates, one of the most important of the medieval halls. Its site is bounded by St. Ebbe's St. on the west, Brewer's St. on the south, St. Aldate's on the east, and Beef Lane on the north. This site was made up of an agglomeration of tenements, some once academic halls themselves, most of which were rented by Broadgates Hall at the time of its decease.

The site of Broadgates Hall was given to St. Frideswide's Priory by Richard Segrim in 1254. (fn. 1) The college possesses only one document dating from the period of the hall, (fn. 2) but a few points can be made out from other sources. It is first mentioned in University records in 1446, when its Principal, William Wytham, is included in a list of those who produced the necessary security for the rent of their halls. (fn. 3) A rental of St. Frideswide's, long perished, but seen by Twyne, has an entry in 1517: 'From magister John Noble, principal of Broadgates, once called Segrene Hall, xxx s; lately xl s; for the future xx s with the burden of repairs.' (fn. 4) The property passed over to Christ Church after the Dissolution, and the rent, together with 6s. 8d. for Abingdon Buildings, was redeemed by Pembroke College for £40 in 1866. A portion of the 15th-or 16thcentury buildings of the hall survives, the refectory, which served until 1847 as the college hall and is now the library. It was a high room, probably with buttery screens at the east end. Until 1709, when a room was built over it to house the library, there was a lantern and louvre in the middle of the roof, to remove the smoke from a central hearth. (fn. 5) In 1620, under the rule of Dr. Clayton, last Principal of Broadgates and first Master of Pembroke, the hall was enlarged by the addition of a transverse at the west end, on which the high table stood, lit by several windows, (fn. 6) some of which were later filled with stained glass by individual benefactors.

The other sites and buildings absorbed by Broadgates are not always easy to identify. Those lying to the west of it left some remains until last century. In the Middle Ages there stood here, between Broadgates and Littlegate St. (now St. Ebbe's), a row of halls; Camby's Lodgings, Minote or St. John's, SS. Michael and James, Beef, Wylde's Entry, and Dunstan. All but two of these had been academic halls at one time. Camby's Lodgings occupied approximately the site of the old Master's Lodgings of the present college. It was a small tenement which in the Middle Ages paid a quit-rent of 4s. to St. Frideswide's. (fn. 7) At the beginning of the 16th century it was owned by John Camby and was not united to Broadgates. The St. Frideswide's rental of 1517 records: 'From John Camby, late John Isbury, a quitrent from a house formerly occupied by mag. Leonard Saye, now by James Souche, having a tenement belonging to Magdalen College on the West, and the hall of the Prior, called Segrene Hall alias Brodyates on the South and East 4 s.' (fn. 8) Anthony Wood, taking this from Twyne without acknowledgement, states that Camby rebuilt the lodgings 'to the end that the Scholars of Broadgates might live in them', (fn. 9) but there is no proof of this statement. After this date it passed through various hands, including those of two Principals of Broadgates (one of whom, Summaster, largely rebuilt it some time after 1596), and was finally bought by the Master and fellows of the new college in 1626. (fn. 10) They repaired and altered it to serve as the Master's Lodgings. The result of these two rebuildings seems, from the prints, to be a lath-andplaster building with an overhanging top story, occupying the site of the later Lodgings, except that it projected slightly less to the north on Beef Lane.

Minot or St. John's Hall which adjoined it was the property of the hospital of St. John, (fn. 11) and so later of Magdalen College. It was known in the hospital as Minot Hall, from the man who had once owned it, but in the University it was called St. John's Hall. By 1519 it was only a garden, (fn. 12) and from 1554 it was held by the Principal of Broadgates. (fn. 13) In 1634 Pembroke leased it from Magdalen (it had formerly been let to one Henry Millward). (fn. 14) In 1781 it was purchased in fee from Magdalen for £18. Wood says that Summaster was the first to make chambers for students in Minot, (fn. 15) and a building on this site certainly retained the name of Summaster's into the 18th century. Till 1844 there existed to the south of Beef Lane, on the site of the present new buildings, two old, detached, gabled buildings, usually called the Back Lodgings. The eastern of these seems certainly to have been Summaster's. Judging from Burgher's print, it was a 17th-century building of regular plan, and the arrangement of its windows gives every reason to think that it had either been built or remodelled to suit the needs of academic accommodation. It contained in 1738 six sets of rooms. (fn. 16)

Next on the west came two halls, St. Michael's to the east and St. James's on the west. We know the Principals of both of them in and before 1470, but not later. They were given to All Souls in 1440. (fn. 17) In 1555 these formed 'a garden where once were two messuages'. (fn. 18) There is no evidence if they were ever used by Broadgates; their lease was obtained from All Souls in 1634, and the rent finally redeemed in 1773 for £12 12s. (fn. 19)

Next came Beef Hall, after which Beef Lane was named. This hall, of which we have Principals down to the year 1514, (fn. 20) was given to the University in 1322. (fn. 21) It obtained its name from Thomas de Beaufo (Bella Fago), who owned it. It seems to have absorbed the site of Dunstan Hall. In 1626 Hutton speaks of it as 'not inhabited with anie scholars, but become the Tenement of some private person'. (fn. 22) By 1637 the lease was in the possession of Pembroke who let it to John Peacock, except for an upper and lower chamber, a cock-loft and a part used as a stable, which was let to John Darby, M.A. (fn. 23) It does not appear to have been used for academic purposes until 1730. (fn. 24) The University sold it to Pembroke in 1872.

The rest of the Back Lodgings, destroyed in 1844, seems to have represented St. James's and Beef Halls. In addition to Summaster's, there was farther west an L-shaped building consisting apparently of two separate parts. (fn. 25) Mr. Macleane thinks it possible that both parts were originally Beef Hall, but more probable that the part farther from St. Ebbe's is on the site of St. James's Hall, and that the small western building, described in 1730 as consisting of two cock-lofts, two chambers, and two low rooms, and called in the contemporary endorsement, Beef Hall, is all that remained of the old Beef Hall. (fn. 26) In the list of rooms of 1738 all that was to the west of Summaster's Lodging was a building with two staircases, one of six rooms, and one of three. These small remains are perhaps all that was left by fire, for the great fire of 1644 may have reached this tenement.

Next to the west was an oblong holding, (fn. 27) about 100 ft. east to west and 150 ft. north to south; at the southwest corner was a hall known indifferently as Adulstan, Wolstan or Dunstan Hall. It was given to the University in 1479. (fn. 28) We have names of Principals until that date, but none afterwards, though Rowse (c. 1491) includes it in his list of halls for legists. (fn. 29) Probably its site was united with Beef Hall. Its lease was purchased with that of Beef Hall. (fn. 30) The north-west corner was occupied by a property, sometimes called Wyld's entry, which belonged to Magdalen. It was leased to Pembroke from 1635 and sold to them in 1781. (fn. 31)

Beyond them, at the extreme west was a small portion of land which in the Middle Ages was waste land, but which was occupied by some small tenements from about 1600 (fn. 32) and was sold to Pembroke by the city in 1897.

To the east of Broadgates Hall the two tenements lying between the hall and Wolsey's almshouses left no trace of buildings. The almshouses were in no way connected with Pembroke until the college bought them from Christ Church in 1888. Immediately to the east of Broadgates was land of Abingdon Abbey, and beyond it land of New College. When William of Wykeham acquired the latter tenement it was bounded on the west by 'land of the abbot of Abingdon'. (fn. 33) In a New College rental of 1480 it was bounded on the west by Broadgates, which shows that the hall had been extended by that time. At the Dissolution Abingdon Abbey was in receipt of a rent of 13s. 4d. for this land from the Principal of Broadgates. (fn. 34) The Crown reduced this to a quit-rent of 6s. 8d., which was given to Christ Church, in addition to the quit-rent of £1 from Broadgates.

The tenement of New College next door was leased to the Principal of Broadgates from 1498 onwards; (fn. 35) the freehold was acquired in 1886. Finally between this tenement and the almshouses was a narrow strip of land which the college rented from Christ Church for 1s. from 1667 until they purchased it in 1773. Christ Church reserved the 1s. rent which by custom was paid to the almsmen (fn. 36) until 1888, when the college acquired the almshouses. This was the collection of lands and buildings which Pembroke either inherited from Broadgates or the use of which it acquired in its early years.

Broadgates Hall was transformed into Pembroke College in a time of rapid expansion. This may in part account for the great building operations, which outdo even those of the 19th century. Already in 1620 money had been subscribed by forty-nine subscribers to enlarge the hall and (as it was hoped) to increase accommodation. (fn. 37) The money was used to add the transverse at the west end. The new endowments which accompanied its transformation into a college and a number of subscriptions made possible more extensive changes. By 1626 the buildings on the city wall had been pulled down and the south side of the existing quadrangle built; while the west side (on the ground floor of which were the kitchen and buttery, and entrance to the beer cellar) was also built adjoining the old hall, and the east side was begun. The old front was repaired and left standing. (fn. 38) No accounts survive of this period of building; which was succeeded by a lull of nearly fifty years. Between 1670 and 1699 there was another great burst of activity in which the quadrangle was completed, the gate tower built, and the Master's Lodgings rebuilt. For these some accounts survive. (fn. 39) The masons were in 1670 first William Edwards and later Thomas Knight, and in 1691 John Townsend, member of a well-known Oxford family of builders, took over and completed the work. In 1670 the east side was completed. (fn. 40) By 1673 the buildings on the north side were half pulled down, and a new side to the quadrangle was rising, which was complete as far as the gate by 1691. In 1694 the gate tower was finished, and in 1695 the lodgings were completed, a fine three-storied stone building encroaching a few feet on to Beef Lane. (fn. 41) The two periods of building in the quadrangle show some differences, but their general plan is typical of college buildings of the period. Two large chambers open off each staircase on every floor, and from each of these several unheated studies or small compartments opened. Though later alterations make decisive judgement impossible, it seems likely that the chambers each served, or could serve, more than one student, and that the part of the quadrangle built in the second half of the century was planned on somewhat the same lines as Byrd's building at New College. (fn. 42) The internal plan of the earlier building is harder to understand.

In the 18th century the only buildings erected were a small library and the chapel. With regard to both, Pembroke inherited a curious position from Broadgates. Members of the hall had gained (originally, it seems likely, with other nearby halls) the right to use Docklington's aisle in St. Aldate's Church for their devotions. When Pembroke was founded it also took over for a library a room over the aisle which had already served as a library of law books, dispersed under Edward VI. (fn. 43) In 1709, however, when Pembroke received a legacy of books from a former master, Bishop Hall, they built a small square room over the hall to serve as a library, still in use as a book stack. The building of the chapel was a more important matter. Even in 1624 the Master spoke of the need of one; (fn. 44) in 1723 Bartholomew Tipping gave £200 for the purpose on condition that work should be started by midsummer 1724, and in 1724 the Master and fellows sent out an appeal for funds. (fn. 45) By means of this substantial gift, a legacy from a former fellow, a subscription, and £375 14s. 4d. provided by the college itself from various sources, a chapel was built and consecrated on 10 July 1732, an excellent example of a small religious building of the early 18th century. (fn. 46) The accounts show the mason to have been William Townesend, son of the mason formerly employed. His estimates survive, the final one dated 20 Dec. 1727. It totals £650; £490 for the building itself (less the surprisingly large sum of £100 if there is no balustrade or parapet on the Brewer's St. side), £80 for carpenter's work, £30 for slating, £35 for plumbing, and £15 for smith's cramping. In addition about £80 was calculated for digging the foundations. Piecework wages for masons were appended. (fn. 47)

The building of the chapel was the first step towards the destruction of one of the glories of 17th- and 18thcentury Pembroke: its three gardens, which lay to the west of the 17th-century quadrangle. The prints of them differ too much to inspire confidence. From the earliest, Loggan (temp. Charles II), they agree, however, in showing three rectangular inclosures. The westernmost was the Fellows' Garden, in which Burgher in 1701 is the first to show a raised terrace running along the city wall to a pagoda or summer common-room at the south-west corner. This was only destroyed in 1869. Next to it was the Master's Garden, and easternmost was the Commoners' Garden, (the name was first used in college documents in 1653) (fn. 48) in which the chapel was now placed. In the 19th-century building all the gardens were destroyed, except a narrow strip along the south wall to the west of the chapel.

During the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars and the years directly following them, no building was done except necessary repairs. Between 1820 and 1827 the hall was slightly enlarged. In 1829–30 the big changes began (fn. 49) when an Oxford builder, Daniel Evans, was employed to face the old quadrangle within and without in the Gothic style, and to raise the tower by a story. The cost of this misguided effort was £2,897 19s. The east side of the quadrangle temporarily escaped, pending abortive attempts to purchase the almshouses from Christ Church, but in 1838 it was finished in similar style for £570 16s. 3d. The mastership of Dr. Jeune saw great expansion. In Nov. 1844 the plans of John Hayward were passed for the building now standing on the site of the old Back Lodgings containing fellows' and undergraduates' rooms and a senior common room. The builders, Daniel Evans and J. R. Symm of Oxford, presented a tender of £5,286 14s. In 1846 it was decided to build a new hall at right angles to the new building, and to use the old hall as a library. Hayward was again the architect, and the tender of a London builder was accepted for £4,677, but extra expenses were sanctioned and the final sum paid was over £6,500. At the same time the Master's Lodgings were extensively altered. In 1869 the kitchen built with the new hall was turned into a servants' hall, and the kitchen and offices at present in use were built to the designs of C. Buckeridge.

The chapel had been fortunate to escape this renovating zeal. It was not 'restored' until 1883 and then fell into gentler hands. In Nov. 1883 C. E. Kempe, the glass-painter, prepared a plan and rough estimate for its renovation, which were passed next year. (fn. 50) It included six good glass windows costing £630. In 1893 two more were added. By 1893 more than £4,000, raised by subscription and supplemented by the college, had been spent, but the restoration was restrained and sympathetic.

With this the 19th-century out burst of building came to an end. In the present century only one big alteration has been made. In 1888 the college, after many attempts, obtained possession of the Wolsey almshouses. The college did not itself make use of them until 1927, when, partly as the result of a tercentenary appeal, they were able to adapt them to serve as the Master's Lodgings, the old Lodgings being turned into sets of rooms for undergraduates.

This building, which largely dates from the early 16th century, occupies the site of several small tenements, which were probably in decay in 1523; one of them may have been the tenement given to St. Frideswide's Priory by Richard Segrim in 1254. (fn. 51) When Wolsey took over the priory's possessions he began to build a house there to serve as an almshouse. (fn. 52) His fall overthrew his foundation, but Henry VIII completed it in a modified form. He included in his collegiate foundation of 1546 a body of 24 almsmen. (fn. 53) He made no provision for a separate lodging for them (his death followed within a few weeks), but they seem by the 17th century to be well established in the almshouse. (fn. 54) Though it remained unfinished, some work must have been done on it after Wolsey's fall if the tradition is true that the 15th-century wooden roof in what is now an attic in the north block came from Oseney Abbey. It became increasingly dilapidated in the 18th and early 19th centuries until in 1834, as part of a scheme for widening the road beside St. Aldate's Church giving access to Pembroke, its front was set back by the demolition of some buildings on the north side, and it was considerably restored by H. J. Underwood. (fn. 55) In 1868 the Dean and Chapter, complaining of the expensive repairs the old building required, got permission to alter the trust and to make allowances to the almsmen in their homes. This change prepared the way for the satisfaction of Pembroke's ambitions.

History of the College

Broadgates Hall, like most of the halls in that neighbourhood, was a legists' and therefore originally to a great extent a graduates' hall, but by the later 16th century it had some undergraduate members studying Arts. In 1572 it had on its books the Principal, one doctor, 34 masters, 10 bachelors, 7 undergraduates, and 11 servants (famuli). (fn. 56) It is difficult to assess the numbers of undergraduates in the early 17th century, just before it became a college, as the evidence is hard to interpret. An estimate made in the Long Vacation of 1612 gives it 62 undergraduate members. (fn. 57) This seems a rather large number in view of the matriculation figures of the last few years—in 1609, 7; in 1610, 21; in 1611, 12—though, as has been pointed out, gentlemen commoners at this period often failed to matriculate. (fn. 58)

On the other hand, the lists which are found in the University Register on the occasion of the nominal election of Principals contain surprisingly few undergraduate names. In 1619 there are 7 M.A.s, 10 B.A.s. and 16 undergraduates. In 1620 8 M.A.s, 11 B.A.s, and 16 undergraduates. (fn. 59) It is true the matriculation figures for the years 1617–20 seem remarkably low. In 1624 when the new college was founded there were 24 graduate and 25 undergraduate members, and in the two succeeding years 37 undergraduates entered and 7 graduates. (fn. 60) At the time it was changed into a college it made no pretentions to specialization in law. This fact made the change from hall to college the easier, as did also the change in the nature of colleges which is mirrored in the College Statutes of the period.

The foundation of the college was due to two benefactions obtained in a strange manner. (fn. 61) Thomas Tesdale of Glympton and formerly of Abingdon, dying in June 1610, left £5,000 in trust to maintain 7 fellows and 6 scholars at Balliol or some other Oxford college, to be elected out of Abingdon School 'if such can there be found'. Six of them were to be chosen from the poorer sort of his kin and seven from Bennett's Poor Children in Abingdon School. After some delay Tesdale scholars began to go to Balliol, but no fellows were sent as it was necessary for funds to accumulate. Provisional arrangements were drawn up with Balliol but nothing final. When, about 1623, Richard Wightwicke, rector of East Ilsley, offered to augment Tesdale's foundation, so that there would be 10 fellows and 10 scholars, all from Abingdon School, the Mayor and Corporation of Abingdon, who were governors of the school, had new ideas, and with the assent of George Abbot, Archbishop of Canterbury, the last of the Tesdale Trustees, they petitioned the king to turn Broadgates Hall into a college, where the 20 students of the Tesdale and Wightwicke foundations might reside. Evidently it was hoped that as Westminster sent scholars to Christ Church, and Merchant Taylors' School to St. John's, so Roysse's School at Abingdon would supply the intellectual backbone of the new college. Letters Patent and a charter of Mortmain dated 29 June 1624 were obtained and read in the hall on 5 Aug., constituting the Master, fellows, and scholars of Pembroke College in the University of Oxford, 'of the foundation of King James at the cost and charges of Thomas Tesdale and Richard Wightwicke'. (fn. 62) A commission including the Earl of Pembroke and other notables, academic and non-academic, was appointed to draw up the statutes. In 1624 they issued a provisional set which they amended and put into final form in 1628. At first sight they seem much like other college statutes, but on closer study it will be observed that they mention no salaries for the Master or anyone else. The fact is that the college had no possessions at that time. At its foundation nobody gave it anything, if we except the Earl of Pembroke, who surrendered the patronage to the principalship of Broadgates Hall, which belonged to him as Chancellor. The Tesdale and Wightwicke funds were not for the college but for certain individuals. Tesdale's £5,000, which had been invested in land, was to supply £20 a year to 7 Tesdale Fellows, £15 a year to two Tesdale kin scholars, and £12 a year to four other scholars, and this with £20 a year to the Master makes a total of £238; this represents almost 5 per cent, on Tesdale's money. The Wightwicke foundation was £20 a year to three fellows, and £10 a year to four scholars, together with £10 to the Master; his gift was a rent of £110 a year for 499 years, after which the estate reverts to the college. It was owing to this lack of income that there was no feeding allowance for the Master or anyone else; the statutes speak of 'commons', but each fellow and scholar paid for his own commons. There were no free chambers, except where a 'foundation' had paid for the building of rooms for the housing of its fellows or scholars. In accordance with this statute Richard Wightwicke in 1628 set aside a sufficient sum to build five chambers, three for his three fellows, and two for his four scholars. It is probable that at some time in the 17th century the Tesdale foundation was able to build chambers for its fellows and scholars, for in a list of rooms made in 1738 there were 17 in all which were free of rent. The Master's emoluments were those of the Principal of Broadgates; viz. the rents of the rooms in the hall, and a share of the customary fees that were paid by a student when he was admitted and when, if ever, he took a degree; in addition there was £30 a year from the Tesdale and Wightwicke foundations. The buildings of the college belonged to the Master; he took the rents and was personally responsible for the repairs, a responsibility which belonged to no other head of a college. In process of time gifts were made to the college as a whole, and the lands held by the Tesdale foundation produced more than £238 a year as rents continued to rise, so that there was a residue which was divided in certain proportions between the Master and the college.

Besides the fellows and scholars the statutes make mention of gentlemen commoners, commoners, battelers, and servitors. A gentleman commoner is described as one who sat at the same table as the Masters and Bachelors; he alone of the undergraduates was allowed to wear his cap in the presence of a doctor; his entrance fee in the next century was 22s.; for a commoner and for a scholar 10s.; for a batteler 8s. 6d.; for a servitor 5s. The position of a batteler is vague, as in other colleges; grace in hall was to be said either by a scholar or a batteler; waiting at table was to be done either by battelers or servitors. Perhaps battelers were scholars who were willing to perform certain menial work in return for advantages. The statutes do not mention the 'bible clerks' who were found in the college in the 19th century. The Chancellor of the University was to be the Visitor. The statutes lay down courses of instruction, such as were customary at that time; but it may be noticed that the lecturers, appointed by the Master, were not paid by the college but by the fees of those who attended, and attendance was compulsory. The college was at first little more than a hall, buttressed by the Tesdale and Wightwicke foundations, but the peculiarities of its early statutes were gradually eliminated, at first by the permission of the Visitor and subsequently by Royal Commissions, until it is now of the same form as all colleges. The two original endowments were supplemented by others with the passing of time. Charles I was a patron. He presented it in 1636 with the living of St. Aldate's, as part of his policy of restoring church property then in the hands of the Crown. He also endowed it to further another purpose he had at heart, the providing of Anglican clergy for the Channel Islands. In 1636, when property in London and at Medmenham, Bucks., had escheated to the Crown, he endowed three fellowships to be held respectively at Exeter, Jesus, and Pembroke, for natives of Jersey and Guernsey. After the Restoration the royal policy was continued by the Bishop of Winchester, Morley, who endowed in 1678 five scholarships at Pembroke, three for natives of Jersey and two for those of Guernsey. Still another royal endowment came to Pembroke when, in 1713, Queen Anne attached a canonry at Gloucester to the mastership, (fn. 63) which was disannexed in 1938.

Other fellowships and scholarships were endowed:—two scholars to study Divinity, under a will of Juliana Stafford of 1629; three Divinity scholars under a will of Francis Rous (1658) who must be either descendants of himself, his brothers and sisters, or failing these be chosen from the upper forms of Eton: two scholars and two fellows to be chosen from his own scholars of two years' standing, endowed by Sir John Bennet (Lord Ossulton) in 1672: (fn. 64) eight scholars to be chosen from the chief school of Gloucester (the Crypt school was chosen) and the schools of Cheltenham, Chipping Campden, and Northleach, under a will of George Townsend (d. 1683); two exhibitions to be chosen from the scholars of Charterhouse in receipt of Sutton's charity, under a will of Dame Elizabeth Holford, widow, who died in 1719 but who ordered that her benefaction should accumulate until sufficient income was obtained, so that the exhibitions were not awarded until 1737; a scholar to be called the Cutler Boulter Scholar, endowed by Edmund Boulter in 1736, to be chosen from his descendants or those of kindred selected by himself (the estate, owing to a dispute, fell to the administration of Chancery and the scholarship was not awarded until 1792. In 1792, by order of the court, a second scholarship was awarded out of the accumulated funds). In 1749 Sir John Phillips founded a fellowship and a scholarship for natives of Pembrokeshire in the first instance, and in default of them for natives of anywhere in south Wales. (fn. 65) Dr. John Ratcliffe, Master of the college 1738–75, endowed by will an exhibition for the sons of Gloucestershire clergy themselves destined for the Church. In 1776 Francis Wightwick endowed by a contingent bequest four fellowships and three scholarships with preference to the name or kin of Wightwick. The bequest came to the college in 1843. In 1846 Mrs. Sophia Sheppard, sister of Dr. Routh, President of Magdalen, endowed two lay fellowships for the study of Law and Medicine. In 1855 Christopher Cleobury, sometime fellow of the college, bequeathed with life interest to his wife benefactions which included a sum for founding a scholarship. This estate came to the college in 1882. A Henney Scholarship, first awarded in 1863, was endowed in memory of Thomas Henney, fellow and vicegerent of the college (d. 1859). In 1889 the last of the Wightwick benefactions was made by Mrs. Dorothea Wightwick, who endowed two or more scholarships, preference being given in the first place to the descendants of her two sisters, and in the second to candidates from Cheltenham College. (fn. 66)

Benefactors not only endowed fellowships and scholarships, but contributed to the expenses of building, the purchase of books, and other useful purposes. Dr. Benjamin Slocock, a former fellow, endowed, in the early 18th century, a Hebrew Lecturership. In 1772 the Rev. Mr. Eaton left an estate at Ludgershall, Bucks., to augment the stipend of one Wightwicke Fellow and of two Wightwicke scholars who were not of founder's kin. (fn. 67) In 1731 the Rev. Mr. Oades left a provision for the payment of sums not exceeding £5 to servitors or battelers of the college. (fn. 68) There were also three important benefactions for the purchase of advowsons to which the college might present its fellows, a type of gift then greatly appreciated by colleges. In 1749, when founding his fellowship and scholarship, Sir John Phillips also gave the college the perpetual curacy of West Haroldston with Lambton, Pembrokeshire, to be held by his fellow. (fn. 69) In 1773 the Rev. James Phipps, sometime Tesdale Scholar, left government stock and properties, chief of which was the lordship of the manor of Temple Cowley and Littlemore, to purchase four advowsons each worth £150 p.a. for the Tesdale Fellows. (fn. 70) Coin St. Denis (Gloucs.), Ringshall (Suffolk), Lydiard Millicent (Wilts.) and Sibstone (Leic.) were purchased. In 1809 Dr. John Smyth, Master 1796–1809, left the reversion of part of his estate to buy one or more advowsons for the benefit of fellows. Brinkworth, Wilts., was bought from Lord Holland in 1830. (fn. 71)

These endowments were never enough to make other than a poor college and its numbers were small. A list of the rooms in 1738 with their rents gives eleven staircases: 1 (Gate Staircase) 2 rooms; staircases 2–5 each 6 rooms; staircases 6 and 7 each 5 rooms; staircase 8 had 6 rooms; staircase 9 (Summaster's Lodgings) had 6; staircase 10 had 6, and staircase 11 had 3, these last two staircases being called B and D Hall, which elsewhere is expanded to Beef and Dunstan Hall. The rents vary from £6 to £2, but 17 of the rooms on staircases 4 to 7 paid no rent and are marked F; we know that 5 of these rooms were for the Wightwicke foundation, and the five scholars of Bishop Morley were to have rooms free in return for a yearly payment of £10 to the Master; but we are not told how many rooms they were to have, perhaps only 2. The other rooms were probably the property of the Tesdale foundation. There remain 40 rooms which paid rent. Probably every commoner had a room to himself, as we know was the case with Dr. Johnson. During the three years 1732–5 the Master received entrance payments from 3 gentleman commoners, 28 commoners, 4 scholars, 6 battelers, and 3 servitors, which is 44 in all, but as some of the scholars and battelers would be of the Tesdale and Wightwicke foundations, and therefore among the 17 rooms which paid no rent, it seems that there would be sufficient rooms for the undergraduates if they did not stay more than three years on an average. (fn. 72)

In the 18th century its business routine became settled. The accounts though complicated and antiquated in their method were fairly adequate for their purpose. What came to be called the 'Convention Books', minutes of the meetings of Master and fellows (the term is used as early as 1730 but was not permanently adopted in the books till 1773), may be said to begin with the 'Register of Pembroke College containing all Acts and agreements of the Society' (Dec. 1712 to July 1779) also called more simply 'Acts of the Society'. The entries after 1772 are scattered, and it is obviously succeeded by the first of the convention books proper, labelled on the cover 'Orders of Conventions, &c., 1772'. Accounts and convention books enable us to see the working of the 17th-century statutes, in which a number of modifications have tacitly been made. The elaborate system of lectures has been simplified. In 1772 three fellows fulfil all that remains of the duties of lecturers and moderators:—one is Senior Moderator, Dr. Slocock's Hebrew Lecturer, and Latin Lecturer; another is Junior Moderator and Greek Lecturer; (fn. 73) and a third is Divinity Lecturer. After 1796 the positions of Senior and Junior Moderator, no doubt only nominal in nature, disappear. On the other hand, the tutorial positions are becoming more official. In 1731 payments for tuition are put on the battels, (fn. 74) the two tutors to be found in 19th-century Pembroke seem already to be in existence, though the expressions 'tutor of the college' and 'senior tutor' both occur for the first time in the Convention Books in 1841. (fn. 75) In 1814 the payments for tuition were raised from an unspecified sum to 26 guineas a year from gentlemen commoners and 13 guineas from commoners and scholars, 'other Colleges in the University taking the same or higher sums'. (fn. 76)

A point of interest is the growth of the common rooms. Nothing is known of the early history of the common-room, except the existence of the garden room. It is clear that until some time after the 1770's, both senior and junior members used the same common-room. It is noteworthy, however, that John Collins, in residence as Tesdale Scholar 1768–71, and as fellow from 1771, pays a common-room fee of £1 1s., but only on taking up his fellowship. (fn. 77) It seems as if the junior members were ceasing to be there on equal terms. By 1795 the separation was complete, for in that year a subscription book was made up for a junior common room, a wine club beginning with eighteen original members who each subscribed £1 1s. to the room and 2s. 6d. to a fund. (fn. 78) They also subscribed for the rent of the room and an allowance for the common-room man. It is not known how early they occupied the older of the two rooms until recently in use; (fn. 79) certainly by 1859. A new senior commonroom had been built in the new buildings, and it seems probable that they took over the room formerly used by the senior members. Until 1920 the junior common-room showed in its unusual organization its origin as a small club.

These internal developments had since the inauguration of the college only been disturbed by one great outside event, the Civil War and Commonwealth. Pembroke was at first strongly Royalist. Under Clayton, (fn. 80) its Laudian Master, it provided many officers for the royal army and melted down its plate as other colleges did. An accident, however, caused it to be affected with peculiar thoroughness by the Parliamentary Visitation of Oxford. Its Master died shortly after the surrender of Oxford. Though a Parliamentary Committee had ordered that no university appointments should be made, the fellows of Pembroke hastily elected Henry Wightwicke as Master. On 26 Aug. Parliament retorted by appointing Henry Langley, one of the Parliamentary Visitors, and himself a Pembroke man, in his place. On 8 Oct. the order was read in Pembroke. (fn. 81) Most of the members submitted to the authority of the Visitors and the new Master, but some, including the Master, Wightwicke, were expelled. Some later made their peace. Others do not seem to have returned until the expulsion of Langley at the Restoration. Under Langley Pembroke became, on the whole, strongly Puritan, and after the short and discreditable rule of the restored Wightwicke, Dr. John Hall, a Puritan but a Conformist, carried on the tradition. (fn. 82) In the 18th century no religious or political movement touched it strongly enough to influence it, for Whitefield's methodism received no more than contemptuous pity. During the Napoleonic Wars it was stirred to some patriotism; (fn. 83) and the hard times moved it to some charity. (fn. 84) The rising prices of this war period obviously necessitated financial adjustments, for the last years of the century are marked by raised fees and charges. No national movement was to affect it again until the Great War.

The 19th century was pre-eminently the era of reform, and Pembroke found itself not a passive victim but an active supporter of the reforming movement. Early in the century it began to show signs that the movement stirring in the University was affecting it. The effects of the new system of public examinations are shown in the resolution of 1818 not to raise any scholar to a fellowship 'who shall have brought discredit upon the Society by having been refused a 'Testamur' at the public examination'. (fn. 85) In 1821 an exception was made if he should subsequently obtain a place in the first or upper part of the second class. (fn. 86) In the thirties, possibly under the influence of Francis Jeune, then fellow (1830–7) and tutor (1828–32) and later a reforming Master, the college refused a number of scholars sent up from the schools preferred in the closed endowments as 'insufficient in doctrine'; for example from Abingdon Grammar School in 1837. (fn. 87) In 1843 Jeune was elected Master after a controversy into which the Duke of Wellington as Visitor entered hastily but from which he extricated himself with credit to his honesty if not to his judgement. (fn. 88) Vigorous internal reorganization of the college began at once, including the kitchen and other expenses incurred by undergraduates. (fn. 89) At the same time Jeune took an active part among the reform party in the University, and in 1850 was appointed a member of the Parliamentary Commission to examine the condition of the University, of which he proved a most active member. Pembroke was, in consequence, one of the colleges most prominent in giving the Commission the information it desired, including a full statement of college finances. The Commission's report of 1852 recommended at Pembroke (fn. 90) the abolition of a number of out-of-date regulations, including the requirement that fellows should take orders, and urged the opening of all fellowships and scholarships (except five scholarships to be reserved for Abingdon Grammar School) and the reduction of fellowships to ten. In the pause that then followed to test University opinion, Pembroke showed its attitude by suggesting even more radical revision of its own statutes, and asked that it might be permitted to carry out its own reform under the control of the Visitor by means of a permissive private act; a request to which Lord John Russell replied sympathetically but guardedly. (fn. 91) On the appointment of the second committee of 1854, of which Jeune was not a member, the college entered into negotiations with them to win their approval of the proposed new statutes. The Commission was not prepared to go so far as the college wished in abolishing closed scholarships, but agreement was thought to be reached before the expiry of the time allowed by Parliament for colleges to make their own reforms. A last-minute hitch about the Channel Island endowments, however, for which the college does not seem to blame, ruined these plans, and Jeune noted indignantly in a memorandum in the Convention Book 'the College has thus lost the credit of effecting its own reforms'. (fn. 92) In the Ordinances of the Commissioners promulgated in 1857 the fellowships were reduced to ten, with possibility of future expansion, and were to be appointed by open examination, except in the case of Professors or other persons of eminence, and were to be 'made accessible to excellence in every branch of knowledge for the time being recognized in the Schools'. Honorary Fellows might be elected. The Sheppard Fellowships were excluded from these arrangements. Celibacy was still enforced, but the obligation to proceed to Holy Orders was removed though a fixed proportion of the fellows was to be in orders. The scholarships were far less drastically altered. There was a good deal of consolidation and reduction of numbers, and the first assault was made on founders' kin, but the preference to schools and localities remained in a great number of cases. Bishop Morley's Scholarships and King Charles' Fellowships (changed into four scholarships and two exhibitions) remained closed in favour of the Channel Islands; five Tesdale Scholarships were awarded, to candidates, if of sufficient attainments, sent from Abingdon Grammar School, and the Townsend, Rous, and Holford benefactions retained their conditions in favour of the four Gloucestershire schools, Eton and Charterhouse respectively. Provision was made for the Master and fellows by a two-thirds majority to amend the statutes, with the consent of the Visitor. (fn. 93)

The changes thus begun made possible the provision of far more adequate college teaching than had been available before. Already in Dr. Bartholomew Price the college had added a Mathematics Lecturer to its teaching staff. (fn. 94) Now a Philology Lecturer and a Lecturer in Law and History were provided, and in Nov. 1863 a fund was opened to pay for 'professional or private instruction for such undergraduates as are fitted to receive it'. (fn. 95) A few months later Jeune resigned on obtaining the Deanery of Lincoln, and Pembroke lost its place in the forefront of reform.

The period of State intervention into the affairs of University and colleges, in particular into their financial affairs had, however, begun, and further changes soon followed. As a result of the Act of 1877 Pembroke drew up a new set of statutes in 1881, which was accepted by the Commission, and although this time their demands were more and not less conservative than those of some other colleges, they bring the college much nearer its present organization. Two types of fellows were recognized, the Ordinary and the Tutorial. The two Sheppard Fellows were alone excluded from either of these classes. Ordinary Fellows were to be chosen by open competition and might hold office for seven years only. Tutorial Fellows were to be not more than five in number and might be chosen by examination or otherwise as the Masters and fellows chose. They were to be elected for ten years and were eligible for re-election. The Ordinary Fellows might marry and need not reside. The Tutorial Fellows must reside and must resign their fellowships on marriage. Honorary Fellows might be elected and Professors and Readers elected to Ordinary Fellowships. Few alterations were made with regard to scholarships, but those reserved for candidates from Abingdon Grammar School were reduced to four and founders' kin was wholly abolished.

Since that date the gradual evolution of Pembroke into a modern college has been unspectacular. Its statutes were once more revised as a result of the Commission of 1922. By these, seven types of fellowships are set up; Professorial, Official (which includes tutors and all college officers who are fellows), Senior and Junior Research, Emeritus, Supernumary, and Honorary Fellows. The two Sheppard Fellowships were at this time amalgamated into one to be used for the study of either Law or Medicine. Conditions with respect to marriage are retained only with regard to the Official Fellows. An Official Fellow must vacate on marriage unless he has obtained the sanction of the governing body, which is not to be granted unless he has served seven years in this capacity, and unless there are at least two fellows, either tutors or lecturers, residing unmarried in the college. (fn. 96) Within seventy years the college life, like that of all colleges, has changed out of all recognition, in organization, in personnel, and in methods and subjects of study.

Seal.

The college used until 1925 what is believed to be its original seal. Oval 3½ in. by 2 in. Within a round arch, inscribed with the words 'Probis Pateo' and supported on fluted columns, and having a portcullis in the tympanum thereof, a seated and robed female figure. In her right hand a medallion charged with a figure on horseback. In the left hand an open book, having on the sinister 6 thongs and surmounted by a crown or coronet. At her feet a shield of the arms of Herbert with the chief thereof charged with the rose of England and the thistle of Scotland, being the arms granted to the college in 1625.

Legend: Sigillum magistri sociorum et scholarium Collegii Pembrochiæ in Universitate Oxon.

Since 1925 an impressed seal has been used bearing the arms of the college.

Plate.

For plate in the possession of the college in 1897 see Macleane, op. cit., Appendix C, pp. 514–15. Since that date there have been numerous accessions including valuable gifts from the late J. S. Compton, M.A. (these include spoons of 1599, 1610, and 1636; a cup of 1656; beakers of 1672 and 1688; porringers of 1671 and 1688; and a tankard and a chased salver of 1692), the late A. T. Barton, M.A. (Fellow), Bishop Mitchinson (Master), and Dr. F. P. Barnard (Hon. Fellow). Mention should be made of a Grace Cup without cover (Wm. Lukin 1699) presented by Sir John Salt, K.C.M.G. (Hon. Fellow), and a Japanese silver cup, bearing the sixteen-leaved chrysanthemum, the crest of the Emperor and Empress of Japan, presented by Sir Conyngham Greene (Hon. Fellow).

Library.

The MSS. in the college Library have been described in Hist. MSS. Comm, vi, 549–51. This account needs to be supplemented by reference to Macleane, op. cit., pp. 44, 215, 275–6, 394–6.

Since 1897, when Macleane wrote, the Library has received an important accession in the correspondence of Sir Peter le Page Renouf (Egyptologist and Assyrologist), which includes autograph letters from Cardinal Newman, Lord Acton, Dollinger, and others.

Portraits.

The college possesses a number of interesting portraits. Among those listed by Mrs. R. L. Poole (fn. 97) the following are worthy of special note: William Shenstone by Thomas Ross, Simon Viscount Harcourt by Sir Godfrey Kneller, and Dr. Samuel Johnson by Sir Joshua Reynolds. There are also portraits by Opie and Lawrence, and a marble bust of Dr. Johnson by Nollekens which is considered a particularly fine example of his work. Notable among the eleven recent acquisitions are a 17th-century painting on a wooden panel of James I (Founder) and Kenneth Green's portrait of the present master of Pembroke as Vice-Chancellor.

Masters of Pembroke College

5 Aug. 1624. Thomas Clayton, M.D.
c. 13 July 1647. Henry Wightwicke, B.D. (deposed by Parliament).
8 Oct. 1647. Henry Langley, D.D. (installed by Parliamentary Visitors).
3 Aug. 1660. Henry Wightwicke, B.D. (restored).
31 Dec. 1664. John Hall, D.D.
15 Feb. 1709. Colwell Brickenden, D.D.
3 Sept. 1714. Matthew Panting, D.D.
23 Feb. 1738. John Ratcliffe, D.D.
26 July 1775. William Adams, D.D.
28 Jan. 1789. William Sergrove, D.D.
28 Apr. 1796. John Smyth, D.D.
2 Nov. 1809. George William Hall, D.D.
26 Dec. 1843. Francis Jeune, D.C.L.
3 Mar. 1864. Evan Evans, D.D.
14 Jan. 1892. Bartholomew Price, D.D.
11 Feb. 1899. John Mitchinson, D.C.L.
12 Nov. 1918. Frederick Homes Dudden, D.D.

Advowsons

(a) Now held by the College

Sibstone, Leicestershire. Bought from the Phipps bequest, which came to the college in 1778.

Ringshall, Suffolk, bought from the Phipps bequest, which came to the College in 1778, united with Battisford and Little Finborough in 1934, the presentation being now held alternately by the college and the Bishop of St. Edmundsbury and Ipswich.

Bury Pulborough, Sussex, with Houghton. Bury was taken in exchange for Coln St. Denys, Gloucestershire, in 1931, the latter going to the Dean and Chapter of Gloucester. Houghton was united to Bury in 1935.

Codford St. Peter, Wiltshire, bought from Lord Holland in 1820, united with Codford St. Mary in 1930, since when presentation is held alternately by the college and by St. John's College, Oxford.

Lydiard Millicent, Wiltshire, bought from the Phipps bequest, which came to the college in 1778.

(b) No longer held by the College

St. Aldate's, Oxford, obtained from the Crown in 1636; sold 1858.

West Haroldston, with Lambton, Pembrokeshire, obtained from Sir John Phillips in 1749, taken over by Welsh Church Commissioners in 1922.

Coln St. Denys, Gloucestershire, bought from the Phipps bequest, which came to the college in 1778; see Bury, supra.

Brinkworth, Wiltshire, bought from Lord Holland with the Smyth bequest, 1830, sold to the Bishop of Bristol in 1927.