Wadham College, Oxford
Encyclopedia
Wadham College is one of the constituent colleges
of the University of Oxford
in the United Kingdom
, located at the southern end of Parks Road
in central Oxford
. It was founded by Nicholas
and Dorothy Wadham
, wealthy Somerset
landowners, during the reign of King James I
. As of 2009, it has an estimated financial endowment
of £66 million and in 2011 ranked 7th in the Norrington Table
.
in 1610, using money left by her husband Nicholas Wadham
for the purpose of endowing an Oxford college. In a period of only four years, she gained royal and ecclesiastical support for the new college, negotiated the purchase of a site, appointed the west country architect William Arnold
, drew up the college statutes, and appointed the first warden, fellows, scholars, and cook. Although she never visited Oxford, she kept tight control of her new college and its finances until her death in 1618.
Notable members of the college in its early years include Robert Blake
, Cromwell
's admiral and founder of British sea-power in the Mediterranean, the libertine poet and courtier John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester
and Christopher Wren
. Wren attended the meetings of scientifically-inclined scholars which were held by Warden John Wilkins
(Cromwell's brother-in-law) in the college in the 1650s. Those attending formed the nucleus of the Royal Society
at its foundation in 1662. Arthur Onslow
(1708), a great Speaker of the House of Commons, and Richard Bethell
, who became Lord Chancellor
as Lord Westbury in 1861, were members of the college. Two 20th-century Lord Chancellors, F. E. Smith (Lord Birkenhead) and John Simon
, were undergraduates together in the 1890s, along with the sportsman C. B. Fry; Sir Thomas Beecham was an undergraduate in 1897, though soon abandoning Oxford for his musical career. Frederick Lindemann, 1st Viscount Cherwell
, who was Churchill's scientific adviser during the Second World War, was a fellow of the college. Cecil Day-Lewis
, later Poet-Laureate, came up in 1923, and Michael Foot
M.P. in 1931. Sir Maurice Bowra
, scholar and wit, was Warden between 1938 and 1970. Among recent members have been Dr Rowan Williams
, the present Archbishop of Canterbury
, author and broadcaster Melvyn Bragg
and novelist Monica Ali
.
The college now consists of some 55 Fellows, about 130–150 graduate students, and about 450 undergraduates. The current Warden is Sir Neil Chalmers
, formerly Director of the Natural History Museum
in London. On June 1, 2011, the College announced that the Fellows intended to elect Lord Macdonald, former Director of Public Prosecutions
, to succeed Chalmers as Warden upon his retirement in 2012.
Under the original statutes, women were forbidden from entering the college, with the exception of a laundress who was to be of 'such age, condition, and reputation as to be above suspicion.' These rules were relaxed over the years, and in 1974 they were altered to allow for the admission of women as full members of college at all levels. In fact, Wadham was the first historically all-male college to have a female student.
Wadham has a reputation for being a progressive and tolerant college. In 1975 the Junior Common Room (JCR) chose to re-brand itself as a "Students Union", becoming the first Oxford College to do so, and for around 20 years the Holywell Quadrangle was semi-officially known as the Ho Chi Minh
Quad. As a protest against apartheid, the students' union passed a motion in 1984 to end every college "bop" (disco) with The Special AKA
's single Free Nelson Mandela
. The tradition continues despite Mandela's release in 1990. Wadham has a thriving sports scene for its athletically minded students, and the Wadham College Boat Club
is consistently one of the most successful clubs in the university.
Wadham also has a reputation as a strong supporter of gay rights, and plays host to "Queer Bop", an annual night of slightly debauched behaviour popular with students of all colleges and sexual orientations. The event provides subtle continuity to the heritage of former warden Robert Thistlethwayte
, who fled England in 1739 after a homosexual scandal prompting the limerick
:
, which served as almost the entire college until the mid-20th century, is also the first example of the "Jacobean Gothic" style that was adopted for many of the University's buildings.
The main building was erected in a single building operation in 1610–13. The architect or master mason, William Arnold
, was also responsible for Montacute House
and Dunster Castle in Somerset
, and was involved in the building of Hatfield House
for Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury
, James I
’s Lord Treasurer. The style of the building is a fairly traditional Oxford Gothic
, modified by classical decorative detail, most notably the ‘frontispiece’ framing statues of James I and the Founders immediately facing visitors as they enter the College. Classical, too, is the over-powering emphasis on symmetry. The central quadrangle was originally gravelled throughout; the present lawn was laid down in 1809.
The hall
, one of the largest in Oxford, is notable for its great hammer-beam roof and for the Jacobean woodwork of the entrance screen. The portraits include those of the founders and of distinguished members of the college. The large portrait in the gallery is of Lord Lovelace
, who held Oxford for William of Orange
during the Revolution of 1688
; the inscription records his role in freeing England 'from popery and slavery'.
Although a ceremonial door opens directly into Front Quad, the chapel
usually is reached through the door in staircase 3. The screen, similar to that in the hall, was carved by John Bolton (he was paid £82 for both). Originally Jacobean woodwork ran right round the chapel. The present stone reredos was inserted in the east end in 1834. The monumental East window depicting Jonah
's whale, top right, was made by a Dutchman, Bernard van Linge, for £113 in 1622. The elegant young man reclining on his monument is Sir John Portman, baronet, who died in 1624 as a nineteen-year old undergraduate. Another monument is in the form of a pile of books; it commemorates Thomas Harris, one of the fellows of the college appointed at the foundation. He died in 1614, aged 20. The Chapel organ dates from 1862. It is one of the few instruments by Henry Willis
, the doyen of Victorian
English organ builders, to survive without substantial modification of its tonal design.
It is thought that the chapel was the first religious building in England to regain its stained glass and statuary following the reformation
.
, probably the oldest building of its kind in Europe. It was designed by Thomas Camplin, at that time Vice-Principal of St Edmund Hall, and opened in July 1748. The interior has been restored to a near-replica of the original and contains the only surviving Donaldson organ, built in 1790 by John Donaldson of Newcastle and installed in 1985 after being restored.
and MacCormac Jamieson Prichard. The college was refaced in the 1960s, and much of the front quad has undergone further restoration work. In July 2011, construction on a new graduate centre began on the college's back quad.
in the 1920s, Wadham Gardens remain relatively large when compared with those of other Oxford colleges. Originally a series of orchards and market-gardens carved out from the property of the previously existing Augustinian priory, their appearance and configuration have been significantly modified over the course of the last four hundred years in order to reflect their constantly-changing functional and aesthetic purpose.
The land was shaped, in particular, by two major periods of planning. Gardens were first created under Warden Wilkins
(1648–59) as a series of formal rectangles laid out around a (then fashionable) mound which was, in turn, surmounted by a figure of Atlas
. These gardens were notable not least for their collection of mechanical contrivances (including a talking statue and a rainbow-maker), a number of obelisk
s and a Doric
temple. Under Warden Wills (1783–1806), the terrain was then radically remodelled and landscaped (by Shipley
) and became notable for a distinguished collection of trees.
Restored and reshaped following the Second World War, the present Gardens are divided into the Warden’s Garden, the Fellows’ Private Garden and the Fellows’ Garden, together with the Cloister Garden (originally the cemetery) and the White Scented Garden.
They are still notable for their collection of trees (specimens include a holm oak
, silver pendent lime, tulip tree, golden yew, purple beech, cedar of Lebanon, ginkgo, giant redwood, tree of heaven
, incense cedar, Corsican pine, magnolia
and a rare Chinese
gutta-percha
) and they still contain a number of vestigial curiosities from the past (notably an 18th-century ‘cowshed’ set into the remnants of the Royalist earthworks of 1642, and a sculpture of Warden Bowra
).
Colleges of the University of Oxford
The University of Oxford comprises 38 Colleges and 6 Permanent Private Halls of religious foundation. Colleges and PPHs are autonomous self-governing corporations within the university, and all teaching staff and students studying for a degree of the university must belong to one of the colleges...
of the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, located at the southern end of Parks Road
Parks Road
Parks Road is a road in Oxford, England, with several Oxford University colleges along its route. It runs north-south from the Banbury Road and Norham Gardens at the northern end, where it continues into Bradmore Road, to the junction with Broad Street, Holywell Street and Catte Street to the...
in central Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
. It was founded by Nicholas
Nicholas Wadham
Nicholas Wadham was the benefactor of Wadham College, Oxford.-Life:Wadham was probably born at Merrifield, near Ilton, Somerset. He was the only son of John Wadham and his wife, Joan, daughter of John Tregarthin and widow of John Kellaway. A biography written before 1637 notes Wadham as attending...
and Dorothy Wadham
Dorothy Wadham
Dorothy Wadham was the wife of Nicholas Wadham and, as his widow, the founder of Wadham College, Oxford.Wadham was the second and eldest surviving child of Sir William Petre, a civil and canon lawyer serving King Henry VIII, and his wife, Gertrude, daughter of Sir John Tyrrell. Her portrait in...
, wealthy Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
landowners, during the reign of King James I
James I of England
James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
. As of 2009, it has an estimated financial endowment
Financial endowment
A financial endowment is a transfer of money or property donated to an institution. The total value of an institution's investments is often referred to as the institution's endowment and is typically organized as a public charity, private foundation, or trust....
of £66 million and in 2011 ranked 7th in the Norrington Table
Norrington Table
The Norrington Table is an annual ranking that lists the colleges of the University of Oxford that have undergraduate students in order of the performance of their undergraduate students on that year's final examinations.- Overview :...
.
History
The college was founded by Dorothy WadhamDorothy Wadham
Dorothy Wadham was the wife of Nicholas Wadham and, as his widow, the founder of Wadham College, Oxford.Wadham was the second and eldest surviving child of Sir William Petre, a civil and canon lawyer serving King Henry VIII, and his wife, Gertrude, daughter of Sir John Tyrrell. Her portrait in...
in 1610, using money left by her husband Nicholas Wadham
Nicholas Wadham
Nicholas Wadham was the benefactor of Wadham College, Oxford.-Life:Wadham was probably born at Merrifield, near Ilton, Somerset. He was the only son of John Wadham and his wife, Joan, daughter of John Tregarthin and widow of John Kellaway. A biography written before 1637 notes Wadham as attending...
for the purpose of endowing an Oxford college. In a period of only four years, she gained royal and ecclesiastical support for the new college, negotiated the purchase of a site, appointed the west country architect William Arnold
William Arnold (architect)
William Arnold was an important master mason in Somerset, England.Little is known about him, but he is known to have been living in Charlton Musgrove near Wincanton in 1595 where he was church warden. His first known commission was for the design of Montacute House in c1598...
, drew up the college statutes, and appointed the first warden, fellows, scholars, and cook. Although she never visited Oxford, she kept tight control of her new college and its finances until her death in 1618.
Robert Blake (admiral)
Robert Blake was one of the most important military commanders of the Commonwealth of England and one of the most famous English admirals of the 17th century. Blake is recognised as the chief founder of England's naval supremacy, a dominance subsequently inherited by the British Royal Navy into...
, Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....
's admiral and founder of British sea-power in the Mediterranean, the libertine poet and courtier John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester
John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester
John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester , styled Viscount Wilmot between 1652 and 1658, was an English Libertine poet, a friend of King Charles II, and the writer of much satirical and bawdy poetry. He was the toast of the Restoration court and a patron of the arts...
and Christopher Wren
Christopher Wren
Sir Christopher Wren FRS is one of the most highly acclaimed English architects in history.He used to be accorded responsibility for rebuilding 51 churches in the City of London after the Great Fire in 1666, including his masterpiece, St. Paul's Cathedral, on Ludgate Hill, completed in 1710...
. Wren attended the meetings of scientifically-inclined scholars which were held by Warden John Wilkins
John Wilkins
John Wilkins FRS was an English clergyman, natural philosopher and author, as well as a founder of the Invisible College and one of the founders of the Royal Society, and Bishop of Chester from 1668 until his death....
(Cromwell's brother-in-law) in the college in the 1650s. Those attending formed the nucleus of the Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
at its foundation in 1662. Arthur Onslow
Arthur Onslow
Arthur Onslow was an English politician. He set a record for length of service when repeatedly elected to serve as Speaker of the House of Commons, where he was known for his integrity.-Early life and education:...
(1708), a great Speaker of the House of Commons, and Richard Bethell
Richard Bethell, 1st Baron Westbury
Richard Bethell, 1st Baron Westbury PC, QC , was a British lawyer, judge and Liberal politician. He served as Lord Chancellor of Great Britain between 1861 and 1865.-Background and education:...
, who became Lord Chancellor
Lord Chancellor
The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor, is a senior and important functionary in the government of the United Kingdom. He is the second highest ranking of the Great Officers of State, ranking only after the Lord High Steward. The Lord Chancellor is appointed by the Sovereign...
as Lord Westbury in 1861, were members of the college. Two 20th-century Lord Chancellors, F. E. Smith (Lord Birkenhead) and John Simon
John Simon, 1st Viscount Simon
John Allsebrook Simon, 1st Viscount Simon GCSI GCVO OBE PC was a British politician who held senior Cabinet posts from the beginning of the First World War to the end of the Second. He is one of only three people to have served as Home Secretary, Foreign Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer,...
, were undergraduates together in the 1890s, along with the sportsman C. B. Fry; Sir Thomas Beecham was an undergraduate in 1897, though soon abandoning Oxford for his musical career. Frederick Lindemann, 1st Viscount Cherwell
Frederick Lindemann, 1st Viscount Cherwell
Frederick Alexander Lindemann, 1st Viscount Cherwell FRS PC CH was an English physicist who was an influential scientific adviser to the British government, particularly Winston Churchill...
, who was Churchill's scientific adviser during the Second World War, was a fellow of the college. Cecil Day-Lewis
Cecil Day-Lewis
Cecil Day-Lewis CBE was an Irish poet and the Poet Laureate from 1968 until his death in 1972. He also wrote mystery stories under the pseudonym of Nicholas Blake...
, later Poet-Laureate, came up in 1923, and Michael Foot
Michael Foot
Michael Mackintosh Foot, FRSL, PC was a British Labour Party politician, journalist and author, who was a Member of Parliament from 1945 to 1955 and from 1960 until 1992...
M.P. in 1931. Sir Maurice Bowra
Maurice Bowra
Sir Cecil Maurice Bowra was an English classical scholar and academic, known for his wit. He was Warden of Wadham College, Oxford, from 1938 to 1970, and served as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford from 1951 to 1954.-Birth and boyhood:...
, scholar and wit, was Warden between 1938 and 1970. Among recent members have been Dr Rowan Williams
Rowan Williams
Rowan Douglas Williams FRSL, FBA, FLSW is an Anglican bishop, poet and theologian. He is the 104th and current Archbishop of Canterbury, Metropolitan of the Province of Canterbury and Primate of All England, offices he has held since early 2003.Williams was previously Bishop of Monmouth and...
, the present Archbishop of Canterbury
Archbishop of Canterbury
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
, author and broadcaster Melvyn Bragg
Melvyn Bragg
Melvyn Bragg, Baron Bragg FRSL FRTS FBA, FRS FRSA is an English broadcaster and author best known for his work with the BBC and for presenting the The South Bank Show...
and novelist Monica Ali
Monica Ali
Monica Ali is a British writer of Bangladeshi origin. She is the author of Brick Lane, her debut novel, which was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize for Fiction in 2003...
.
The college now consists of some 55 Fellows, about 130–150 graduate students, and about 450 undergraduates. The current Warden is Sir Neil Chalmers
Neil Chalmers
Sir Neil Chalmers, formerly Director of the Natural History Museum in London, is Warden of Wadham College, Oxford.Neil Chalmers was educated at King's College School, Magdalen College, Oxford, and St John's College, Cambridge....
, formerly Director of the Natural History Museum
Natural History Museum
The Natural History Museum is one of three large museums on Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London, England . Its main frontage is on Cromwell Road...
in London. On June 1, 2011, the College announced that the Fellows intended to elect Lord Macdonald, former Director of Public Prosecutions
Director of Public Prosecutions (England and Wales)
The Director of Public Prosecutions of England and Wales is a senior prosecutor, appointed by the Attorney General. First created in 1879, the office was unified with that of the Treasury Solicitor less than a decade later before again becoming independent in 1908...
, to succeed Chalmers as Warden upon his retirement in 2012.
Under the original statutes, women were forbidden from entering the college, with the exception of a laundress who was to be of 'such age, condition, and reputation as to be above suspicion.' These rules were relaxed over the years, and in 1974 they were altered to allow for the admission of women as full members of college at all levels. In fact, Wadham was the first historically all-male college to have a female student.
Wadham has a reputation for being a progressive and tolerant college. In 1975 the Junior Common Room (JCR) chose to re-brand itself as a "Students Union", becoming the first Oxford College to do so, and for around 20 years the Holywell Quadrangle was semi-officially known as the Ho Chi Minh
Ho Chi Minh
Hồ Chí Minh , born Nguyễn Sinh Cung and also known as Nguyễn Ái Quốc, was a Vietnamese Marxist-Leninist revolutionary leader who was prime minister and president of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam...
Quad. As a protest against apartheid, the students' union passed a motion in 1984 to end every college "bop" (disco) with The Special AKA
The Specials
The Specials are an English 2 Tone ska revival band formed in 1977 in Coventry, England. Their music combines a "danceable ska and rocksteady beat with punk's energy and attitude", and had a "more focused and informed political and social stance" than other ska groups...
's single Free Nelson Mandela
Free Nelson Mandela
"Nelson Mandela" is a song written by Jerry Dammers and performed by his Coventry-based band The Special A.K.A. - with lead vocal by Stan Campbell - released on the single Nelson Mandela / Break Down The Door in 1984 as a protest against the imprisonment of Nelson Mandela...
. The tradition continues despite Mandela's release in 1990. Wadham has a thriving sports scene for its athletically minded students, and the Wadham College Boat Club
Wadham College Boat Club
Wadham College Boat Club is the rowing club of Wadham College, Oxford in Oxford, United Kingdom. The club's members are students and staff from Wadham College and Harris Manchester College. Founded some time before 1837, Wadham has had great success both within Oxford and externally in regattas...
is consistently one of the most successful clubs in the university.
Wadham also has a reputation as a strong supporter of gay rights, and plays host to "Queer Bop", an annual night of slightly debauched behaviour popular with students of all colleges and sexual orientations. The event provides subtle continuity to the heritage of former warden Robert Thistlethwayte
Robert Thistlethwayte
Robert Thistlethwayte was a warden of Wadham College, Oxford and clergyman in the Church of England....
, who fled England in 1739 after a homosexual scandal prompting the limerick
Limerick
Limerick is the third largest city in the Republic of Ireland, and the principal city of County Limerick and Ireland's Mid-West Region. It is the fifth most populous city in all of Ireland. When taking the extra-municipal suburbs into account, Limerick is the third largest conurbation in the...
:
-
- There once was a Warden of Wadham
- Who approved of the folkways of Sodom,
- For a man might, he said,
- Have a very poor head
- But be a fine Fellow at bottom.
Main quad
Although it is one of the youngest of the historic colleges, Wadham has some of the oldest and best preserved buildings, a result of the rash of rebuilding that occurred throughout Oxford during the 17th century. It is often considered as perhaps the last major English public building to be created according to the mediaeval tradition of the master mason. Wadham's front quadQuadrangle (architecture)
In architecture, a quadrangle is a space or courtyard, usually rectangular in plan, the sides of which are entirely or mainly occupied by parts of a large building. The word is probably most closely associated with college or university campus architecture, but quadrangles may be found in other...
, which served as almost the entire college until the mid-20th century, is also the first example of the "Jacobean Gothic" style that was adopted for many of the University's buildings.
The main building was erected in a single building operation in 1610–13. The architect or master mason, William Arnold
William Arnold
William Arnold was one of the founding settlers of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, and with his sons was among the wealthiest people in the colony. He was raised and educated in England where he was the warden of St. Mary's, the parish church of Ilchester in southeastern...
, was also responsible for Montacute House
Montacute House
Montacute House is a late Elizabethan country house situated in the South Somerset village of Montacute. This house is a textbook example of English architecture during a period that was moving from the medieval Gothic to the Renaissance Classical; this has resulted in Montacute being regarded as...
and Dunster Castle in Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
, and was involved in the building of Hatfield House
Hatfield House
Hatfield House is a country house set in a large park, the Great Park, on the eastern side of the town of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England. The present Jacobean house was built in 1611 by Robert Cecil, First Earl of Salisbury and Chief Minister to King James I and has been the home of the Cecil...
for Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury
Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury
Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, KG, PC was an English administrator and politician.-Life:He was the son of William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley and Mildred Cooke...
, James I
James I of England
James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
’s Lord Treasurer. The style of the building is a fairly traditional Oxford Gothic
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
, modified by classical decorative detail, most notably the ‘frontispiece’ framing statues of James I and the Founders immediately facing visitors as they enter the College. Classical, too, is the over-powering emphasis on symmetry. The central quadrangle was originally gravelled throughout; the present lawn was laid down in 1809.
Hall
Hall
In architecture, a hall is fundamentally a relatively large space enclosed by a roof and walls. In the Iron Age, a mead hall was such a simple building and was the residence of a lord and his retainers...
, one of the largest in Oxford, is notable for its great hammer-beam roof and for the Jacobean woodwork of the entrance screen. The portraits include those of the founders and of distinguished members of the college. The large portrait in the gallery is of Lord Lovelace
Baron Lovelace
Baron Lovelace, of Hurley in the County of Berkshire, was a title in the Peerage of England. It was created on 31 May 1627 for Sir Richard Lovelace, who had earlier represented Berkshire, Abingdon and Windsor in Parliament. The second Baron served as Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire. The third Baron...
, who held Oxford for William of Orange
William III of England
William III & II was a sovereign Prince of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland...
during the Revolution of 1688
Glorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, is the overthrow of King James II of England by a union of English Parliamentarians with the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau...
; the inscription records his role in freeing England 'from popery and slavery'.
Chapel
Chapel
A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...
usually is reached through the door in staircase 3. The screen, similar to that in the hall, was carved by John Bolton (he was paid £82 for both). Originally Jacobean woodwork ran right round the chapel. The present stone reredos was inserted in the east end in 1834. The monumental East window depicting Jonah
Jonah
Jonah is the name given in the Hebrew Bible to a prophet of the northern kingdom of Israel in about the 8th century BC, the eponymous central character in the Book of Jonah, famous for being swallowed by a fish or a whale, depending on translation...
's whale, top right, was made by a Dutchman, Bernard van Linge, for £113 in 1622. The elegant young man reclining on his monument is Sir John Portman, baronet, who died in 1624 as a nineteen-year old undergraduate. Another monument is in the form of a pile of books; it commemorates Thomas Harris, one of the fellows of the college appointed at the foundation. He died in 1614, aged 20. The Chapel organ dates from 1862. It is one of the few instruments by Henry Willis
Henry Willis
Henry Willis was a British organ player and builder, who is regarded as the foremost organ builder of the Victorian era.-Early Life and work:...
, the doyen of Victorian
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
English organ builders, to survive without substantial modification of its tonal design.
It is thought that the chapel was the first religious building in England to regain its stained glass and statuary following the reformation
English Reformation
The English Reformation was the series of events in 16th-century England by which the Church of England broke away from the authority of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church....
.
Holywell Music Room
In the college grounds is also the Holywell Music RoomHolywell Music Room
The Holywell Music Room is the city of Oxford's chamber music hall, situated in Holywell Street in the city centre, attached to Wadham College. It is said to be the oldest, purpose built music room in Europe, and hence England's first concert hall....
, probably the oldest building of its kind in Europe. It was designed by Thomas Camplin, at that time Vice-Principal of St Edmund Hall, and opened in July 1748. The interior has been restored to a near-replica of the original and contains the only surviving Donaldson organ, built in 1790 by John Donaldson of Newcastle and installed in 1985 after being restored.
Expansions and renewals
A dramatic expansion since 1952 has made use of a range of 17th- and 18th-century houses, a converted warehouse originally built to store bibles, and several modern buildings designed by Gillespie, Kidd & CoiaGillespie, Kidd & Coia
Gillespie, Kidd & Coia were a Scottish architectural firm famous for their application of modernism in churches and universities, as well as at St Peter's Seminary in Cardross. Though founded in 1927, it is for their work in the post-war period that they are best known...
and MacCormac Jamieson Prichard. The college was refaced in the 1960s, and much of the front quad has undergone further restoration work. In July 2011, construction on a new graduate centre began on the college's back quad.
Gardens
Even without the land sold to build Rhodes HouseRhodes House
Rhodes House is part of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on the south of South Parks Road in central Oxford, and was built in memory of Cecil Rhodes, an alumnus of the university and a major benefactor.- History :...
in the 1920s, Wadham Gardens remain relatively large when compared with those of other Oxford colleges. Originally a series of orchards and market-gardens carved out from the property of the previously existing Augustinian priory, their appearance and configuration have been significantly modified over the course of the last four hundred years in order to reflect their constantly-changing functional and aesthetic purpose.
The land was shaped, in particular, by two major periods of planning. Gardens were first created under Warden Wilkins
John Wilkins
John Wilkins FRS was an English clergyman, natural philosopher and author, as well as a founder of the Invisible College and one of the founders of the Royal Society, and Bishop of Chester from 1668 until his death....
(1648–59) as a series of formal rectangles laid out around a (then fashionable) mound which was, in turn, surmounted by a figure of Atlas
Atlas
An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a map of Earth or a region of Earth, but there are atlases of the other planets in the Solar System. Atlases have traditionally been bound into book form, but today many atlases are in multimedia formats...
. These gardens were notable not least for their collection of mechanical contrivances (including a talking statue and a rainbow-maker), a number of obelisk
Obelisk
An obelisk is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape at the top, and is said to resemble a petrified ray of the sun-disk. A pair of obelisks usually stood in front of a pylon...
s and a Doric
Doric order
The Doric order was one of the three orders or organizational systems of ancient Greek or classical architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian.-History:...
temple. Under Warden Wills (1783–1806), the terrain was then radically remodelled and landscaped (by Shipley
William Shipley
William Shipley was an English drawing master, social reformer and inventor who, in 1754, founded an arts society in London that became The Royal Society of Arts, or Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures & Commerce, .-Early years, training and career:Shipley was born in...
) and became notable for a distinguished collection of trees.
Restored and reshaped following the Second World War, the present Gardens are divided into the Warden’s Garden, the Fellows’ Private Garden and the Fellows’ Garden, together with the Cloister Garden (originally the cemetery) and the White Scented Garden.
They are still notable for their collection of trees (specimens include a holm oak
Holm Oak
Quercus ilex, the Holm Oak or Holly Oak is a large evergreen oak native to the Mediterranean region. It takes its name from holm, an ancient name for holly...
, silver pendent lime, tulip tree, golden yew, purple beech, cedar of Lebanon, ginkgo, giant redwood, tree of heaven
Tree of heaven
Ailanthus altissima , commonly known as tree of heaven, ailanthus, or in Standard Chinese as chouchun , is a deciduous tree in the Simaroubaceae family. It is native to both northeast and central China and Taiwan. Unlike other members of the genus Ailanthus, it is found in temperate climates rather...
, incense cedar, Corsican pine, magnolia
Magnolia
Magnolia is a large genus of about 210 flowering plant species in the subfamily Magnolioideae of the family Magnoliaceae. It is named after French botanist Pierre Magnol....
and a rare Chinese
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
gutta-percha
Gutta-percha
Gutta-percha is a genus of tropical trees native to Southeast Asia and northern Australasia, from Taiwan south to the Malay Peninsula and east to the Solomon Islands. The same term is used to refer to an inelastic natural latex produced from the sap of these trees, particularly from the species...
) and they still contain a number of vestigial curiosities from the past (notably an 18th-century ‘cowshed’ set into the remnants of the Royalist earthworks of 1642, and a sculpture of Warden Bowra
Maurice Bowra
Sir Cecil Maurice Bowra was an English classical scholar and academic, known for his wit. He was Warden of Wadham College, Oxford, from 1938 to 1970, and served as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford from 1951 to 1954.-Birth and boyhood:...
).
Notable alumni
- See also Former students of Wadham College.
- Monica AliMonica AliMonica Ali is a British writer of Bangladeshi origin. She is the author of Brick Lane, her debut novel, which was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize for Fiction in 2003...
, novelist - Lindsay AndersonLindsay AndersonLindsay Gordon Anderson was an Indian-born, British feature film, theatre and documentary director, film critic, and leading light of the Free Cinema movement and the British New Wave...
, film director - Charles BadhamCharles BadhamCharles Badham was an English university professor, active in Australia.-Early life:Badham was born at Ludlow, Shropshire, the fourth son of Charles Badham senior, a classical scholar and regius professor of physic at Glasgow; and Margaret Campbell, a cousin of Thomas Campbell, the poet. His elder...
, classics scholar - Owen BarfieldOwen BarfieldOwen Barfield was a British philosopher, author, poet, and critic.Barfield was born in London. He was educated at Highgate School and Wadham College, Oxford and in 1920 received a 1st class degree in English language and literature. After finishing his B. Litt., which became the book Poetic...
, philosopher, author, poet, and critic. - Samuel Augustus BarnettSamuel Augustus BarnettSamuel Augustus Barnett was an Anglican clergyman and social reformer particularly associated with the establishment of the first university settlement, Toynbee Hall in east London in 1884....
, social reformer - Sir Thomas BeechamThomas BeechamSir Thomas Beecham, 2nd Baronet CH was an English conductor and impresario best known for his association with the London Philharmonic and the Royal Philharmonic orchestras. He was also closely associated with the Liverpool Philharmonic and Hallé orchestras...
, conductor - Henry de Beltgens GibbinsHenry de Beltgens GibbinsHenry de Beltgens Gibbins was a popular historian of 19th century England whose books were bestsellers in the late Victorian period; his Industry in England went to ten editions over fifteen years, and was published internationally....
, economic historian - Richard BentleyRichard BentleyRichard Bentley was an English classical scholar, critic, and theologian. He was Master of Trinity College, Cambridge....
, scholar and critic - Richard Bethell, 1st Baron WestburyRichard Bethell, 1st Baron WestburyRichard Bethell, 1st Baron Westbury PC, QC , was a British lawyer, judge and Liberal politician. He served as Lord Chancellor of Great Britain between 1861 and 1865.-Background and education:...
, former Lord Chancellor - Robert BlakeRobert Blake (admiral)Robert Blake was one of the most important military commanders of the Commonwealth of England and one of the most famous English admirals of the 17th century. Blake is recognised as the chief founder of England's naval supremacy, a dominance subsequently inherited by the British Royal Navy into...
, Cromwell's admiral - Melvyn BraggMelvyn BraggMelvyn Bragg, Baron Bragg FRSL FRTS FBA, FRS FRSA is an English broadcaster and author best known for his work with the BBC and for presenting the The South Bank Show...
, television broadcaster - Simon BrettSimon BrettSimon Brett is a prolific writer of whodunnits. The son of a chartered surveyor, he was educated at Dulwich College and Wadham College, Oxford, where he got a first-class honours degree in English...
, writer - Alan BullockAlan BullockAlan Louis Charles Bullock, Baron Bullock , was a British historian, who wrote an influential biography of Adolf Hitler and many other works.-Early life and career:...
, historian of Nazi Germany - Andy CatoAndy CatoAndy Cato is one half of the electronic dance band, Groove Armada, the other half being Tom Findlay. He is also involved with Rachel Foster in Weekend Players, another electronic dance group.-Early life:...
, of Groove ArmadaGroove ArmadaGroove Armada is an English electronic music duo from London, England comprising Andy Cato and Tom Findlay. They are perhaps best known for their singles "I See You Baby" and "Superstylin'"... - Sir Michael ChecklandMichael ChecklandSir Michael Checkland was Director-General of the BBC from 1987 to 1992, having been appointed after the forced resignation of Alasdair Milne.- Early life :...
, former Director General of the BBC - Robert Caesar ChildersRobert Caesar ChildersRobert Caesar Childers was a British Orientalist scholar, compiler of the first Pāli-English dictionary. Childers was the husband of Anna Barton of Ireland...
, Pali Language Scholar - John Cooke, prosecutor of Charles I
- Alan CorenAlan CorenAlan Coren was an English humorist, writer and satirist who was well known as a regular panellist on the BBC radio quiz The News Quiz and a team captain on BBC television's Call My Bluff...
, comic writer - Robert CramptonRobert CramptonRobert Crampton is an award-winning English journalist. He is also the son of Peter Crampton, former Member of the European Parliament for Humberside.-Early life:...
, Times journalist - Cecil Day-LewisCecil Day-LewisCecil Day-Lewis CBE was an Irish poet and the Poet Laureate from 1968 until his death in 1972. He also wrote mystery stories under the pseudonym of Nicholas Blake...
, former Poet Laureate - Marcus du SautoyMarcus du SautoyMarcus Peter Francis du Sautoy OBE is the Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science and a Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford. Formerly a Fellow of All Souls College, and Wadham College, he is now a Fellow of New College...
, mathematician - Giles FraserGiles FraserGiles Anthony Fraser is a priest of the Church of England. He was Canon Chancellor of St Paul's Cathedral from 2009 until his resignation in October 2011. As Canon Chancellor, Fraser fulfilled the role of a canon residentiary with special responsibility for contemporary ethics and engagement with...
, Canon Chancellor of St Paul's Cathedral - James Flint, writer
- Michael FootMichael FootMichael Mackintosh Foot, FRSL, PC was a British Labour Party politician, journalist and author, who was a Member of Parliament from 1945 to 1955 and from 1960 until 1992...
, politician - Neil ForresterNeil ForresterNeil A. Forrester is a British research assistant in the field of developmental disorders and language acquisition at the University of London. He is best known to the general public as one of the cast members of the fourth season of the MTV reality television series The Real World: London, which...
, Artist and subject of The Real WorldThe Real WorldThe Real World is a reality television program on MTV originally produced by Mary-Ellis Bunim and Jonathan Murray. First broadcast in 1992, the show, which was inspired by the 1973 PBS documentary series An American Family, is the longest-running program in MTV history and one of the...
TV show (London series) - William FoxWilliam Fox (New Zealand)Sir William Fox, KCMG was the second Premier of New Zealand on four occasions in the 19th century, while New Zealand was still a colony. He was known for his eventual support of Māori land rights, his contributions to the education system , and his work to increase New Zealand's autonomy from...
, premier of New Zealand - C. B. Fry, sportsman
- Penaia GanilauPenaia GanilauRatu Sir Penaia Kanatabatu Ganilau, GCMG, KCVO, KBE, DSO was the first President of Fiji, serving from 8 December 1987 until his death in 1993...
, former Governor General and President of Fiji. - Neil GerrardNeil GerrardNeil Francis Gerrard is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Walthamstow from 1992 until 2010.-Early life:...
, politician - Nordahl Grieg, Norwegian poet and playwright
- Thomas GuidottThomas GuidottThomas Guidott , an English "doctor of physik" and writer, became one of the 17th century's most prolific physical scientists. He used the analytical techniques of his time to detail and document the properties of the hot mineral springs at Bath, Somerset.-Early studies:Guidott attended Dorchester...
, physician - Tuanku Abdul HalimTuanku Abdul HalimSultan Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah, GCB KStJ is the designate Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia following his election in 2011, as well as the 27th and current Sultan of Kedah. He previously served as the fifth Yang di-Pertuan Agong from 1970 to 1975...
, Sultan of Kedah, former King of Malaysia (1970–1975) - Evan HarrisEvan HarrisEvan Leslie Harris is a British Liberal Democrat politician. He was the Member of Parliament for Oxford West and Abingdon from 1997 to 2010, losing his seat in the 2010 general election by 176 votes to Conservative Nicola Blackwood....
, former Liberal Democrat MPMember of ParliamentA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Oxford West and Abingdon - J. W. HarrisJ. W. HarrisJames W. Harris was a British solicitor and professor of law at the London School of Economics.He was born in Southwark, England and he became blind at the age of four. Harris attended the Linton Lodge School and Royal Worcester College until 1959 when he began studying at Wadham College at Oxford...
, legal scholar, Professor of the London School of Economics and Fellow of the British Academy. - Sir Thomas Graham JacksonThomas Graham JacksonSir Thomas Graham Jackson, 1st Baronet RA was one of the most distinguished English architects of his generation...
, architect - Felicity JonesFelicity JonesFelicity Jones is an English actress from Birmingham. She is best known to television audiences for her role as the school bully Ethel Hallow in the first series of The Worst Witch and its sequel Weirdsister College...
, actress - Reginald Victor JonesReginald Victor JonesReginald Victor Jones, CH CB CBE FRS, was a British physicist and scientific military intelligence expert who played an important role in the defence of Britain in -Education:...
, physicistPhysicistA physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...
, scientific military intelligenceMilitary intelligenceMilitary intelligence is a military discipline that exploits a number of information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to commanders in support of their decisions....
expert and writer - Michael KenyonMichael KenyonMichael F. Kenyon was an American author of crime novels. Author of more than 20 humorous mystery novels, he was one of the first in the field of spoof-espionage story telling, but perhaps better known for the Superintendent O'Malley, and latterly Inspector Henry Peckover series of books...
, novelist - Francis KilvertFrancis KilvertRobert Francis Kilvert , always known as Francis, or Frank, was born at The Rectory, Hardenhuish Lane, near Chippenham, Wiltshire, to the Rev. Robert Kilvert, Rector of Langley Burrell, Wiltshire, and Thermuthis, daughter of Walter Coleman and Thermuthis Ashe...
, clergyman and diarist - Hari Kunzru, novelist
- K. N. Wanchoo, former Chief Justice of IndiaChief Justice of IndiaThe Chief Justice of India is the highest-ranking judge in the Supreme Court of India, and thus holds the highest judicial position in India. As well as presiding in the Supreme Court, the Chief Justice also head its administrative functions....
. - John LeslieJohn A. LeslieJohn Andrew Leslie is a Canadian philosopher. He was educated at Wadham College, Oxford, earning his B.A. in English Literature in 1962 and his M.Litt. in Classics in 1968...
, philosopher
- Monica Ali
- P. J. MarshallP. J. MarshallPeter James Marshall CBE, FBA is a British historian known for his work on the British empire, particularly the activities of British East India Company servants in 18th-century Bengal, and also the history of British involvement in North America during the same period.-Early life and education:He...
, historian of the British empire in the 18th century - Alister McGrathAlister McGrathAlister Edgar McGrath is an Anglican priest, theologian, and Christian apologist, currently Professor of Theology, Ministry, and Education at Kings College London and Head of the Centre for Theology, Religion and Culture...
, Christian apologist and theologian - Tim McInnernyTim McInnernyTim McInnerny is an English actor. He is known for his role as Percy in Blackadder and Blackadder II, and as Captain Darling in Blackadder Goes Forth...
, actor - Frank McLynnFrank McLynnFrancis James McLynn, FRHistS, FRGS — known as Frank McLynn — is a British author, biographer, historian and journalist. He is noted for critically acclaimed biographies of Napoleon Bonaparte, Robert Louis Stevenson, Carl Jung, Richard Francis Burton and Henry Morton Stanley.McLynn was educated at...
, historian and biographer - Kamisese MaraKamisese MaraRatu Sir Kamisese Mara, CF, GCMG, KBE is considered the founding father of the modern nation of Fiji. He was Chief Minister from 1967 to 1970, when Fiji gained its independence from the United Kingdom, and, apart from one brief interruption in 1987, the first Prime Minister from 1970 to 1992...
, former Prime Minister and President of Fiji. - Patrick MarberPatrick MarberPatrick Albert Crispin Marber is an English comedian, playwright, director, puppeteer, actor and screenwriter.-Early life and education:...
, comedian and playwright - Sharon MascallSharon MascallSharon Mascall is a journalist, broadcaster and writer based in Adelaide, South Australia. Born in Hertfordshire, UK, in 1970, she studied Modern Languages at Wadham College, Oxford University before gaining a postgraduate diploma in Broadcast Journalism from City University, London.Sharon joined...
, journalist, broadcaster and writer - Jodhi MayJodhi MayJodhi May is an English actress.-Early life:Born in Camden Town, London, May first acted at the age of 12 in 1988's A World Apart. The role earned her a Best Actress award at the 1988 Cannes Film Festival, shared with her co-stars Barbara Hershey and Linda Mvusi...
, actress - Robert MosesRobert MosesRobert Moses was the "master builder" of mid-20th century New York City, Long Island, Rockland County, and Westchester County, New York. As the shaper of a modern city, he is sometimes compared to Baron Haussmann of Second Empire Paris, and is one of the most polarizing figures in the history of...
, city planner - Arthur OnslowArthur OnslowArthur Onslow was an English politician. He set a record for length of service when repeatedly elected to serve as Speaker of the House of Commons, where he was known for his integrity.-Early life and education:...
, former Speaker of the House of Commons - Iain PearsIain PearsIain Pears is an English art historian, novelist and journalist. He was educated at Warwick School, Warwick, Wadham College and Wolfson College, Oxford. Before writing, he worked as a reporter for the BBC, Channel 4 and ZDF and correspondent for Reuters from 1982 to 1990 in Italy, France, UK and...
, novelist - Rosamund PikeRosamund PikeRosamund Mary Elizabeth Pike is a British actress. Her film roles include villainous Bond girl Miranda Frost in Die Another Day, Jane Bennet in Pride and Prejudice, Helen in An Education, Lisa in Made in Dagenham, Miriam Grant-Panofsky in Barney's Version and Kate Sumner in Johnny English...
, actress - Emma ReynoldsEmma ReynoldsEmma Elizabeth Reynolds is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Wolverhampton North East since 2010.-Early life:...
, MP - Tony RichardsonTony RichardsonCecil Antonio "Tony" Richardson was an English theatre and film director and producer.-Early life:Richardson was born in Shipley, Yorkshire in 1928, the son of Elsie Evans and Clarence Albert Richardson, a chemist...
, EnglishEnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
theatre and Academy Award-winning film directorFilm directorA film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
and producerFilm producerA film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The... - Michael RosenMichael RosenMichael Wayne Rosen is a broadcaster, children's novelist and poet and the author of 140 books. He was appointed as the fifth Children's Laureate in June 2007, succeeding Jacqueline Wilson, and held this honour until 2009....
, poet and broadcaster - Nathaniel Philip RothschildNathaniel Philip RothschildNathaniel Philip Victor James Rothschild , also known as Nat, is a British-born financier who has settled in Switzerland, and a scion of the prominent Rothschild family. He is the Chairman of "JNR Limited", an investment advisory business primarily focused on emerging markets and the metals, mining...
, British financier and only son of Jacob Rothschild, 4th Baron RothschildJacob Rothschild, 4th Baron RothschildNathaniel Charles Jacob Rothschild, 4th Baron Rothschild, Bt, OM, GBE, FBA is a British investment banker and a member of the prominent Rothschild family of bankers... - Waseem SajjadWasim SajjadWasim Sajjad was interim President of Pakistan on two occasions, serving as interim President prior to elections. Currently, being a member of PML-Q, he is the Leader of the Opposition in Senate of Pakistan.- Early life :...
, two time interim President of PakistanPakistanPakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
and Former Chairman Senate - Sir Charles Sedley, 5th Baronet, wit, dramatist and politician
- Mary Ann SieghartMary Ann SieghartMary Ann Sieghart is a former assistant editor of The Times, where she wrote columns about politics, social affairs and life generally. She now writes a weekly political column in The Independent and presents Profile and Beyond Westminster on Radio 4...
, former assistant editor of The TimesThe TimesThe Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International... - John Simon, 1st Viscount SimonJohn Simon, 1st Viscount SimonJohn Allsebrook Simon, 1st Viscount Simon GCSI GCVO OBE PC was a British politician who held senior Cabinet posts from the beginning of the First World War to the end of the Second. He is one of only three people to have served as Home Secretary, Foreign Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer,...
, former Lord Chancellor - F. E. Smith, 1st Earl of BirkenheadF. E. Smith, 1st Earl of BirkenheadFrederick Edwin Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead GCSI, PC, KC , best known to history as F. E. Smith , was a British Conservative statesman and lawyer of the early 20th century. He was a skilled orator, noted for his staunch opposition to Irish nationalism, his wit, pugnacious views, and hard living...
, former Lord Chancellor - Thomas SpratThomas SpratThomas Sprat , English divine, was born at Beaminster, Dorset, and educated at Wadham College, Oxford, where he held a fellowship from 1657 to 1670.Having taken orders he became a prebendary of Lincoln Cathedral in 1660...
, divine and cofounder of the Royal Society - Irving WardleIrving WardleJohn Irving Wardle is an English writer and theatre critic.He was born on 20 July 1929 in Manchester, Lancashire, the son of John Wardle and his wife Nellie . His father was drama critic on the Bolton Evening News, and a regular performer at the Bolton Little Theatre...
, theatre critic - Rex WarnerRex WarnerRex Warner was an English classicist, writer and translator. He is now probably best remembered for The Aerodrome , an allegorical novel whose young hero is faced with the disintegration of his certainties about his loved ones and with a choice between the earthy, animalistic life of his home...
, clacissist, writer and translator - Rowan WilliamsRowan WilliamsRowan Douglas Williams FRSL, FBA, FLSW is an Anglican bishop, poet and theologian. He is the 104th and current Archbishop of Canterbury, Metropolitan of the Province of Canterbury and Primate of All England, offices he has held since early 2003.Williams was previously Bishop of Monmouth and...
, current Archbishop of Canterbury - John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of RochesterJohn Wilmot, 2nd Earl of RochesterJohn Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester , styled Viscount Wilmot between 1652 and 1658, was an English Libertine poet, a friend of King Charles II, and the writer of much satirical and bawdy poetry. He was the toast of the Restoration court and a patron of the arts...
, libertine poetPoetA poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
and protegé of King Charles IICharles II of EnglandCharles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War... - Sir Christopher WrenChristopher WrenSir Christopher Wren FRS is one of the most highly acclaimed English architects in history.He used to be accorded responsibility for rebuilding 51 churches in the City of London after the Great Fire in 1666, including his masterpiece, St. Paul's Cathedral, on Ludgate Hill, completed in 1710...
, architect and cofounder of the Royal Society - Henry Penruddocke WyndhamHenry Penruddocke WyndhamHenry Penruddocke Wyndham MP JP FSA FRS, was a British Whig Member of Parliament, topographer and author.-Background:Wyndham was born on 4 June 1736, the eldest surviving son of Henry Wyndham of St Edmund's College, Salisbury, and his wife Arundel Penruddocke, daughter of Thomas Penruddocke of...
, politician, topographer and author - Sir Wadham WyndhamWadham WyndhamSir Wadham Wyndham SL , English judge, was born at Orchard Wyndham, Somerset, the ninth son of Sir John Wyndham of Orchard Wyndham, and his wife, Joan, daughter of Sir Henry Portman...
, judge
Notable Wardens, Fellows and former Fellows
- Alfred Ayer, logical positivist
- Michael R. AyersMichael R. AyersMichael Richard Ayers, FBA, is a British philosopher and professor emeritus of philosophy at the University of Oxford. He studied at St. John's College of the University of Cambridge, and was a member of Wadham College, Oxford from 1965 until 2002...
, philosopher - John Bell, Professor of Law and Fellow of Pembroke College, CambridgePembroke College, CambridgePembroke College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The college has over seven hundred students and fellows, and is the third oldest college of the university. Physically, it is one of the university's larger colleges, with buildings from almost every century since its...
- T.J. Binyon, Russian literature scholar and crime writer
- Maurice BowraMaurice BowraSir Cecil Maurice Bowra was an English classical scholar and academic, known for his wit. He was Warden of Wadham College, Oxford, from 1938 to 1970, and served as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford from 1951 to 1954.-Birth and boyhood:...
, scholar and wit - Peter Carter, legal scholar
- Peter DerowPeter DerowPeter Sidney Derow , MA, PhD was Hody Fellow and Tutor in Ancient History at Wadham College, Oxford and University Lecturer in Ancient History from 1977 to 2006...
, historian of ancient Greece and Rome - Terry EagletonTerry EagletonTerence Francis Eagleton FBA is a British literary theorist and critic, who is regarded as one of Britain's most influential living literary critics...
, literary theorist - Eprime EshagEprime EshagEprime Eshag was an Iranian born Keynesian socialist economist.In 1936 Eshag won a scholarship from the Bank Melli Iran to study accountancy at the London School of Economics. Whilst there his interests turned to economics and he was noticed by J.M. Keynes as being "a man of promise"...
, Keynesian economist - Stuart HampshireStuart HampshireSir Stuart Newton Hampshire was an Oxford University philosopher, literary critic and university administrator. He was one of the antirationalist Oxford thinkers who gave a new direction to moral and political thought in the post-World War II era.Hampshire was educated at Repton School and at...
, philosopher and literary critic - Jeffrey HackneyJeffrey HackneyJeffrey Hackney is a legal academic specialising in property law, law of trusts, and legal history at the University of Oxford. He retired in 2009 from his position as a Fellow of Wadham College, Oxford , and is now an Emeritus Fellow...
, legal scholar - Humphrey HodyHumphrey HodyHumphrey Hody was an English scholar and theologian.-Life:He was born at Odcombe in Somerset in 1659. In 1676 he entered Wadham College, Oxford, of which he became a fellow in 1685...
, clergyman and theologian - Thomas Graham JacksonThomas Graham JacksonSir Thomas Graham Jackson, 1st Baronet RA was one of the most distinguished English architects of his generation...
, architect - Frederick Lindemann, 1st Viscount CherwellFrederick Lindemann, 1st Viscount CherwellFrederick Alexander Lindemann, 1st Viscount Cherwell FRS PC CH was an English physicist who was an influential scientific adviser to the British government, particularly Winston Churchill...
, Churchill's scientific adviser during the Second World War - Claus Moser, economist
- Bernard O'DonoghueBernard O'DonoghueBernard O'Donoghue is a noted contemporary Irish poet and academic.Born in Cullen, County Cork, Ireland, he moved to Manchester, England when he was 16, where he attended St Bede's College. He has lived in Oxford, England since 1965...
, poet - Roger PenroseRoger PenroseSir Roger Penrose OM FRS is an English mathematical physicist and Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics at the Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford and Emeritus Fellow of Wadham College...
, mathematician - Marcus du SautoyMarcus du SautoyMarcus Peter Francis du Sautoy OBE is the Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science and a Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford. Formerly a Fellow of All Souls College, and Wadham College, he is now a Fellow of New College...
, mathematician, writer, television presenter - Robert ThistlethwayteRobert ThistlethwayteRobert Thistlethwayte was a warden of Wadham College, Oxford and clergyman in the Church of England....
, the Warden who fled to France in 1737 after a homosexual scandal - John WilkinsJohn WilkinsJohn Wilkins FRS was an English clergyman, natural philosopher and author, as well as a founder of the Invisible College and one of the founders of the Royal Society, and Bishop of Chester from 1668 until his death....
, scholar and co-founder of the Royal Society - Robert J.C. YoungRobert J.C. Young- Life :He was educated at Repton School and Exeter College, Oxford where he read for a B.A. and D.Phil., taught at the University of Southampton, and then returned to Oxford University where he was Professor of English and Critical Theory and a fellow of Wadham College. In 2005, he moved to New...
, post-colonial theorist