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| Genealogical and historical information and links for anyone researching their ancestors in England and the British Isles |
Home ==> Information ==> Oxford University
<== Monarchs
Poets Laureate ==>
| Cambridge University | Oxford University |
Oxford
University is the oldest in Britain. The university now has 38
colleges (in 2008 Green and Templeton Colleges merged)
(see the list
of colleges).The colleges Nineteen of these 38 colleges were founded in the 19th and 20th centuries, whilst the other 19 have foundation dates stretching back as early as 1249, the year the oldest college - University College - was founded. Many of the foundation years given for the colleges don't reflect the fact that they often replaced even more ancient halls of residence, used by students who studied in Oxford before the college system had even developed. These institutions often date back into the 11th century or further. Oxford University - especially its older established colleges - has seen many of its former students go on to achieve notable things. No degree But a successful completion of their studies was not always necessary for former students to achieve success in life. The Poet Laureates Sir William D'Avenant, Robert Southey and John Betjemen, the poet Percy Shelley and the writers Samuel Johnson and Robert Graves all left Oxford without a degree. A degree also eluded Edward VII, the British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, the founder of the US state of Pennsylvania William Penn and the Elizabethan adventurer Walter Raleigh. Women It wasn't until 1879 when Lady Margaret Hall and Somerville College opened that women were finally admitted to Oxford. Since then graduates have included the first British woman to win a Nobel Prize, Dorothy Hodgkin; Britain's three women Prime Ministers: Margaret Thatcher, Theresa May, Liz Truss; the writers Iris Murdoch and Dorothy L. Sayers; India's first woman Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi and the Burmese winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, Aung San Suu Kyi.
The following list shows the 38 colleges, grouped by the century in
which they were founded.The colleges founded before the 18th century include information on a selection of famous people who have been connected to the college and links to the college website and its history webpage. The colleges founded since 1700 have links to their websites.  
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| 14th century | |||||
| Exeter College | A selection of famous people who have been connected with the college. | ||||
Exeter College was founded in 1314 as Stapledon Hall by Walter de Stapledon, a Devon man who later became Bishop of Exeter. For the first few centuries of its existence the college took its students mainly from the counties of south-west England and especially Cornwall and Devon with the aim of training them for the clergy. 
History |
William
Morris
Artist
Undergraduate,
1853-56
Hubert
Parry
Composer
Undergraduate,
1867-70
Heather
Professor of Music, 1900-08
Cyril Hinshelwood
Nobel
Prize
for Chemistry, 1956
Fellow,
1937-64
Professor
of Chemistry, 1937-64
J.R.R.
Tolkien
Writer
Undergraduate, 1911-15
MA,
1919
See Pembroke
College
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| Oriel College |
A selection of famous people who have been connected with the college. |
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Oriel College was founded by Adam de Brone in 1326.
History |
Walter Ralegh
Adventurer
Undergraduate, 1568?-
No
degree
Alexander Todd
Nobel
Prize
for Chemistry, 1957
James
E. Meade
Nobel
Prize
for Economics, 1977
Undergraduate,
1926-30
Matthew
Arnold
Poet
Fellow, 1845-52
Professor
of Poetry, 1857-67
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| Queen's College |
A selection of famous people who have been connected with the college. |
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Queen's College was founded as the Hall of the Queen's Scholars of Oxford by Robert de Eglesfield in 1341. He named it after the then Queen Philippa who was royal consort to Edward III. For many centuries the college took many of its students from the ancient counties of Cumberland and Westmorland (now Cumbria) and later also from Yorkshire.
History |
Oliver
Sacks
Neurologist / Writer
Undergraduate, 1951-54
Edmund
Blunden
Writer
Undergraduate,
1919-20
Professor
of Poetry, 1966-68
See Merton College
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| New College |
A selection of famous people who have been connected with the college. |
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New College was founded by William of Wykeham in 1379 as a college to train the future clergy and to replace those clergymen who had died in such numbers during the Black Death. Many of its students came from Winchester College in Hampshire.
History |
Isaiah Berlin
Philosopher
Fellow, 1938-50
John
Galsworthy
Nobel
Prize
for Literature, 1932
Undergraduate, 1890-94
Robert
Penn Warren
Writer
Rhodes
Scholar, 1928-30
John
Fowles
Writer
Undergraduate,
1947-50
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