As the university Michaelmas Term approaches, and children are heading back to school across the UK, we look at some of the highlights of the Society’s education collections.
The Library at the Society of Genealogists holds a rich selection of education records relating to schools, colleges, universities, pupils, students, and teachers. Some may also be found on SoG Data Online.
The Library holdings feature many printed books, such as the published student registers of older foundation public and grammar schools (many on SoG Data Online).
The oldest of these institutions were founded for the education of poor scholars and date from the middle ages.
The Library also holds published alumni records for the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, and for later English foundations along with Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dublin etc. You can also explore many copies of admission registers and log books for schools dating from the Elementary Education Act of 1870.
Although they may have been compiled in the late 19th or early 20th centuries, some of the secondary sources can reveal educational details of ancestors from as far back as the early modern period. For example, the Alumni Oxonienses: The members of the University of Oxford 1500-1714 (Early series)and 1715-1886 (Late Series); their parentage, birthplace and year of birth, with a record of their degrees was published in 1891, but includes some genealogical details of individuals who graduated from 1500.
The renowned architect, Christopher Wren (1632-1723), studied Latin and the works of Aristotle for a B.A. at Wadham College, Oxford from 1650 to 1651, and received an M. A. two years later. It was during his time at Oxford that Wren developed his studies of science and mathematics, having become involved with the Wilkins circle.
Their activities led to the formation of the Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge (now the Royal Society) in 1660. Wren served as President of the Society between 1680 and 1682.
Wren’s association continued in 1653, after his M.A., when he was elected a fellow of All Souls’ College and began his scientific research until leaving for London four years later.
Wren returned to Oxford in 1661, when he was elected Savilian Professor of Astronomy, and remained there until 1669. He tried to serve as MP for the Oxford University constituency, but failed to win the by-election there in 1674.
Full details of Wren’s Oxford education, as well as information on his parents and later achievements are listed in his entry in the Alumni Oxonienses shown above. Although he eventually left the city for life elsewhere, Wren’s presence in Oxford survives up to the present time in the form of his architectural designs. Buildings designed by Wren in Oxford include the ‘New Theatre’ and Trinity College’s Garden Quadrangle.
Copies of Alumni Cantabrigienses : a biographical list of all known students, graduates & holders of office at the University of Cambridge, from the earliest times to 1900, part 2 1752-1900, vol. 1 Abbey – Challis can be found on the Library, along with histories of Oxbridge colleges, and Frank Stubbings’ A brief history Emmanuel College library (1981).
Sources
SoG Data Online; Education records > University records > Oxford University > Alumni Oxonienses
Kerry Downes, Christopher Wren (Oxford University Press, 2007)
Portrait of Christopher Wren After Godfrey Kneller – http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/history/PictDisplay/Wren.html originally uploaded on de.wikipedia by Dr. Manuel (talk · contribs) at 2 June 2005, 21:38. Filename was Christopher Wren.jpeg., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11621022
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