Christ's College, Cambridge

Colleges of the University of Cambridge Christ's College
Founders	William Byngham (1437); Lady Margaret Beaufort (1505)
Named after	Jesus Christ
Established	1437, Refounded 1505
Previously named	God's House (1437-1505)
Admittance	Men and women
Master	Frank Kelly
Undergraduates	395[1]
Graduates	95[1]
Sister colleges	Wadham College, Oxford Branford College, Yale Adams House, Harvard Pforzheimer House, Harvard
Location	St Andrew's Street (map)
Souvent me Souvient (Old French, "I often remember")
College website
JCR website
Boat Club website

Christ's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge.

With a reputation for high academic standards, Christ's College averaged top place in the Tompkins Table from 1980-2000 ^[2]. In 2011, Christ's was placed sixth.

College history

The college grew from God's House founded in 1437 on land now occupied by King's College Chapel. It received its first royal licence in 1446. It moved to its present site in 1448 when it received its second royal licence. It was renamed Christ's College and received its present charter in 1505 when it was endowed and expanded by Lady Margaret Beaufort, mother of King Henry VII.

Buildings

The original 15th/16th century college buildings now form part of First Court, including the chapel, Master's Lodge and Great Gate tower. The gate itself is disproportionate: the bottom has been cut off to accommodate a rise in street level, which can also be seen in the steps leading down to the foot of L staircase in the gate tower. The college hall, originally built at the very start of the 16th century was restored in 1875-1879 by George Gilbert Scott, the younger. The lawn of First Court is famously round, and an impressive wisteria sprawls up the front of the master's lodge.

Second Court is fully built up on only three sides, one of which is formed by the 1640s Fellows' Building. The fourth side backs onto the Master's garden.

The Stevenson Building in Third Court was designed by J. J. Stevenson, in the 1880s and was extended in 1905 as part of the College's Quadcentenary. In 1947 Professor Richardson designed the second building, the neo-Georgian Chancellor's Building (W staircase), completed in 1950. Third Court's Memorial Building (Y staircase), a twin of the Chancellor's building was completed in 1953 for £80,000.^[3] Third Court is also noted for its display of irises in May and June, a gift to the college in 1946.^[4]

The controversial tiered concrete New Court (often dubbed "the Typewriter") was designed in the Modernist style by Sir Denys Lasdun in 1966-70, and was described as "superb" in Lasdun's obituary in the Guardian.^[5] Design critic Hugh Pearman comments "Lasdun had big trouble relating to the street at the overhanging rear".^[6] It appears very distinctively in aerial photographs, forming part of the northern boundary of the college.

An assortment of neighbouring buildings have been absorbed into the college, of which the most notable is The Todd Building, previously Cambridge's County Hall.

Through an arch in the Fellows' Building is the Fellows' Garden. It includes two mulberry trees, of which the older was planted in 1608, the same year as Milton's birth. Both trees have toppled sideways, the younger tree in the Great Storm of 1987, and are now earthed up round the trunks, but continue to fruit every year.^[7]

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  First Court: O Staircase, Chapel, The Master's Lodge with large wisteria and part of the Hall.

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  Fellows' Building viewed from the Fellows' Garden

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  Third Court: Chancellor's Building - Y Block on L, Stevenson Building on R

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  New Court, the Lasdun Building

Great Gate First Court Chapel Master's Lodge Hall Library Second Court Fellows' Building Third Court Stevenson Building Todd Building Four Staircase New Court (Lasdun Building) Fellows' Garden

The Great Gate on St Andrew's Street.

College societies

The Junior Combination Room, Christ's College Students' Union, is involved in every aspect of student life. Representative of the student body, it organises social and welfare events, and negotiates on the students' behalf on important issues. The Middle Combination Room (MCR) represents the graduate students of Christ's College.

The Marguerites Club is one of the oldest surviving College societies, reformed in 1899 by Gilbert Jessop the then captain of CUCC. It is believed to have originally formed some ten years earlier, but was soon disbanded. Originally the society was confined to captains and secretaries or those with colours in three sports. The name originated from the club's original blazer, which was navy blue in colour with the Foundress's 'rebus' or badge, signifying her name, embroidered on the pocket. Described in the 1908 issue of the college magazine: "The Marguerites have been the premier club of the College in the past, and claim to represent something more than mere athletic distinction".

The oldest College sports society still active is the Christ's College Rugby Football Club (CCRFC). It was founded in 1875 by Alfred Cort Haddon ^[8], considered the father of modern anthropology. He would later go on to become a Fellow of College and the CCRFC's first Honorary President, and his portrait is now found in Christ's College's Formal Hall. In the 1960 Varsity Match, eight of the starting team were students at Christ's and all points were scored by Christ's players^[9]. The CCRFC is nicknamed "The Brown Rings" due to the brown and white hoops featured on the match kit.

The college football team, CCAFC, prides itself on being the most successful Cambridge football side, having won the inter-collegiate Cuppers competition more times than any other.

Also of note is the rowing club, Christ's College Boat Club; the college drama society, CADS; Christ's College Medical Society; Christ's Films, who use the theatre to screen films weekly; the Music Society(founded 1710) and the Chapel Choir: Christ's College Chapel Choir.

The College hosts a biennial May Ball with the most recent, L'Esprit Nouveau, occurring on 15 June 2010 with a 1920s Parisian theme.

Graduate Society

Christ's College Graduate Society comprises a community of approximately 130 graduate students from every part of the world and with diverse academic interests. All members of the Graduate Society also belong to the Christ's College Student Union (CCSU) and share their canteen-style Upper Hall. In addition, the college provides graduates with generous travel bursaries for academic and vacation travel and their own computing facilities. Most graduates are accommodated for three years, either in college or in nearby flats and shared houses.

The Graduate Society is one of the few in Cambridge to run its own bar, specializing in Belgian beers and malt whiskies. There are regular graduate Formal Halls and other events, including wine and cheese tastings, a brewery trip, punting, and outings to Oxford, Ely and Norwich. A Garden Party is held every June in the Fellows' Garden.

Biological Sciences

Christ's College is especially strong in Biological Sciences and has produced alumni that have gone on to become heads of various landmark research institutions. These have included: Hugh Pelham, Director of the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology ^[10]; Daniel St. Johnston, Chairman of the Gurdon Institute ^[11]; Jim Smith, Director of the MRC National Institute for Medical Research ^[12]; Richard Treisman, Director of CRUK London Research Institute ^[13] and Peter Lachmann, Founding President of The Academy of Medical Sciences ^[14].

Proctors of God's House

1439-1451 William Byngham 1451-1458 John Hurt 1458-1464 William Fallan 1464-1477 William Basset 1477-1490 Ralph Barton 1490-1505 John Sickling

Masters of Christ's

See also: Category: Fellows of Christ's College, Cambridge and Category: Honorary Fellows of Christ's College, Cambridge.

1505–1507 John Sickling 1507–1510 Richard Wyot 1510–1517 Thomas Thompson 1517–1530 John Watson 1530–1548 Henry Lockwood 1548–1553 Richard Wilkes 1553–1556 Cuthbert Scot 1556–1559 William Taylor 1559–1582 Edward Hawford 1582–1609 Edmund Barwell 1609–1622 Valentine Carey 1622–1646 Thomas Bainbridge 1646–1654 Samuel Bolton 1654–1688 Ralph Cudworth 1688–1722 John Covel 1723–1745 William Towers 1745–1754 George Henry Rooke 1754–1780 Hugh Thomas 1780–1808 John Barker

1808–1814 Thomas Browne 1814–1830 John Kaye 1830–1848 John Graham 1849–1849 Joseph Shaw 1849–1881 James Cartmell 1881–1887 Charles Anthony Swainson 1887–1910 John Peile 1910–1927 Sir Arthur Shipley 1927–1936 Norman McLean 1936–1939 Charles Galton Darwin 1939–1950 Charles Raven 1950–1963 Brian Downs 1963–1978 Alexander R. Todd, Baron Todd 1978–1982 Sir John Plumb 1982–1995 Sir Hans Kornberg 1995–2002 Alan Munro 2002–2006 Malcolm Bowie 2006–        Frank Kelly

See Christ's College by John Peile (1900)

Famous alumni

See also: Category:Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge

• 

  Charles Darwin

• 

  John Milton

• 

  Jagdish Chandra Bose

• 

  Louis Mountbatten

• 

  Frederick Cornwallis

• 

  Sir Martin Evans

• 

  Simon Schama

• 

  William Paley

• 

  Rowan Williams

• 

  Sacha Baron Cohen

• 

  Beilby Porteus

Name	Birth	Death	Career
HRH Prince Ra'ad bin Zeid Al-Hussein	1936		Iraqi Prince
HRH Prince Zeid Ra'ad Zeid Al-Hussein	1964		Iraqi Prince
William Ames	1576	1633	Reformed Theologian
Richard Bancroft	1544	1610	Archbishop of Canterbury, Organiser of James I Bible
Jagdish Chandra Bose	1858	1937	Bengali physicist
Sir Anthony Caro	1924		Sculptor
Sacha Baron Cohen	1971		Comedian
John Cook	1918	1984	Prolific Anglo-American composer and organist
Frederick Cornwallis	1713	1783	Archbishop of Canterbury
John Cornwell	1940		author, journalist
John James Cowperthwaite	1916	2006	Credited with policies allowing Hong Kong's economic boom in the 1960s
Charles Darwin	1809	1882	British naturalist
Patrick Arthur Devlin, Baron Devlin	1905	1992	Jurist, Lord of Appeal in Ordinary
Colin Dexter	1930		Novelist
Sir Martin Evans	1941		Biochemist, Nobel laureate in medicine
Noel Gay	1898	1954	Composer
Edmund Grindal	1519	1583	Archbishop of Canterbury
John Healey	1960		British politician
Matthew Hutton	1693	1758	Archbishop of Canterbury
Derry Irvine, Baron Irvine of Lairg	1940		Lord Chancellor
David Konstant	1930		Bishop of Leeds
Sir John Kotelawala	1897	1980	Prime Minister of Ceylon (Sri Lanka)
Tony Lewis	1938		England and Glamorgan cricket captain
Richard Luce	1936		Lord Chamberlain
Michael Lynch	1965		Founder of Autonomy Systems
Allama Mashriqi	1883	1963	Founder of the Khaksar Tehreek
David Mellor	1949		British politician
Miles Millar	c 1967		Hollywood screenwriter and producer
John Milton	1608	1674	English poet
Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma	1900	1979	British Admiral of the Fleet and statesman
John Oliver	1977		British Political Comedian
Andy Parsons	1967		English comedian and writer
William Paley	1743	1805	English theologian and philosopher
William Perkins	1558	1602	Leading Puritan Theologian of the Elizabethan Era
Sir John Plumb	1911	2001	British historian
Thomas Plume	1630	1704	English clergyman, founder of the University's Plumian Chair of Astronomy and Experimental Philosophy
Roy Porter	1946	2002	British historian
Beilby Porteus	1731	1809	Bishop of Chester and Bishop of London, leading reformer and abolitionist
Peter Rawlinson, Baron Rawlinson of Ewell	1919	2006	Attorney General for England and Wales
Forrest Reid	1875	1948	Cambridge apostle, novelist, literary critic
Thomas Robinson, 2nd Baron Grantham	1738	1786	British Foreign Secretary
Nicholas Saunderson	1682	1739	British mathematician
David Say	1939	2006	British bishop
Simon Schama	1945		British historian, author, and television presenter
Jan Smuts	1870	1950	Prime Minister of South Africa, Field Marshal, and Commonwealth statesman
C. P. Snow, Baron Snow	1905	1980	British novelist and philosopher
Nicholas Tarling	1931		Historian
Jeffrey Tate	1943		Conductor
Henry Teonge	1620	1690	Naval chaplain and diarist
Andrew Turnbull, Baron Turnbull	1945		Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service
Kieran West	1977		Olympic gold medalist rower
Richard Whiteley	1943	2005	British television presenter
Rowan Williams	1950		British theologian, Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury
Christopher Zeeman	1925		British mathematician
Szeming Sze	1908	1998	Chinese Diplomat, WHO co-founder

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Undergraduate Admissions: Christ's College". University of Cambridge website. http://www.cam.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/colleges/christs/. Retrieved 2009-08-02. 
2. ^ Christ's top of 20-year table of Cambridge colleges
3. ^ Christ's College Magazine, Michaelmas 1953
4. ^ Christ's College Magazine no. 228, p 53, 2003
5. ^ Architects pay tribute to Denys Lasdun
6. ^ The Legacy of Lasdun
7. ^ Christ's College Magazine no. 228, p 56, 2003
8. ^ Official Christ's College Website; Distinguished Alumni
9. ^ Rugby Varsity Match 1960: First Half Highlights.
10. ^ Contacts of the LMB
11. ^ St. Johnston Group Homepage
12. ^ Director's Welcome - NIMR
13. ^ Director's Foreword of LRI
14. ^ Professor Sir Peter Lachmann at the Academy of Medical Sciences

External links

• Official Christ's College website
• Christ's JCR website
• Christ's MCR website
• Christ's biennial May Ball
• Exhibition celebrating 400 years since the birth of John Milton
• Cambridge 2000 — Christ's College photographs

Coordinates: 52°12′19″N 0°07′20″E / 52.205398°N 0.122223°E / 52.205398; 0.122223