 Oxford
University is the oldest in Britain. The university has 39
colleges
(see the list
of colleges).
The colleges
Twenty of these 39 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 Sir
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 Sir
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 first woman Prime Minister, Margaret
Thatcher; 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 thirty-nine 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.
|
| 17th
century |
| Wadham
College |
A
selection of famous people who have been connected with the college. |
When Nicholas Wadham died in 1609 he left his fortune for his widow
to found a college at Oxford. Four years later (around 1613) Dorothy
Wadham had founded Wadham
College.
History
|
Sir
Christopher Wren
Architect
Undergraduate,
1649-51
MA, 1653
Savilian
Professor of Astronomy, 1661-73
See All Souls
College
Cecil
Day-Lewis
Poet
laureate, 1968-72
Undergraduate, 1923-27
Professor
of Poetry, 1951-56
|
|