Innes, John (Floruit 1950s), painter
- Personne
Innes, John (Floruit 1950s), painter
Morshead, Henry Treise (1882–1931), surveyor, explorer and mountaineer
Member of the 1921 and 1922 British Mount Everest Expeditions.
Henry Morshead was born in 1882 and brought up near Tavistock. He was the eldest son of Reginald Morshead, a banker, and Ella Mary Morshead. He was educated at Winchester College. In 1901 (at the second attempt) he passed the exams to enter the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, to become an officer in the Royal Engineers. At the Chatham Royal School of Military Engineering he had such a distinguished record that in 1904 he was posted to the Indian Army in the Royal Engineers' Military Works Services at Agra.
In 1906 he joined the Survey of India where, apart from his service in the First World War, he remained with the Survey until his death. He became knowledgeable in the history of Himalayan exploration, particularly in Tibet and distinguished himself on several arduous winter Himalayan expeditions.
In 1920 he accompanied Alexander Kellas in an attempt to climb the 25,447 ft (7,756 m) Kamet.
On the 1921 British reconnaissance expedition, Morshead led the Survey of India team which mapped 12,000 square miles (31,000 km2) of entirely unexplored country. During this expedition he climbed Kama Changri at 21,300 ft (6,500 m) and with George Mallory was the first to establish the camp on the 22,350 ft (6,810 m) Lhakpa La.
In the 1922 expedition, Morshead was a member of the Everest climbing party itself but because he had only been allowed leave at the last minute his expedition clothing had to be bought at Darjeeling bazaar and it was inadequate. On 20 May 1922 with Mallory, Howard Somervell and Teddy Norton, Morshead was in the first assault team, which attempted reaching the summit without oxygen. As the party left the North Col to head up towards the north east ridge, Norton's rucksack fell down to the glacier and this reduced the overnight clothing for camp V at 25,000 ft (7,600 m). The camp was at a higher altitude that anyone had ever been before. The next morning another rucksack was let slip but Morshead climbed down 100 ft (30 m) to recover it. However, on resuming the climb Morshead was almost immediately unable to continue and so went down to camp V while the other three continued. The team reached 26,985 ft (8,225 m) before turning back.
They joined Morshead at camp V who by then was very cold and all four immediately went down to camp IV on the North Col. On the way Morshead slipped and dragged two other men down the couloir. Mallory managed to stop the fall and saved everyone's lives. They reached camp at 23:30 but a logistical error had meant that the stove and fuel had been taken to a lower camp so there was no liquid water and no edible food. After surviving the night on the Col they descended to the glacier the next day but by then Somervell thought that Morshead was "not far from death". Norton, the expedition leader, wrote of him, "he kept going doggedly without complaint and in spite of a bad fall on an ice slope, knowing that the safety of the whole party depended on his determination to 'stay the course'". Morshead had severe frostbite to his hands and a foot and later three finger joints had to be amputated. However, at the time he hid the pain of his injuries from his colleagues.
For the 1924 Everest expedition Morshead was not considered able to participate as a climber because of his injuries but he was offered the role of base camp and transport officer. He had to turn this down because his employers would not give permission, even for unpaid leave. However, in the 1924 Olympic Games medals were awarded for mountaineering and Morshead received a special medal awarded to the climbers on the 1922 expedition.
In February 1931 Morshead stayed in Burma while the rest of the family returned to England for reasons of schooling. It was a time of unrest. A rebellion had started in Burma, against British rule, and Thakin rebels were in the vicinity of Maymyo. A colleague of Morshead had been shot at by a disaffected Survey employee who had been convicted of attempted murder. On 17 May 1931 Morshead set off riding by himself and later that day his riderless pony was discovered back in Maymyo. After extensive searching his body was found next day in the jungle nearby. He had been shot in the chest at point blank range. Two people were arrested, an ex-Gurkha who had been out shooting at the time, and the man whose gun he had been using. There was no apparent motive and no charges were ever brought because both men seemed to have alibis.
Heron, Alexander Macmillan (1884-1971), geologist
Dr Alexander Heron was a member of the 1921 British Mount Everest Expedition.
Alexander Heron was a Scottish geologist who became Director of the Geological Survey of India. He participated in the 1921 British Mount Everest reconnaissance expedition following which he produced a geological map of the Everest region of Tibet.
1922 expedition - The Survey of India nominated Heron to accompany the 1922 expedition as geologist even though the Tibetan authorities had refused permission [they had accused the 1921 party of mining precious stones and disturbing Demons]. Frederick Bailey was Britain's political advisor for Tibet and he continued with his predecessor's decision not to allow geologists. So, even though Heron joined the party at Kalimpong hoping for a last-minute reprieve, the Foreign Office in London, not wanting to cause diplomatic difficulty, instructed Charles Bruce, the leader of the expedition, not to allow Heron to participate and he had to return to Darjeeling. Despite all this Heron's discoveries were to be the foundation for the unofficial later work of Noel Odell on the 1924 expedition and Lawrence Wager on the 1933 expedition.
Gretton, William (1736-1813), Anglican Clergyman and Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge
Master of Magdalene College, 1797 - 1813
Educated at Peterhouse. Successor Dr Peter Peckard as Master. He was 'a man of no particular distinction who, as vicar of Saffron Walden, archdeacon of essex and a justice of the peace, was known at Audley End' [ie. known to the Visitor who had the power to appoint the Master. At this time the position of Visitor was held jointly by the Revd Dr and Mrs Parker].
He was not greatly interested in academic distinction and had no time for Evangelicas [who dominated Magdalene at this time]. His Mastership marked the start of a downward spiral from which it took a century to emerge.
He served as Vice-Chancellor, 1800-1801.
Most exceptionally, he was buried in the College Ante-Chapel, under a diamond-shaped slab.
Dighton, Robert (c. 1752-1814), artist and caricaturist
An English portrait painter, printmaker and caricaturist, he was the founder of a dynasty of artists who followed in his footsteps.
Otter, Walter William (c. 1879–1977), former undergraduate at Magdalene College, Cambridge
Admitted pensioner aged 17 at Magdalene College 22 May 1897
Son of Francis William Otter, of West Grinstead Lodge, West Grinstead, Horsham, [Sussex], deceased and Dorothea Mary Augusta, daughter of Sir Walter Wyndham Burrell, Bart.
Born 1879
Eton School, one term only
Matriculated, Michaelmas term 1897
Lieutenant in the 3rd Battalion, the Royal Sussex Regiment and served in the Great War.
Captain and Adjt., Sussex Yeomanry.
Married Patience Marion, only daughter of Sir Edmund Loder, Bart, on 21 June 1904
Had issue
Lived at Selehurst, Horsham, Sussex
Died on 6 August 1940 and is buried at Lower Beeding, Sussex
Stafford, Edward (1478-1521), 3rd Duke of Buckingham and benefactor of Magdalene College, Cambridge
Benefactor of Buckingham College, who built part of First Court, probably including the Hall, 1519, but thereafter got into serious debt. ‘Formidable alike by his descent, his wealth, his wide estates, and his connections’ (Oxford Dictionary of National Biography), he was a possible contender for the throne, leading to his trial and execution for treason, on very flimsy grounds.
Duchess of Kent and mother of Queen Victoria. The fourth daughter of Franz Friedrich Anton (Francis), duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (b. 1750), and his wife Augusta Caroline Sophia.
Jenkinson, Charles Cecil Cope (1784–1851), 3rd Earl of Liverpool and politician
Keilin, David (1887-1963), cellular biologist, Fellow of Magdalene College, Cambridge
Born in Moscow, but grew up in Poland; educated at the Sorbonne (DSc). In 1915 he joined Professor G. H. F. Nuttall in Cambridge as an assistant. Admitted as a Research Student, 1916; Bye-Fellow, 1916; Fellow, 1931; Honorary Fellow, 1957. Professor of Cellular Biology and Director of the Molteno Institute for Parasitology, 1931-1952. His classic publication in 1925 was on the pigment cytochrome, which he discovered and named. FRS, 1928; Royal Medal, 1939; Copley Medal, 1951; Associate Foreign Member of the Académie des Sciences de l’Institut de France, 1955. He was a world-class scientist who was perhaps unlucky not to become a Nobel Laureate.
Further Reading:
Article 'Professor Keilin by G. M. Hughes, College Magazine vol. 83 (1952) pp. 7-8
Obituary by F. McD C. Turner, College Magazine vol. 7 (1962-63) pp. 13-15
Article 'Magdalene and the Molteno Institute', College Magazine*, vol. 31 (1986-87) pp. 20-22
Freeth, Hubert (1912–1986), artist
British portrait painter and etcher. Freeth was born in Birmingham and attended the Birmingham College of Art and, between 1936 and 1939, studied at the British School in Rome. From 1936 onwards, Freeth exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy, the Royal Watercolour Society and elsewhere.
During World War Two, Freeth served in the Middle East as an official war artist to the Royal Air Force. The War Artists' Advisory Committee commissioned two lithographs from Freeth. During the War, he also worked on the Recording Britain project.
Freeth was one of the first artists to make the people of the Black Country the main subject of his work, as other artists placed greater emphasis on representing the industrial landscape. Freeth won the prestigious Prix de Rome in engraving in 1936 and 1937, for his series of Black Country images. After the war, the National Coal Board commissioned Freeth to produce works about mine-workers due to the success of his representation of the people of the Black Country.
Freeth was elected to the Royal Academy in 1965 and taught at St Martin's School of Art and the Central School of Art in London.
Facius, Georg (c.1750 - c.1813), artist
cartographer and painter. Brother of engraver Johann Gottlieb Facius. The Facius brothers were born in Regensburg (Germany) and received engraving training in Brussels. By 1776, their works were already well known and they moved to London at the invitation of John Boydell, with whom they worked for many years.
King, William Bernard Robinson (1889-1963), geologist
Educated at Jesus College, of which he was a Fellow, 1920-1922, before appointment as Director of Studies in Natural Sciences at Magdalene in 1922. In 1931 he left to become Professor of Geology at University College, London, returning to Cambridge and Magdalene as Woodwardian Professor of Geology, 1943-1955. Meanwhile, his knowledge of coastline and water supply were invaluable in planning the Normandy landings during the Second World War.
Pickersgill, Henry (1782–1875), painter
An English painter specialising in portraits. He was a Royal Academician for almost fifty years, and painted many of the most notable figures of his time.
Moro, Antonio (c.1517–1577), painter
A Netherlandish portrait painter, much in demand by the courts of Europe. He has also been referred to as Antoon, Anthonius, Anthonis or Mor van Dashorst, and as Antonio Moro, António Mouro, Anthony More, etc., but signed most of his portraits as Anthonis Mor
Parker, Mary (unknown - 1799), Visitor of Magdalene College, Cambridge
Sister of Lord Howard de Walden, the first Lord Braybrooke, married the Revd Dr William Parker DD, FRS (1714 -1802), Rector of St James’s, Westminster, and curate of Catharine Cree Church, eminent preacher, royal chaplain and chaplain to the Bishop of London . Mary succeeded to the family estates on the death of her brother in 1797, so she and her husband had a life interest in Audley End, and as ‘owners’ under the old Statutes (an arrangement which lasted until 1926, when the right was vested in the Braybrooke family, not the ownership of Audley End), they jointly signed the patent for the presentation of William Gretton to the mastership in 1797; however, they did not reside at Audley End.
Pattrick, Francis (1837-1896), President of Magdalene College, Cambridge
Matriculated at Magdalene college in 1856; 8th Wrangler (1861). He spent his entire adult life in Magdalene, as a Fellow from 1861, Librarian (1863), Tutor from 1865, and President from 1876 until his untimely death at the age of 59 in 1896. He was suddenly taken ill while dining with his old friend Henry Latham, the Master of Trinity Hall, ‘and expired in a few minutes’ [Venn, J., and Venn, J. A., Alumni Cantabrigienses; a biographical list of all known students, graduates and holders of office at the University of Cambridge, from the earliest times to 1900]. According to family tradition, Pattrick expected to become Master in succession to Latimer Neville (‘Binkie’/Pattrick, F. G. Twenty-Thirty: An Autobiography of this Decade of my Life (St Ives, Cambs, 1986) p 5).
Arms in Hall glass, W2.
Peel, Talbot (1872-1954), Fellow and Bursar of Magdalene College, Cambridge
Matriculated at Magdalene College in 1890. One of the first men to take the Mechanical Sciences Tripos. After working on Parsons steam turbines, and teaching at the Leys School, he returned to the Engineering Department in 1898, where he continued to lecture until 1937, on mechanics and thermodynamics.
Made a Fellow at Magdalene in 1909; Steward, 1912-1913, 1942-1945; Bursar, 1913-1937, 1943-1947. He was brought out of retirement to fill the gap left by the departure of his successor.
Further reading:
Article: 'Mr Talbot Peel, 1872-1954', College Magazine, No. 85 (1954) pp. 21-23
Matriculated from Magdalene College in 1839. He was directly descended through his mother from Archbishop Thomas Cranmer’s sister.
Rowed in the Blue Boat, 1840, 1841, 1842.
‘Architect, archaeologist and astronomer’, surveyor of the fabric of St Paul’s Cathedral (1852-1897), he is chiefly remembered as an architectural historian. His famous work Principles of Athenian Architecture (1851, 1888, 1973) demonstrated that there were no straight lines in the Parthenon (entasis of the columns).
One of the first Honorary Fellows, 1885.
President of the RIBA, 1894-1896, and first director of the British School at Athens.
For Magdalene he undertook the restoration of the Street Front and laid out River Court (he designed the gates); part of the Chapel Court in St John’s is also his work.
Further reading:
Article: 'Unbuilt Magdalene I Penrose's Plan for Second Court (1872-73)', College Magazine, No. 30, (1985-86), pp. 21-24 (R. Hyam)
Pepys, Talbot (1583-1666), politician and great uncle of Samuel Pepys
Great uncle of Samuel Pepys, and patriarch of the family.
Talbot Pepys was the youngest son of John Pepys of Cottenham, Cambridgeshire and his wife Edith Talbot. He was baptised at Impington on 2 April 1583. He inherited the site of his father's mansion at Impington when he was six years old in 1589.
He matriculated from King's College, Cambridge in 1595 and became a scholar of Trinity Hall, Cambridge in 1601. He was admitted at Middle Temple on 13 May 1605 and was called to the bar in 1613. Between 1624 and 1660 he served as Recorder of Cambridge.
In 1625 he was elected Member of Parliament for Cambridge. He was Reader of Middle Temple in 1631 and Treasurer in 1640. He was often visited by his great nephew Samuel Pepys.
Pepys married firstly, Beatrice Castell, daughter of John Castell of Raveningham, Norfolk on 3 August 1617. They had five children. After Beatrice's death he married Paulina, who died in 1626. He married his third wife Mary Tesmond not long after Paulina's death. His last wife was Mary Barker.
Talbot Pepys died at the age of 82 at Impington.
Gunn, James (1893-1964), artist
A Scottish landscape and portrait painter. Gunn's paintings are on show in a number of galleries and his 1953 portrait of Queen Elizabeth II is in the Royal Collection. He also painted notable portraits of King George V, Agnes Catherine Maitland (now in Somerville College's dining hall), and also of Harold Macmillan, in his role as Chancellor of Oxford University. He was elected President of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters in 1953, a post he held until his death.
Wood, James (1889-1975), artist
Painter, draughtsman, writer and aesthete, born in Southport, Lancashire. From 1908-11 he read history at Cambridge University, then in Paris, after studying etching, pursued painting with Percyval Tudor-Hart before going to Munich. During World War I he was in the army and Royal Flying Corps, later working on battleship camouflage. Among Wood's writings after World War I were The Foundations of Aesthetics, written with C. K. Ogden and I. A. Richards. He also wrote on colour harmony, a favourite topic, and in 1926 published New World Vistas, an autobiographical work. From the 1930s Wood became increasingly fascinated by Persian Art; he learn Persian and subsequently became art adviser to the Persian government. His own paintings were influenced by Kandinsky, and he showed at Leicester and Zwemmer Galleries in solo exhibitions. After 1955 he rarely exhibited, but painted several portraits of Cambridge Academics. Throughout the war years Wood lived in a remote cottage above Llantony, Monmouthshire. After the war he lived mainly in his Hampstead house, where his studio was situated, though spent some of his time in his wife’s house in rural Gloucestershire with occasional visits to Llantony. Wood was married to a painter, Elisabeth Robertson, who had previously been the wife of the artist and writer Humphrey Slater. In 1980 Blond Fine Art held a retrospective.
Roberts, David Wyn (1911-1982), architect and Fellow of Magdalene College, Cambridge
Trained at the Welsh School of Architecture. In 1937 appointed to an assistant lectureship at King’s College, Newcastle, where he was influenced by L. C. Evetts, the authority on Roman lettering. University lecturer in Architecture, 1946-1978, with architectural commissions in Magdalene, 1953-1971. Made a Fellow in 1958. He designed more buildings in Cambridge than any other architect in history, but was also in demand for student accommodation at Oxford, Durham, Bangor, Liverpool and Sheffield. He was expert at the conversion of old buildings. Famous for personal charm and a hooting laugh.
Obituary: College Magazine, No. 27 (1982-83), pp. 1-6
Bachrach, Fabian (1917–2010), photographer
An American photographer, known for portraits of celebrities, politicians, presidents and other prominent individuals. He was professionally known as Fabian. Bachrach was best known for a portrait of Senator John F. Kennedy, which was later used as his official photograph after he was elected President in 1960.
Boyle, Nicholas (1946-present), scholar of German and President of Magdalene College, Cambridge
Educated King's School Worcester. Matriculated in 1964 (Scholar). PhD 1975, Fellow 1968, Tutor 1984–1993. University Lecturer 1974, Reader 1993–2000, Professor of German Literature & Intellectual History 2000, Schröder Professor of German 2006. W. Heinemann Prize, RSL, 1992; Goethe Medal 2000, Gundolf Prize 2009; Corresponding Fellow, Göttingen Academy of Sciences, 2010. Recreation: 'enjoying other people's gardens'.
Duffy, Eamon (1947-present), church historian and President of Magdalene College, Cambridge
Educated at St Philip's Grammar School Birmingham, University of Hull, Selwyn College (PhD 1972). Lecturer in Ecclesiastical History, King's College London 1974–1979. University Lecturer in Divinity Faculty, Cambridge 1979–1994, Reader 1994, Professor of the History of Christianity 2003. Hawthornden Prize for Literature 2002.
Fellow 1979 (Director of Studies in History and in Theology; Tutor), President 2001–2006.
Member of the Pontifical Historical Commission 2001; President of the Ecclesiastical History Society 2004–2005; Hon Member of the Irish Royal Academy, 2012.
College Magazine
Article, College Magazine, vol. 45 (2000–01) p. 21
Grubb, Peter (1935-present), plant ecologist and President of Magdalene College, Cambridge
Educated at Royal Liberty School Romford. Matric 1954 (Scholar); PhD 1962, ScD 1995; Bye-Fellow, 1958–1960; Fellow, 1960 (Emeritus 2002); Tutor, 1963–1974; joint Director of Studies in Natural Sciences (Biological), 1980–1996; President, 1991–1996 (Acting Master , Michaelmas Term 1994). University Lecturer in Botany, 1964-1992; Reader, 1992-2000; Professor of Investigative Plant Ecology, 2000 (Emeritus 2002). President of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, 1990-1991; Editor, Journal of Ecology, 1972-1977; President of the British Ecological Society, 1990-1991 (first Award for outstanding service to the Society, 2003).
Saunders, Bernard (1903-1983), chemist and President of Magdalene College, Cambridge
Educated at Pembroke College. Lecturer in Natural Sciences at Magdalene, and University Demonstrator in Chemistry, from 1931. Made a Fellow in 1938.
Research on chemical warfare during the war, working on various ‘ nerve gases’; and after the war a regional scientific adviser on Civil Defence.
Director of Studies in Natural Sciences and Medicine, 1931-1973. Praelector or Deputy Praelector, 1949-1978. President, 1967-1973. Senior Proctor, 1943-1944.
Further reading:
Obituary: College Magazine No. 28 (1983–84) pp. 1-3 (P. J. Grubb)
Article: 'The Chemistry of B. C. Saunders', College Magazine, No. 56 (2011–12), p. 64-68
Drinkwater, Daisy (active mid nineteenth century), artist
Relative of John Drinkwater, biographer of Samuel Pepys.
Stone, Alan (1909-1979), typographer and graduate of Magdalene College, Cambridge
Matriculated in 1927.
Fairfax Scott got him involved in the Cambridge University Press, where he learned typography, and from there he studied lettering (very briefly) with Eric Gill. During the war he worked on aerial photographic interpretation, making a major contribution to the war effort. He was a consummate designer of book-plates, but also designed royal arms, and for The Times and the Bank of England. In Magdalene he designed the 1939-1945 War Memorial (cut by his cousin Will Carter). Made an Honorary Fellow in 1978.