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Thomas Stearn (1825 - 1905), a Cambridge tailor, founded this firm of photographers around 1866. Later he ran the firm with his wife Eliza trading as 'Mr and Mrs Stearn'. Later still he took his sons Frank b:1856, Harry Cotterell b:1860, and Walter James b:1865 into the business, trading as Messrs Stearn and later as Stearn and Sons.
After Thomas died the business was run by his sons. Harry Cotterell Stearn died in 1906. Another son, Gilbert Stearn b:1866, was involved in the business at least until 1917. Walter James Stearn died in 1929. Thomas's niece, Edith was also involved with the firm.

Stearn’s operated throughout its history from 72 Bridge Street Cambridge, narrowly avoiding the loss of their premises in a fire in their darkroom in 1898. From 1908 to 1920 local directories also listed premises at Brunswick Terrace Cambridge. At some point between 1939 and 1943 the firm was taken over by A. H. Leach and Son, a well established and growing photo processing business based at Brighouse in Yorkshire.

A new limited company, Stearn and Sons (Cambridge) Ltd, was formed in April 1943, neither the shareholders not the Directors were from the Stearn family. During the period 1942 to 1950 the firm’s processing work was done by A. H. Leach in Brighouse. In 1966 A. H. Leach was taken over by an advertising company, Hunting Surveys, until the Leach family bought the business back from them in 1999. From 1968 the new company, Stearn and Sons (Cambridge) Ltd, did not trade on their own account but acted as agents of their holding companies. In 1970 the Cambridge firm joined Eaden Lilley Photographers.

Stearn and Son took most of the rowing photos until the late 1960's when they joined Eaden Lilley Photographers. Cambridge Central Library have a lot of the original negatives from 1942-1950. The copyright of the photos taken by Eaden Lilley has now passed to Lafayette Photography.

Edward Leigh (1913-1998)

Working Dates: 1946 -1983

One of the few professional photographers to obtain a prestigious Fellowship of the Royal Photographic Society as well as a Fellowship of the Institute of British Photographers, the professional photographers' own body, Edward Leigh has been described as a true artist with a camera. His photographic career spanned over 50 years. Before WW2 he worked as a fashion photographer and a stills cameraman for Fox Film Studios, later 20th Century Fox. During the war his printing skills were employed by RAF Oakington to process at great speed the aerial recognisance photographs which were assembled into the mosaic maps used by Bomber Command.

After the war Edward set up his own studio on Kings Parade in the centre of Cambridge, living on the premises. Edward did a great deal of work for University Departments and Cambridge Colleges, from groups of freshers to graduation ceremonies, visiting Royals to portraits of fellows and, one of his many favourite assignments, work for the Peyps Library at Magdalene College. Many of his architectural photographs have been used for decades in books on Cambridge. He was a much sought after industrial photographer, skilled in the use of lighting and good at composition.

When Edward retired, his son John Edward Leigh took over the business, still at 22 Derby Road, Cambridge, which he listed as specialising in advertising photography, for a short period around 1983-85, before the business finally closed.

Working for Edward Leigh at different times were Doug Rattle, Peter Lofts and Frank Bird.

Master of Magdalene College, 1915-1925

Arthur Christopher Benson was born on 24 April 1862 at Wellington College and was the son of Edward White Benson (1829–1896), first Headmaster of Wellington College and later Archbishop of Canterbury, and his wife, Mary, née Sidgwick (1841–1918). In 1874 he won a scholarship to Eton College and in 1881 he went to King's College, Cambridge, where he got a First in the Classical Tripos in 1884. He returned to Eton as a school master in 1885, a post he held for 18 years despite having no real interest in it.

His real ambition was for a literary career. He completed a biography of his father in 1899, and throughout his life he wrote or edited around sixty books. He wrote the words of ‘Land of Hope and Glory’ set to Elgar's music, for the coronation of King Edward VII in 1902. He was able to retire from Eton and return to Cambridge on his appointment as joint editor (with the second Viscount Esher) on the first of three volumes of The Letters of Queen Victoria, 1837-1861.

In 1904 he became a fellow of Magdalene College, Cambridge and in 1912 he became it's President. In December 1915 he was made Master, a post he held until his death. At the time he joined the College it was at a very low ebb, but his benefactions and energy transformed the College. He was helped by gifts totaling over £60,000 from an American admirer living in Switzerland, Mme de Nottbeck. He encouraged ‘modern’ subjects, not only English and history, but science, archaeology, and music. He also widened the range of school connections. He was friendly and helpful towards a large proportion of the undergraduates but he could also be combative, egotistical, and despotic.

In 1907–8 and again in 1917–22 he suffered from prolonged bouts of depression and withdrew from society.

He was a prolific diarist writing 180 volumes between 1897 and 1925.

He died in the Old Lodge at Magdalene College on 17 June 1925.

George Mallory was a student at Magdalene College, Cambridge (1905-1909) and member of the 1921, 1922, and 1924 British Mount Everest Expeditions. He disappeared with Andrew Irvine attempting to summit Mount Everest in 1924. His body was discovered in 1999.

George Leigh Mallory was born on 18 June 1886 at Mobberley, Cheshire, the eldest son of Herbert Leigh Mallory (1856–1943), rector of Mobberley and later vicar of St John's, Birkenhead, and his wife, Annie Beridge Jebb. He had an elder and a younger sister (Mary and Avie) and a brother, Sir Trafford Leigh Leigh-Mallory (who attended Magdalene College 1911-1914). His father changed his surname to Leigh-Mallory in 1914.

Mallory was educated at Winchester College (1900–05) before joining Magdalene College where he studied history under A. C. Benson. He was secretary and later Captain of the Boat Club, a member of the College's Kingsley Club, the University's Fabian Society and the Marlowe Dramatic Club. He was the College's representative on the committee of the University's Women's Suffrage Association. His circle of friends included many members of the Bloomsbury Group including Lytton and James Strachey, Duncan Grant (who painted several nude studies of him 1912-1913) and John Maynard Keynes.

After graduating he stayed in Cambridge for a year to write an essay which he later published as Boswell the Biographer (1912). During 1909–1910 he lived for five months at Roquebrune in the Alpes Maritimes to improve his French in preparation for a teaching career. In 1910 Mallory became an assistant master at Charterhouse, Godalming, Surrey, where he taught English, history, and French, and introduced students, including Robert Graves, to mountain climbing.

On 29 July 1914 Mallory married Ruth, daughter of Hugh Thackeray Turner, an architect. They had two daughters and a son. He was required to remain at Charterhouse when war came, and wrote a pamphlet, War Work for Boys and Girls (1915), to promote international understanding. He was later commissioned in the Royal Garrison Artillery as 2nd Lieutenant in December 1915, and assigned to the 40th Siege Battery, where he participated in the shelling at the Battle of the Somme. Transferred to a staff position, he served as a liaison officer with the French and was promoted to 1st Lieutenant before being invalided home. He returned to France for the final months of the war. After the war he became increasingly dissatisfied with school teaching and drafted an unpublished public school novel.

Mallory's main passion was mountaineeringand he climbed in the Alps, the Lakes, and north Wales. His climbing companions included Geoffrey Winthrop Young, Geoffrey Keynes, and Cottie Sanders (the novelist Ann Bridge). As a rock-climber he was renowned for his grace and sense of balance, but he also had a reputation for impetuosity, imprudence, and absent-mindedness.

Geoffrey Winthrop Young persuaded Mallory to join the first Everest expedition in 1921 because it would make his name and enhance his career as an educator or writer. In 1921 he explored the Tibetan side of Everest and reached the north col with Guy Henry Bullock (1887–1956) of the diplomatic service, who was a school friend of Mallory's from Winchester, and several porters. In 1922 he returned to Everest and reached 8200 metres without supplemental oxygen, saving the lives of three companions when they slipped on the descent. After George Finch's party went even higher with oxygen, Mallory led an ill-advised attempt to reach the north col after a heavy snowstorm that resulted in the deaths of seven porters in an avalanche.

Mallory lectured on Everest in Britain in 1922 and in America in 1923. The New York Times (18 March 1923) reported that when asked why climb Everest, Mallory replied, 'Because it's there.' In May 1923, he became a lecturer and assistant secretary in the Cambridge University Board of Extramural Studies.

In 1924 Mallory was promoted to climbing leader on Everest when Colonel E. F. Norton unexpectedly replaced General C. G. Bruce, who had fallen ill, as overall leader. Despite a prevailing prejudice, which he had shared, against oxygen, Mallory wanted to use it after seeing the benefits in 1922, and as he became increasingly obsessed with conquering the mountain. He developed a plan to give himself the best chance to reach the summit by using oxygen with his climbing partner Andrew Irvine. After two unsuccessful attempts without oxygen, he put his plan into action. Mallory and Irvine left their camp on the north-east ridge on 8 June 1924, and were seen momentarily through a break in the clouds by Noel Odell (1890–1987), who said they were probably on a rock outcrop known as the Second Step, below the final summit pyramid. Their location during this sighting has been the subject of debate. After they failed to return, a memorial cairn was erected at the foot of Everest, and memorial services were held at Magdalene College, Cambridge, at Merton College, Oxford, at St John's, Birkenhead, and on 17 October 1924 at St Paul's Cathedral, London.

Mallory's friends wanted to believe that he reached the summit, though this remains unproven, and it is usually assumed that he did not. In 1933 Percy Wyn Harris found an ice axe on bare slabs of rock below the First Step with markings that matched those on Irvine's walking sticks. In 1975 Wang Hung-Bao (d. 1979), a Chinese climber, found the body of an 'English dead' in old-fashioned clothing on a ledge at about 26,600 feet, also below the First Step. In 1999 an expedition dedicated to searching for Mallory and Irvine found Mallory's frozen body on a snow terrace at 27,000 feet. The body was identified by a name tag sewn into Mallory's clothing. After a brief ceremony, Mallory's body was reburied in the snow on 1 May 1999.

Educated at Winchester College, 1734-1736. Captain in the Foot Guards, 1744. Distinguished service in Seven Years War. Made a General in 1778 and Field-Marshal in 1796.
Was MP for Andover between 1749 and 1784.
Awarded KB in 1761.
Served as Lord Lieutenant of Essex, 1784 - 1797.

Died without issue, so the Barony was devolved on Richard Neville.

Alwyn Faber Scholfield was educated at Eton College and then studied Classics at King's College Cambridge. After graduating, he travelled and taught for a year at Eton. He worked in Cambridge University Library on classical and early printed books in 1911–12 and in 1913 he went to Calcutta as keeper of the records of the Government of India and officiating librarian of the Imperial Library, Calcutta. From 1919 to 1923 he was librarian at Trinity College, Cambridge. He was elected librarian of the University of Cambridge in 1923, and held that post until 1949. During his tenure he supervised the removal of the library from Old Schools to its current site and managed it on restricted resources during the Second World War.

An Italian sculptor presumed to have been from Volterra. From 1883 to 1885, he studied at Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze and spent most of his career in Florence, Italy. He was skilled in sculpting both marble and alabaster and most often produced female nudes, usually smaller than life-size figures. His female nudes featured highly polished skin and emphasized the curves of hips and waistlines.

Peynot was born in Villeneuve-sur-Yonne, Burgundy. He became well known following his Grand Prize at the Prix de Rome sculpture competition in 1880 and a left a legacy of numerous monuments and reliefs in France as well as Argentina and Ecuador. He died in Paris in 1932.Emilé Edmond Peynot studied under Joffrey and Robinet, first exhibiting at the Salon des Artistes Fraçais 1873, later achieving the Grand Prix de Rome in 1880 and gold medals at the Paris Expositions Universelles in 1889 and 1900. His work is held by museums in Paris and his public commissions for public squares and monuments in Paris at the Petit Palais, the Opera-Comique, and the Lyon train station are lasting preservations of his achievements.

A Genevan-born French sculptor best known for his work in the neoclassical style. He studied under Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres in Paris. In 1827 he became a member of the Académie des beaux-arts and a professor at the École des Beaux-Arts.The cool neoclassical surface finish of Pradier's sculptures is charged with an eroticism that their mythological themes can barely disguise. James Pradier is buried in the Père-Lachaise cemetery.

Born in Le Mans, in Sarthe, on 16 January 1847, and was adopted by the painter Charles Suan. He lived during a certain period in Montmartre, and died in Le Mans on 11 December 1925. He studied at the École des Beaux-Arts of Paris, and was a pupil of François Jouffroy. He realized medaillons and statuettes, in plaster, marble or bronze. He exhibited at the Salon, as early as 1872, and until 1909, and became a member of the Société des Artistes Français.

Vincent-Désire Faure de Brousse (1843 to 1908 Montpellier Paris) was a French sculptor. He was a student of Hugo Salmson in Paris and presented from 1876 - 1883 at the Paris Salon. Faure de Brousse was an exceptionally talented artist who specialised in bronze, figurative sculptures, crafted in the Italian Renaissance style. He was well-respected as a sculptor, and was regularly selected to exhibit at the Salon in Paris in the late 19th Century.

Educated at Trinity College. He attracted the attention of Neville Grenville (Master), and as a result he became the University’s Hulsean Lecturer, 1820-1822, and a Fellow, 1820. Canon of Worcester from 1825. Master of the Temple, 1826-1845. He was a noted preacher, and a critic of Tractarianism.

Made an Honorary Fellow in 1965 in succession to T. S. Eliot. This was felt appropriate, not only because of his reputation as a composer, but also because he was a MusD without College affiliation, long associated with the Cambridge University Musical Society. Britten was already in declining health by the time of his election, and the College saw little of him.
Life peer, 1976: Baron Britten of Aldeburgh.

Obituary by J. E. Stevens in the College Magazine vol. 21 (1976-77) pp 7-8

Portraitist who Studied art at Canford School under Robin Noscoe. Attended Bournemouth and Poole College of Art. Held an Exhibition in English at Christ’s College, Cambridge.
Studied Architecture and History of Art. Between 1979 and 1980 he undertook a series of pencil portraits of Honorary Fellows for Magdalene College, Cambridge.

Son of Charles Johnson Brooke, 2nd Rajah of Sarawak, and Margaret de Windt. He was educated at Winchester and Magdalene College (matriculated in 1894). He failed to take a degree as his main interest was horse-racing.

He succeeded his father in 1917. His rule ended in 1946 with cession to the Crown.

Arms in Hall glass, W3.

Daughter of Clayton de Windt, cousin and wife of the 2nd Rajah of Sarawak whom she married in 1869. Mother of Charles Vyner Brooke.
Once estranged from husband after producing the necessary heirs, she returned to London, where she was at the centre of a social circle that included several of the leading literary talents of the 1890s, such as Oscar Wilde and Henry James.
Her younger brother Harry matriculated from Maagdalene in 1875, and was afterwards ADC to the Rajah.
As ‘Ghita’ (her childhood name), the Ranee composed the Sarawak National Anthem (1872).

Composer and music critic. Pupil of Battishill. Organist of St Mary Woolnoth, Lombard St, 1798.
Entered Magdalene as a sizar in 1800. MusD, 1801, for a thanksgiving ode on British naval victories.
Composer of various stage-works and oratorios, beginning with The Prophecy (after A. Pope, The Messiah), first performed in 1799. Author of A Complete and Comprehensive Dictionary of Music (1805) and A General History of Music, from the earliest times to the present (1819).
He would appear to have been more successful in writing about music than composing it. Was said to have had ‘loose notions on religious subjects’.

Benefactor of the College, and particularly of the Pepys Library. A Londoner who was Chairman of the Trees, Gardens and City Open Spaces Committee of the City of London, Common Councillor of the Corporation of London; Chairman of Haslemere Estates, 1943-1983. His interests were the built environment, gardens, and Samuel Pepys. Honorary Fellow, 1973.

Further reading:
Article: 'F. E. Cleary by C. F. Kolbert, R. C. Latham & D. J. H. Murphy, College Magazine, No. 23, 1978-79, pp. 38-40
Obituary by C. F. Kolbert, College Magazine, vol. 28 (1983-84) pp. 5-8

Born in London where his father was a tailor. Educated at St Paul’s School where he was friends with Samuel Pepys.

Matriculated from Magdalene in 1649 and became a Fellow in 1653. Amongst his friends and contemporaries at Magdalene were Hezekiah Burton, Sir Samuel Morland and Orlando Bridgeman.

In 1658 he was made Rector of Brampton Ash in Northamptonshire and in 1661 was appointed as one of the twelve preachers of the University. In 1670 he became Rector of All Saints in Stamford and married Anne Quinsey. In 1672 he published De Legibus Naturae which was dedicated to Sir Orlando Bridgeman.
In 1691 he was made Bishop of Peterborough and only found out when he read the newspaper in a coffee house in Stamford. He was persuaded to accept by his friends although he refused any further appointments. He carried out his new duties with energy and continued his episcopal visitations until he was 80. He was distinguished by his gentleness and humility. He died on 8 October 1718 and is buried in Peterborough Cathedral.

Like Bishop Rainbow (see WA/A/106) he gave all his surplus revenue to the poor, reserving only £25 to pay for his funeral.

Memorial brass in Chapel.