- Persoon
- 1827 - 12 January 1904
Master of Magdalene College, 1853-1904
Educated at Eton.
Matriculated at Magdalene in 1845 otaining a second in the Classical Tripos in 1849
Made a Bye-Fellow in 1849
Rector of Heydon, 1851-1902, Rural Dean of Saffron Walden, 1873-1879
Master of Magdalene, 1853-1904, sometimes with office of Bursar or Dean
Vice-Chancellor, 1859-1861 (during the residence of the Prince of Wales)
'As Master he performed his duties conscientiously, for a long time combining them with the tasks of Bursar, and occasionally acting as Dean. Although he was quite a good cricketer and enjoyed shooting he was neither a hunting nor a rowing man'. He was sufficiently popular with the undergraduates for a new boat to be named after him in 1877. He was not feared as a strict disciplinarian. His 50 year Mastership though oversaw the decline in the standards of the College leaving it on the brink of ruin.
A. C. Benson described him as 'a dear old man' and thought his wife was 'the evil genius of the place'. Her view was that 'the College was a disagreeable sort of incumbrance on the Mastership'.
In 1902 he became 6th Baron Braybrooke (following the deaths of his elder 3 brothers). This meant that for a short time he was Visitor and Master.