Archive and Silver Exhibition

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Trinity Hall

Posted:

06 Dec 2023

For those who weren’t able to make it to the exhibition last week, here’s a quick run-down of the archival items that were on display.

First out of the gate was the Exemplar Statutorum, better known as the foundation statutes. The statutes were sealed at Terling in Essex on 1 June 1352, and outline Bateman’s ambitious plan for his new foundation. He stipulated that there were to be a Master, 20 fellows, and some scholars, which was more than any other college in Cambridge at the time. However, when he died suddenly in 1355, he left the College with only a master, 3 fellows, and 3 scholars. It wasn’t until 1952, 602 years later, that his vision was finally realized. More information about the statutes (including some of the fun original rules!) and the early history of the College can be found on the Old Library Blog.

Parchment with decorative writing showing a king drawn in the initial letter

Next were three royal charters, one from each of Henry VIII’s children. There was an inspeximus* from Edward VI from 1553, which has a very sweet looking illustration of him in the beginning initial and decoration along the top border. The document is dated June 21^st 1553, just two weeks before his death on July 6^th. There was also a charter from Philip and Mary from 1558. Philip and Mary are depicted as joint rulers both in the decorated initial and in the great seal at the bottom. This document was fortunately found in a crawl space when the Aula Bar was being constructed. The impressive inspeximus by Queen Elizabeth from 1559 is one of the most ornately decorated items in the archival collection. It is not only beautiful but also significant, as it reconfirms the College’s earliest charters. Many of the original charters have been lost over the years, so without this charter, the College would struggle to prove the legal basis for its existence.

The Grant of Arms, another very important legal document for the College, was also on display. It dates to 1575 and grants Trinity Hall the right to use the arms that are depicted in the document. The arms granted was based on the family arms of Bishop William Bateman, with some notable differences. The most significant being the addition of a helmet and wreath above the coat of arms with a red lion holding a book.

Moving into the 18^th century, there was Spencer Penrice’s diary. Penrice was admitted to Trinity Hall in June 1736, and his diary meticulously records daily student life in hourly increments, providing a fascinating insight into the social, academic and religious life of a fellow commoner in the early eighteenth century.

Also from the 18^th century were some key documents from the case against perfidious fellow, Philip Nichols. Philip Nichols was expelled from the fellowship in 1731 after being found guilty of stealing books from Trinity Hall, the University Library, St John’s, and Trinity College. The items on display were two affidavits from the case with the keys found in his rooms attached used as evidence against him, so they were quite literally key documents.

The famous Dickens letter, which recently celebrated it’s 155^th birthday, was also out. Much has been said about the letter recently, but for more information see our Old Library blogpost.

From the 19^th century there were a number of photos, including a photo of a young Edward Carpenter, the poet, pioneer of the socialist movement, and early activist for gay rights. His photo was part of a series of photos of fellows from the 1870’s alongside Edward Anthony Beck, who matriculated in 1867, was a fellow from 1871 to 1901, and Master of the College from 1902-1916. It was with Beck that Carpenter began exploring his feelings for men. According to Carpenter their friendship had a “touch of romance,” but Beck ended the relationship causing Carpenter great emotional heartache.

The other photos were of college buildings. There were photos showing what central site looked like in 1865 (spoiler alert, it looked exactly the same except everything was covered in ivy!), and photos of the master’s coach house and stables from 1889 shortly before it was torn down to make way for the Latham Building. A postcard from 1911 showed what the Latham Building looked like shortly after it was built, complete with a tennis court on Latham Lawn!

Spencer Penrice’s diary The Case of Philip Nichols

A pen and ink drawing of two bears skipping

There was a small selection of early matriculation photos showing some of the College’s famous alumni. On display was the photo for 1919 showing J.B. Priestley, 1928 showing Billy Fiske (two-time Olympic gold medallist and first American pilot killed in action in WWII), and 1931 showing Donald MacLean (one of the Cambridge Five spies).

Lest you think the students in the past were boring and didn’t have any fun, there were some photos showing examples of the students cross-dressing, one of a mock trial held by the Owls Club in 1912 and the other a photo album of the 1927 RAG event. Cross-dressing was a very popular practice in Cambridge from the second half of the 19^th century not only in drama but in a wide range of social events. The absence of women in the all-male colleges was seen as a guarantor of moral purity, and cross-dressing for student drama was the norm. However, concern in the 1920’s about homosexuality and effeminacy gradually brought an end to single-sex theatrical performances.

Other records from the 1920’s that were on display was the plan for the original sports pavilion at Wychfield (which is celebrating its centenary next year), and a charming set of cartoons of the Society of Affable Bears. The Affable Bears weren’t an official society of the College, but rather appear to be a set of cartoons chronicle the adventures of a group of friends. Their activities included regular trips to the Whim pub (a restaurant where White Stuff is now that closed in the 1980s), dining together, dancing along the Roman Road, swimming at Jesus Green Lido, and ice skating. Much like the Philip and Mary charter, these documents were very fortunately found in a room in college a few years ago.

From the 1970’s was a photo album documenting the new additions to the College built in the 1960s and 1970s. It included the newly constructed Cherry Tree Court, the JCR, which was located next to the lecture theatre, and the Graham Storey room, which used to be the undergraduate library!

One of the highlights of the exhibition were the letters from Stephen Hawking. The letters were kindly gifted to the College a year ago by a college friend of Hawking’s. In the letters he describes a trip to New York, with which he was not impressed! And in another letter he describes losing interest in getting to know new people and the pitfalls of living on Central Site.

Rounding out the exhibition was the blindfold and eyeglass used by Terry Waite while in captivity in Lebanon from 1987 to 1991. Waite was a friend of the late Graham Howes, who offered a room in college to Waite to decompress after his release. He was elected a fellow commoner and wrote his memoir about his captivity, Taken on Trust, while staying here.

Read more on Matriculation Photographs The Society of Affable Bears

* an English charter or letters patent beginning with the Latin word inspeximus in which the grantor confirms and recites a former charter (definition from Merriam-Webster online dictionary).