Page 12 - Linacre 50 years
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Linacre College
The Beginning
Linacre’s origins go back to the late 1950s, as St
Catherine’s Society prepared to vacate their St
Aldate’s site and become a new undergraduate
college. This is recalled in the balcony railings
above the entrance to St Aldate’s, which can
s ll be seen on the present building.
The idea of a graduate society at the St Aldate’s
site —as proposed by the Censor of St
Catherine’s, Alan Bulloch—nearly foundered as
diverse Oxford interests jostled for their own
pet projects. Indeed, not all were convinced of
the need or advisability of an all-graduate hall.
Fortunately plans were put firmly back on track
by Sir Keith Murray, Chairman of the University
Grants Commi ee.
Linacre by another name?
While “Linacre” now seems the perfect, and
obvious, name for the new society, it was not so
clear at the me. For example , St Aldate’s Hall
was the ‘working name’ used on early dra
documents, although many agreed that “this
would be a sad mistake, historically and
topographically.” One Oxford don offered either
St Michael’s Hall (“to add the lustre of a well-
known archangel”) or Grosseteste Hall (for
“Robert Grosseteste, the first known chancellor
of the University”). A more prosaic sugges on
was Mill Hall, for “the stream on whose banks
the buildings stand”. But even Oxford
academics knew that one could take pedan c
ra onale too far. “It is true that there stood on
this site in the Middle Ages a building known as Bust and portrait of Thomas Linacre (above)
Rack Hall, flanked by a lane called ‘The Rack’, on display in Linacre College The 19th century
but this is perhaps be er forgo en.” bust was donated to the College by the A.T.
Linacres. Also, ‘Thomas Linacre, Inglese’ from
We can all breathe a sigh of relief that more the Sala dei Quaranta at the University of
sensible views prevailed. Dame Lucy Padua, is pictured to the right.
Sutherland, Principal of Lady Margaret Hall, is
credited with sugges ng the society be named College AdministraƟon
a er Thomas Linacre (c. 1460 –1524), a great
Renaissance classicial scholar, physician, and
Fellow of All Souls.
The Delegacy The First ‘Senior Members’
Linacre House was ini ally governed by a
Delegacy, which answered to the University.
Many of the members were very eminent;
Nobel Laureate Dorothy Hodgkin was one of
them. A facsimile of her acceptance of the
invita on to join the Delegacy is below.
A commi ee appointed by the University
Hebdomadal Council conducted the search for
Linacre’s first Principal. On 16 May 1961, John
Bernard Bamborough was formally confirmed
as Principal-Elect. By Michaelmas 1962, key
staff were in place, including Dr Rupert Cecil,
the first Dean of Linacre; Peter Holloway, who
transferred from St Catherine’s Society as
Bursary Clerk; Giles Barber, the first College
Librarian; and Chris ne Turner, the first