3. Membership
3.1 GENERAL
This section deals with elections, admissions, migrations, resignations and other membership matters, together with associated records such as oaths of allegiance, baptisms, marriages and deaths. Administrative and personal papers of officers and members are listed elsewhere in the Guide.
Until 1979, the membership of the College was restricted to men. Waynflete's endowment provided for a President, 40 scholars (now Fellows) and 30 scholars with half-stipend, called Demies, who were 'on the foundation'. i.e. maintained out of the College's revenues; he also provided for the admission of up to 20 undergraduate Commoners who were not on the foundation. Some who were on the foundation, i.e. Choristers, Clerks, Chaplains, and the Master and Usher of the Oxford grammar school, were not necessarily members of the University and therefore, like the Commoners, were not members of the society in the full sense. For these see below, Sections 6 and 15. After the 1857 Ordinance the categories of membership changed: the distinction between Gentleman and Plebian Commoners was abolished, Demies were divided into senior (postgraduate) and junior (undergraduate), and professorial Fellowships were introduced.
The historical background is supplied in detail for each period by The History of the University of Oxford (Oxford: Clarendon Press, in progress); completed volumes to 1996 are listed in Section 16. For basic information on Oxford undergraduates in general see A. B. Emden, A Biographical Register of the University of Oxford to A.D.1500, 3 vols (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1957-59), also J. Foster, Alumni Oxonienses: The Members of the University of Oxford 1500-1714, 4 vols (Oxford and London: Parker & Co., 1891-2) and Alumni Oxonienses… 1715-1886, 4 vols (Oxford and London: Parker & Co., 1887-8). Lists of prize-winners and honours graduates are printed in the Oxford Historical Register: 1220-1900 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1900) and Oxford Historical Register Supplement: 1901-30 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1934). From 1816 onwards, the annual editions of the The Oxford University Calendar (Oxford: J. Parker [and others], 1816-71; Oxford: Clarendon Press, from 1872) are invaluable.
For biographical details of Magdalen members (excluding Commoners) see Bloxam, Register of the Demies, 4 vols (covers Demies to 1857) and Macray, A Register of the Fellows 8 vols (covers Fellows to 1910). Biographical registers of living members, containing details supplied by the members, have been published from time to time: see successive issues of The Magdalen College Record. Editions available in the search room are as follows: The Magdalen College Record: Second Issue, 1911, ed. by John Murray, Jnr. (London: The Magdalen College Association, for circulation among members, 1911); The Magdalen College Record: Third Issue, 1922, ed. by John Murray (London: John Murray, 1922); The Magdalen College Record: Fourth Issue, 1934, ed. by P. V. M. Benecke (London: John Murray for The Magdalen College Association for circulation among members, 1934); The Magdalen College Record: Fifth Issue, 1955 (Oxford: University Press, 1956); The Magdalen College Record: Sixth Issue, 1966 (Oxford: University Press, 1967).
3.2 PRESIDENTS
3.2.1 GENERAL
The first President was appointed by the Founder in 1480, but subsequent Presidents were elected according to the precepts of the fifteenth-century statutes. The procedure was that the whole body of Fellows chose two names from among those who were or had been Fellows of Magdalen or of New College, and from these names the final choice was made by the thirteen senior Fellows. Unlike the Fellows, Presidents could marry and accept lucrative ecclesiastical livings without being obliged to resign. On a long-established tradition for the payment made to Merton College on the appointment of a new President, see Robin Darwall-Smith, '16 Shillings and 8 Pence: Paying our Debts to Merton College', Magdalen College Record 2006, pp. 143-5.
The statutes made after the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge Act of 1877 removed the necessity to have been a Fellow of Magdalen or New College and gave full electoral powers to the whole body of Fellows, with the Senior Fellow having special responsibilities in cases of tied votes. Further modifications in the electoral procedure were made after the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge Act of 1923. The Visitor has a role in the election: the President-elect is presented to the Visitor and makes a declaration to observe the statutes, and the Visitor certifies that this has been done. For the relevant documents see the episcopal registers of the diocese of Winchester. For a list of Presidents see below, Appendix 2.1.
Published biographical material for individual Presidents includes: R. D. Middleton, Dr Routh (London: Oxford University Press, 1938); Andrew Robinson, 'George Horne, Bishop of Norwich, President of Magdalen', Magdalen College Record (1987), 40-6; Nigel Aston, 'Horne and heterodoxy: the defence of Anglican beliefs in the late Enlightenment', English Historical Review, CVIII (1993), 895-919; Laurie Magnus, Herbert Warren of Magdalen, President and Friend, 1853-1930 (London: John Murray, 1932). For Presidents Hough and Giffard see Brockliss, Macintyre and Harriss, Magdalen College and the Crown. See also the anonymous article on Presidents Hough and Routh [by Richard Hooper, assisted by John Rigaud], 'Two Presidents of Magdalen', in Temple Bar (1879), 63-79. Macray's Register of the Fellows, I-VII covers Presidents, up to and including President Warren, who had formerly been Fellows of the College, and vol. VIII has a section on those who came from another College. Wilson, Magdalen College, covers each presidency up to and including that of President Bulley (1854-85). Unpublished material includes Janet Warren Kemp, 'Lawrence Humphrey, Elizabethan Puritan: his life and political theories' (unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of West Virginia , 1978; facsimile copy avaiable in Magdalen College Library). Individual Presidents are also discussed in L. W. B. Brockliss (ed.), Magdalen College Oxford: A History (Oxford, 2008).
3.2.2 ELECTIONS AND ADMISSIONS
(a) General registers
Elections are recorded in these Registers, among other matters:
EL/1-37 Volumes titled 'Register' or 'Ledger' (1480-1835)
VP1/A1/1-5 Vice-President's Registers, 5 vols (1547-1913)
MS 750 Register of Presidents, Fellows and Demies: fol.49 has 'A Catalogue of the Presidents, their names & Successions' from Tybard to Routh (18th cent., cont. to 19th)
(b) Instruments of admission, or associated certificates from the Visitor :
CRC/92 Richard Mayew (24 Aug 1480)
CRC/109 John Higden (7 Dec 1516)
CRC/116 Arthur Cole (23 Apr 1555)
CRC/129 Accepted Frewen (28 Oct 1626)
CRC/131 John Oliver (28 May 1644)
(c) Election papers:
MS 764 Papers relating to the election of President Warren (1885)
(d) Election disputes
CS/36/26 'Apology' regarding Bond's election (.d. [c. 1589])
Note: Box [EMD/] 69.21.48, retained in the Bursary, contains a volume of notes on the election of a President (1885) and various papers relating to elections, 1928-47.
3.2.3 DOSSIERS OF DECEASED PRESIDENTS
PRD/1/1-3 Dossiers for Presidents Warren, Gordon, Tizard (relating mainly to memorial services) (1931-61)
3.2.4 HISTORICAL AND MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS
MS 435 Copy of Bishop Fox's register, relating to the election of President Claymond, 1507 (1899)
MS 448 Bound volume includes Some Account of…Dr John Hough (1743) and Two Presidents of Magdalen (1879)
MS 436-8 Bloxam's collected papers on Presidents Oglethorpe, Humphrey and Bond [19th cent.]
MS 655/a-c Bloxam's biographical collections on the Presidents, 1448-1854. 3 vols [19th cent.]
MS 669/f Bloxam's 'Book of the Presidents', covering 17th -19th cents [19th cent.]
MS 368 Will of President John Harding, 1610 (previously C.I.2.12)
F19/MS1/1 Rigaud's notes on and printed papers re President Routh (c. 1877-8)
MS 934 Additional material on Routh, incl. list by R. D. Middleton of all known portraits [19th -20th cents.]
P278 (all) Papers of R. D. Middleton incl. items on Presidents Frewen and Routh [20th cent.]
F33/2/MS2/2 Remarks [by P. V. M. Benecke] on Magnus's biography of Warren[20th cent.]
VP1/A2/1 Vice-President's notes on College customs includes notes on Presidential elections [20th cent.]
MS 1097 Letter from W. G. M. Maclagan concerning Sir Henry Tizard, when a candidate for the Presidency 13 Jun 1942.
3.2.5 PORTRAITS, ENGRAVINGS, PHOTOGRAPHS
(a) Portraits and monuments
There are no portraits in oil or watercolour in the archives, but information on the College collection is available. See Mrs Reginald Lane Poole, Catalogue of Portraits in the Possession of the University, Colleges, City and County of Oxford, vol. II, Portraits in the Colleges and Halls (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1926). The Vice-President's ts list of 'Paintings, Sculpture, Tapestries etc.' [copy in Archives Room, on restricted access] has a section on portraits of Presidents.
(b) Prints and drawings
All photographs catalogued after 1996 are fully indexed on Adlib.
The chief sources for original prints and drawings in the archives are as follows:
(i) Bound volumes or former bound volumes. Many of these have been broken up for individual mounting and boxing, for conservation reasons.
MS 655 Bloxam's three-volume collection on the Presidents (19th cent.)
MS 766 Volume titled 'Portraits' (n.d. [?19th cent.])
FA1/9/1P/1 Volume titled 'Portraits, Drawings etc. relating to Magdalen College, Oxford' (nucleus was the collection given by J. R. Bloxam) (n.d. [late 19th cent.])
(ii) Loose prints, engravings and sketches in mixed collections which include portraits and architectural drawings:
B/13 Collection of small prints
A/3,6,8 Collection of prints and drawings
E/3 Collection of prints and drawings
(c) Photographs
(i) Bound volumes, or former bound volumes, with lists of contents
O1/P1/1-106 Fellows' photograph album, includes Presidents [late 19th and early 20th cents.]
MS 655 Bloxam's collections on the Presidents, 3 vols [19th cent.]
(ii) Loose photographs (indexed)
B/1,3 Small prints [20th cent.]
B/9 Negatives [20th cent.]
E/4 Framed photographs [20th cent.]
DF/ Large photographs [20th cent.]
PH/ Misc. prints, negatives, and transparencies [20th cent.]
See also references to individual Presidents on Adlib.
3.3 FELLOWS
3.3.1 GENERAL
Fellows are elected by the President and the whole body of Fellows who are resident at the time of the election. Under Waynflete's statutes, the Fellows were chosen from certain dioceses and counties where the College had temporal or spiritual possessions, and they were elected for a probationary year before becoming full Fellows. They were to study theology, and natural and moral philosophy; a minority were to study medicine or law. Seniority depended not only on the length of time since Fellows were elected, but also on their degrees: for example, Doctors of Divinity were senior to all others. The thirteen senior Fellows had greater responsibilities in the government of the College. Fellowships had to be resigned on marriage or on entering a religious order, or after the acquisition of property or benefices above a certain value. The geographical qualification was abolished in 1857, and from 1881 onwards the rule on marriage was relaxed, although the number of married Fellows was limited at first.
From 1857 the college contributed to the funding of the Waynflete and certain other professorial chairs, whose holders also became Fellows of Magdalen. In 1900 the Waynflete Professorships were those of Philosophy, Chemistry, Mineralogy, Physiology and Mathematics. (Geography was dropped before 1900.) Also associated with Magdalen are the Sherardian Professorship of Botany (1884), the Serena Professorship of Italian (1927, now Fiat-Serena) and the Nuffield Professorship of Clinical Medicine (1936/7).
From the time of the 1857 Ordinance, the President and Fellows were empowered to elect distinguished persons to Honorary Fellowships, the first being elected in 1862. The 1926 Statutes allowed for up to twelve. These are not entitled to vote and receive no emoluments. The 1926 Statutes classified fellowships as Official, by Special Election (from 1890), by Examination (from 1882), Professorial (from 1857), Honorary (from 1862) and Supernumerary.
Macray's biographical Register in 8 volumes covers Fellows elected from 1458 to 1910 and Honorary Fellows elected 1862-1909. For the records of the Fellowship Committee see Section 4.2.
Note: Among Waynflete's innovations was the provision of public lectures which could be attended by any members of the University. Lecturers, however, are not on the foundation of the College and can be traced only with difficulty before the establishment of the Tutorial board in the 1880s. The annual accounts and day books are the most likely source: see Section 8.
3.3.2 ELECTIONS AND ADMISSIONS
(a) Registers
MS 727 Admissions registers, 5 vols (1539-1933; lacking 1726-1830)
MS 887 Roll of actual Fellows, signed (1686-1913)
CP/2/11-12 Register/account books, 2 vols (Waynflete Professorships) (1858-81)
CP/2/7 Register of fellowships (1911-40)
See also:
EL/1 'Ledger A' records elections of Fellows (1480-92)
VP1/A1/1-5 Vice-Presidents' registers, 5 vols (1547-1913)
MS 440 Subscription book, recording oaths of loyalty to the Hanoverian dynasty (1715-64)
Note: The Vice-President's registers are the most comprehensive source for fellowship matters in general including elections, resignations, graces, leave of absence and disputes.
(b) Election papers and records
CS/35/8/2 List of admissions (1643)
CS/41/5 Elections by parliamentary Visitors (1648)
CS/40/14 Election papers (testimonials, certificates of baptism) (1759-67)
MS 830 Notebook recording admission of Fellows, with biographical details (1831-53)
MS 941 Letters, undertakings and declarations by Fellows (4 items only) (1914-24)
MS 903 Signed undertakings by Fellows-elect (4) (1925 and n.d.)
(c) Disputes over fellowship elections or retentions
CS/40/1 Disputes over elections (1496-1610)
CS/35/4 & CS/36/2 Disputes over places (1591, 1662)
CS/36/5 Papers concerning a dispute over lay places (n.d. [c. 1592-4])
CS/40/4 Disputed election, Pulleyn v Milling (1591)
CS/40/2 Disputed election of George Wake (1630)
CS/40/3 Disputed election of Yerbury v Clerke (1663)
CS/40/13 Disputed election, Burslem v Zinzan (1731-2)
CS/37/1 Papers concerning a Nottinghamshire fellowship (1796)
PR30/4/C2/1-38
Correspondence and papers concerning elections and disputes over retention of fellowships (1796-1854)
MS 925 Papers relating to J. J. Hudson's case (1810)
PR30/1/MS3/4 Papers relating to the Lay Fellowship dispute, as to whether Fellows in Law and Medicine could retain their fellowships without taking Holy Orders (1830-40)
CP/9/32,34 Papers concerning disputed elections, and in particular the contest between F. H. Deane and A. Roberts (1843)
CP/9/35 Attested copy of proceedings in OU Chancellor's Court (Sewell case) (1849)
MS 859 Papers relating to T. H. Newman's case (1873-74)
Note: For disputes over seniority and graces see Visitor's correspondence, Section 1.5.2.
3.3.3 RESIGNATION PAPERS
CS/35/2-3 Resignation papers, mainly of Fellows (1635-1767)
CS/35/4/5 Resignation dispute, Robert Dingley (n.d. [c. 1648])
CS/40/12 Resignations and elections (1672)
CS/35/8 Resignation dispute, Christopher Robinson (n.d. [c. 1761])
3.3.4 DOSSIERS
FD/1-6 Dossiers of ex-Fellows and deceased Fellows [restricted access] [From 1888]
3.3.5 PORTRAITS AND PHOTOGRAPHS
O1/P1/1-106 Fellows' photograph album [late-19th-early-20th cent.]
See Section 3.2.5, for collections of prints, drawings and photographs in the archives.
3.3.6 OBITUARIES, EULOGIES
MS 884 Obituaries, memorial addresses, orders of service, newscuttings for deceased Fellows, with cross-references to other stray items. List of names. [20th cent.]
PR/2/1-23 Presidents' Notebooks contain newscuttings including obituaries (1857-1982)
3.3.7 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS
MS 731/3 Articles of agreement concerning regulations for elections to, or resignations of, demyships and fellowships (18 Aug 1686)
PR30/1/C2/1-2 Letters from Fellows to President Routh with some draft replies [18th-19th cent.]
CS/35/6 Corr. concerning a pension for John Newby (1681)
CP/9/44 H. A. Smith's resolution regarding the rules relating to married Fellows(n.d. [ c. early 20th cent.])
MS 294 Fellows' Gaudy orations (c. 1864-1931)
3.3.8 HISTORICAL PAPERS
MS 1110 Copy of a contract for the sale of a Magdalen Fellowship (University of Nottingham MS) (1590)
F33/2/MS2/2 See appendices for lists of the following:
Professorial Fellows (1857-1941)
Open Fellows under Ordinance (1859-77)
Fellows by examination (1882-1939)
Fellows by special election (1890-1938)
Honorary Fellows (1862-1938)
Fellows without emolument (1889-1936)
(compiled by P. V. M.Benecke c. 1942)
MS 750 Memoranda book with notes on fellowships and Fellows 1679-1832 [19th cent.]
3.4 DEMIES
3.4.1 GENERAL
Demyships are similar to the scholarships offered at most other colleges. The term 'Demy' (pronounced as in 'deny') is now the Magdalen term for an undergraduate, chosen for his (or her) academic ability and known in most other colleges as a 'scholar'. Each Demy received half (or 'demi' in the Latin statutes) the allowance of the Fellows. Waynflete established 30 'poor scholars, commonly called Demyes' on his foundation, to be elected by the President, Vice-President and the three Deans; he intended that they should study grammar, logic and sophistry. Demies were undergraduates, selected on academic merit from places or counties where the College had possessions. Some had migrated from the colleges where they originally matriculated: migration was common amongst Oxford colleges until the nineteenth century. Demies could be accepted at the age of twelve and could remain on the foundation until the age of twenty-five. It became customary for them to succeed to fellowships as these became vacant, and therefore to remain beyond the statutory age of 25.
From 1854 this custom ended, and awards were to be tenable for not more than five years; in 1857 the territorial restrictions were formally abolished, after centuries of non-observance. Up to eight Senior (Postgraduate) Demyships were established in 1882 to be awarded by the President and Fellows,and from that date 30 Junior Demies were elected by Fellows on the College's Board of Examiners. The 1926 statutes reduced the number of Senior Demies to six, who received emoluments not exceeding £150 a year (increased to £170 by 1939). The number of Junior Demies was increased to between 32 and 36. By 1939 the maximum number of Junior Demies had increased to 40; they were elected by the Tutorial Board and received fixed emoluments of £100 per annum, with additional support available from the Demyship Fund.
For biographical information on demies to the year 1857 see Bloxam, Register of the Demies (4 vols, 1873-1881 and general index volume).
See also: Section 3.7: membership, general
3.4.2 ELECTIONS AND ADMISSIONS
(a) Registers
MS 727 Admissions registers, 5 vols, for Fellows and Demies (lacking 1726-1830) (1539-1933)
CP/2/11-12 Register and account books, 2 vols, including entries for Demies (1858-81)
(b) Admissions papers
CS/35/1 Lists (51) of candidates, often in two versions, one being in order of preference (1590-1649)
CS/35/8 Admissions papers, including some for Demies (1643 and 17th cent.)
CS/40/1 Correspondence between the Visitor and College regarding eligibility for demyships and fellowships (15th-17th cents.)
CS/40/12 Lists of Demies elected, with age, county and sometimes former school, hall or college (1607, 1674-86)
MS 508/240-50 Lists (11) of candidates (1747-88 and n.d.)
MS 830 Notebook recording admission of Demies, with biographical details (1831-53)
CP/9/60/25 Printed lists of Senior Demies, with subject, former college and subsequent appointments (1891-1921)
F29/3/MS1/2 List of candidates (1910)
See Tutorial Board Proceedings, TBM/, for the names of Demies from 1883.
3.4.3 RESIGNATIONS
CS/35/2 Lists of resignations include some Demies [17th cent.]
CS/35/3 Resignations of Demies (50) (c. 1728-67)
3.4.4 DOSSIERS
ADS/3-4 Dossiers for Senior Demies [restricted access] (1903-62)
3.4.5 PHOTOGRAPHS
MS 767 Photographs of Demies [19th cent.]
See also lists of prints, drawings and photographs in Section 3.1 above.
3.4.6 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS
MS 731/3 Articles of agreement concerning regulations for elections to, or resignations of, demyships and fellowships (18 Aug 1686)
PR30/1/C2/3-12
Letters from or about Demies, mainly to President Routh [18th-19th cents.]
CP/9/60/43 Benecke's memorandum concerning Statute IX, re Demies and Exhibitioners (1930)
3.4.7 HISTORICAL PAPERS
MS 750 List of Fellows and Demies, with Admission dates (1679-1832) [19th cent.]
MS 881 Annotated copies of Bloxam's Register of the Demies, with additional papers [19th cent.]
F33/2/MS2/2 List of Senior Demies 1892-1940 [20th cent.]
3.5 EXHIBITIONERS, ACADEMICAL CLERKS AND SCHOLARS INCLUDING RHODES SCHOLARS
3.5.1 GENERAL
Until 1857 Exhibitioners, strictly speaking, were Commoners in need of financial help who had been awarded prizes. They had no special status in Waynflete's statutes, but benefited from gifts endowed by benefactors after Waynflete's death. Under the Ordinance of 1857, £500 was to be applied annually to establish and maintain exhibitions for deserving members of the university, 'as nearly as possible pari passu with the new Demyships'. The ensuing Demyship Fund was used for grants to Demies or those elected to exhibitions. Under the 1926 statutes, the number of Exhibitioners must not exceed 40. By 1939, Exhibitioners were elected by the Tutorial board and received fixed emoluments of £30 per annum which could be augmented in cases of hardship. There were also Mackinnon Scholarships and three Doncaster Scholarships, two of which were awarded for Modern Languages.
Academical Clerkships are awarded to male undergraduates who serve as senior Choristers. They are the successors of the paid Lay Clerks mentioned in Waynflete's statutes. At one time the choir included both paid Lay Clerks and Aacademical Clerks, and some Lay Clerks later matriculated as members of the University and became Academical Clerks. An alternative name for Academical Clerks was 'bible clerks'. See Section 6.1 for more information on the Clerks.
Cecil Rhodes endowed a fund for Rhodes Scholars, who were elected to the Oxford Colleges from 1903 onwards. Candidates were chosen from the British Empire as it then was, the USA and Germany. The German scholarships lapsed in 1916-29 and 1939-69. A printed register, Rhodes Scholarships: Record of Past Scholars elected between the years 1903 and 1927 inclusive (Oxford: University of Oxford, 1931) is available in the searchroom. See also Magdalen College Occasional Paper 2, Richard Sheppard, Ernst Stadler (1883-1914), A German Expressionist Poet at Oxford (Oxford: Magdalen College, 1994). Stadler was a Rhodes Scholar 1906-08 and later a B.Litt. student. Rhodes House Library, Oxford, is generally the best source of information on Rhodes Scholars.
3.5.2 AWARDS
There are no registers of Exhibitioners and Scholars.
TBM/1/1-8 Tutorial Board Proceedings record the names of those awarded exhibitions and scholarships (1883-1946)
3.5.3 ACCOUNTS
CP/2/18 Receipt book for payments to Exhibitioners (1701-88)
CP/2/11-12 Accounts for awards under the Ordinance, including exhibitions, 2 vols (1858-81)
Note: see also the minutes of the Trusts, Exhibitions and Grants committee, TBSCM/4.
3.5.4 DOSSIERS
ADS/1 Papers relating to academical clerkships (1920s)
ADS/2 Corr. and printed papers concerning Rhodes Scholars (1903-78)
3.5.5 CORRESPONDENCE
DD2/C2/7 Dean of Divinity's corr. regarding academical clerkships (1920s)
3.5.6 RELATED PAPERS
CP/9/60/43 P. V. M. Benecke's memorandum concerning Statute IX, re Demies and Exhibitioners (1930)
PRC/17/2 Presidential correspondence re Rhodes reunion, 1983
3.6 COMMONERS
3.6.1 GENERAL
Magdalen was the first college to make statutory provision for undergraduate 'commensales' or non-foundationers, who paid for the privilege of living as members of the college. Waynflete limited their number to not more than twenty of the sons of noble and powerful friends of the College, admitted at the discretion of the President, who were to live and study at their own expense under the guardianship of creditores or 'creancers'. Plebian Commoners were admitted also, from an early stage (see the rules for their admittance in M. De Situ Collegii 24), but did not enjoy the same privileges as the Gentlemen Commoners, who were also distinguished by their dress, notably a tasselled cap.
The distinction between members on the foundation of the College and those who were Commoners was so marked that pre-1852 documents concerning admissions do not even record the admission of Commoners. Batells books, which survive from 1653, record the sums of money owed by Commoners in residence, as do the Libri Nominum: see Section 8.2 for these. but their admission and progress are most easily traced through the matriculation and graduation registers of the University archives in the Bodleian Library, and the printed Registers of Emden and Foster (see below). After the Ordinance of 1857 the number of Commoners was no longer restricted and the distinction between Gentleman Commoner and Plebian Commoner was abolished. It was assumed for centuries, and formally laid down by the 1926 statutes, that 'a woman may not become a member of the College'. This statute was not removed until 1979.
3.6.2 ADMISSIONS
CP/9/25 Lists of Commoners (inter alia) (1852-58)
CP/9/9 Commoners' admissions registers, 4 vols (1861-97)
CP/9/8 Commoners' matriculations book, with names, subjects, testimonials and results of entrance examinations (1885-1925)
See also Section 3.7.2 for undergraduate matriculations from 1852.
3.6.3 HISTORICAL PAPERS
MS 869 'Register of the Commoners' compiled by J. R. Bloxam from the University's matriculation registers, to which Bloxam has added additional notes, illustrations, news cuttings and printed material. 5 vols ms, indexed, covering 1460-1861 [19th cent.]
3.6.4 PHOTOGRAPHS
Albums:
MS 768 Photographs of Commoners who matriculated c. 1848-1859 [19th cent.]
Loose photographs: see Section 3.7.10
3.7 MEMBERSHIP IN GENERAL
3.7.1 GENERAL
For members in general, to the year 1886, see the published registers of University members, by Emden and Foster and other publications listed in the introductory section of this chapter. Biographical registers of living members of the College have been published from time to time: see Magdalen College Record (editions of 1910-11, 1922, 1934, 1955, 1966). Later editions were printed for private circulation only.
3.7.2 UNDERGRADUATE ADMISSIONS
(a) Registers
CP/9/3 Undergraduates' admissions registers (titled 'matriculation registers'), completed by the undergraduates, with information on parentage and schooling. 12 vols (lacking 1913) (1852-1928)
(b) Lists
CP/9/13 Lists of freshmen, ms, in memoranda book (1904-26)
CP/9/15 Printed and ts lists of freshmen (1913-18)
CP/9/16 Notebook recording entrance examination results (1923-28)
CP/9/21 Printed admissions forms (1931-36)
CP/9/15 Tutorial lists (1923-84)
3.7.3 ADMISSIONS: ASSOCIATED REGISTERS AND PAPERS
Some of these were compiled because of the laws restricting membership of the Universities to members of the Church of England.
MS 440 Subscription book registering oaths of loyalty to the Hanoverian dynasty (1715-64)
PR30/1/MS3/2-3 Registers of testimonials of entrants, 2 vols (1807-42)
MS 508/113-87 Baptism certificates for members admitted c. 1746-88 (1726-71)
PR30/1/MS3/1 Copies or extracts from baptismal registers and copies of marriage certificates, arranged alphabetically (1803-51)
3.7.4 INTER-COLLEGIATE MIGRATION
MS 508/188-239 Testimonials for members migrating from other colleges to Magdalen (1747-88)
MS 508/251-4 Licences to migrate to/from Magdalen (1770-88)
3.7.5 STUDENT DOSSIERS AND RELATED PAPERS
Dossiers are begun at the time of students' applications and continued as a file of correspondence including requests for references etc. after graduation. All dossiers are closed during the lifetime of their subject.
AD/1 Corr. amd papers re individual admissions (1889-1925)
AD/2 Applications and testimonials (1923-9)
AD/3 Admissions dossiers (1926, 1927)
AD/4 Admissions dossiers in one sequence (1928-9)
AD/5- Admissions dossiers for each year (From 1940)
3.7.6 REGISTERS OF BURIALS AND MARRIAGES
Note that persons who were neither members of the College nor of the University could be married in the College chapel.
DD2/R1/1 Register of marriages in the College chapel (1728-1754)
DD2/R2/1 Register of burials in the College chapel (1820-67)
An index of both registers is available on request. NB marriage registers are not held otherwise until after 1976 (email from Dr Jonathan Arnold, Dean of Divinity, Jan 2019).
3.7.7 ROOM LISTS AND RESIDENCE LISTS
CP/2/60 Room allocation registers, 3 vols, and loose papers incl. lodgings lists 1870s (1867-1930)
CP/9/20 Registers of undergraduates in residence, 2 vols, and loose papers incl. lodgings lists 1934-6 (1927-52)
3.7.8 OBITUARIES, EPITAPHS ETC
MS 844 Epitaphs of members (14) (1607-1730)
F35/MS2/1-2 R. T. Günther's 'In Memoriam' scrapbooks of OU and Magdalen members, mainly news cuttings (c. 1874-1916 and 1948)
See also:
PR/2/1-23 Presidents' Notebooks (1857-1982)
3.7.9 WAR RECORDS
(a) World War I, 1914-18
For World War I there is a published Oxford University Roll of Service, ed. E. S. Craig and W. M. Gibson (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1920). This, however, does not include a Ernst Stadler, a German member killed in action, for whom see Sheppard, Ernst Stadler. A biographical register of Magdalen men killed in this war is being compiled by Professor Richard Sheppard and Dr. David Roberts: current versions of individual entries can be provided on request. For life at Magdalen during this war, see Robin Darwall-Smith, 'A College At War: Magdalen 1914-18', Magdalen College Record 2015, pp. 84-97.
MS 876 War record, printed forms completed in ms, with letters and photographs, of members killed in World War I, 1914-18. 3 vols (c. 1920)
MSS 877-8 Ms and ts versions of the War Record, each 1 vol (1922 and n.d.)
PR32/C3/1-1244 Letters from members or their families to President Warren
MS 757 Photographs of members killed in action, 1914-18 (20th cent.)
MS 1030 Papers relating to W. A. Fleet, the first Rhodes Scholar at Magdalen, killed in action 1918 ( 20th cent.)
(b) World War II, 1939-45
For a biographical register of the members of the College killed on both sides in World War II, see Roger Hutchins and Richard Sheppard, The Undone Years: Magdalen College Roll of Honour 1939-47 and Roll of Service 1939-45 (Oxford, 2004).
P252/MS1/1 Ts memoir of Miles and John Bodley, killed in action 1944 [c. 1940s]
MS 879 Register of members killed in action in World War II (c. 1945)
P226 Working papers for R. Hutchins and R. W. Sheppard, The Undone Years.
3.7.10 PORTRAITS AND PHOTOGRAPHS
MS 766 'Portraits' volume of sketches, engravings and photographs of members and others connected with Magdalen, 15th-20th cents. (c. 18th-20th cents.)
UC:O2/1/P2-P3 Group photographs of undergraduates, freshmen or whole JCR. Complete series runs from 1959 only. Groups for earlier years (incomplete) have been acquired by gift or by copying. (From 1916)
See the photographic lists and indexes in Adlib for loose photographs of individual members. See also Sections 13.3.5 and 13.4.3 for official JCR albums, and Section 14 for albums given by old members, or acquired by purchase.
3.7.11 HISTORICAL PAPERS
MS 669/c Notebook with 'Nomina inceptorum' 1504-1660 (graduation as master or doctor) (n.d. [19th cent.])
MS 669/b List of wills of Magdalen members, 18th and 19th cents (n.d. [19th cent.])
P286 (all) Extracts from the OU registers relating to Magdalen members, 1564-1714, compiled by J. Foster for his Alumni Oxonienses and purchased by the College in 1895 [19th cent.]
3.8 SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF MEMBERS
3.8.1 OFFICER CADETS
Records of those admitted for short courses during the two World Wars, 1914-18 and 1939-45 are sparse. See Chapter Fourteen for the memoirs of some of the short course entrants of World War II.
MS 769 Group photographs of officer cadets (1916-17 and n.d.)
TB/5/6 Corr. and circulars re service probationers 1939-45)
TB/1/10 Probationers' reports, for RAF and RN cadets (1943)
[TB/ records are on restricted access]
3.8.2 REFUGEES
A number of refugee scholars were taken in by the College 1933-9. The most notable was Erwin Schrödinger, the Nobel Laureate.
CMR/2/11 Report to College meeting re refugee scholars (1939)
CMR/4/18 Report to College meeting on refugee scholars assisted by Magdalen (1943)