OXFORD NORTH AMERICA | May Author of the Month—The Oxbridge Pursuivant

Oxford College Arms, 4th ed.

As a celebration of Oxford's alumni authors, each month the Oxford University North American website features a new book written by one of the University's North American-based alumni. The May 2020 book is "Oxford College Arms: Intriguing Stories Behind Oxford's Shields" by the Oxbridge Pursuivant, John Tepper Marlin (Trinity 1962), who has been on the Committee organizing the Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race Dinner in New York City for 50 years. Go to the website, or read the text here:

John Tepper Marlin graduated from Harvard in 1962, having been the first editor of the Let’s Go Guide to Europe. He went on to read PPE at Trinity College. English education was no mystery to him because he spent three years at Ampleforth College, which then had its junior forms at Gilling Castle and the Junior House. At Gilling Castle he says he ate his meals in the dining room with stained-glass windows featuring the arms of the Yorkshire cousins of Oliver Cromwell’s General, Sir Thomas Fairfax. He dates his interest in coats of arms to that period.

John Tepper Marlin with Hachikō.

The fourth edition of his book Oxford College Arms recently came out. Kirkus Reviews praised the book as offering “unfailingly clear language, … as rationally organized as it is informative. This idiosyncratic slice of history actually opens an intriguing portal into the whole of British history since the heraldic symbols signify what should be praised as well as what should be condemned. … "[F]or those in search of a confident guide to these meaningful hieroglyphics, it would be difficult to find one superior to Marlin’s effort. An astute exploration of Oxford’s coats of arms.”

Dr. Marlin features a different college every month on his website, The Oxbridge Pursuivant. This month the college is Lady Margaret Hall, and he offers a contest. The first person to answer correctly ten questions related to Lady Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII, gets a free copy of Oxford College Arms. He has given talks on his book in London, Oxford, New York City and Washington, D.C.

You can purchase Oxford College Arms: Intriguing Stories Behind Oxford's Shields here.

WIN A PRIZE! | Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford

Arms of Lady Margaret
Hall, Oxford.

May 4, 2020—This abbreviated summary of the entry for Lady Margaret Hall in Oxford College Arms is followed by ten questions relating to the arms of Lady Margaret Hall. The first reader to send correct answers to the ten questions to the publisher, Boissevain Books, will be sent a free copy of the book, now in its 4th edition, upon providing a mailing address.

Blazon: Or on a chevron between two talbots in chief and a bell in base azure a portcullis of the field. 

Meaning: The portcullis of the Lady Margaret; talbots, which appear as supporters of the Talbot arms; and the bell from the Wordsworth coat. Remembrance of the Lady Margaret is emphasized by the adoption of the Beaufort Motto: 'Souvent me Souviens’.

Origin: Assumed, without the formality of applying to the College of Arms.

Nominee: On 21 Nov. 1878, Elizabeth Wordsworth, daughter of the Bishop of Lincoln, became the Hall's first Principal. At her suggestion it was named after Lady Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond, and mother of Henry VII, founder of the Tudor Dynasty (the Beaufort Portcullis was taken as the Tudor badge). Wordsworth described Beaufort as “A scholar, a gentlewoman and a saint”. She has strong Oxbridge connections, having founded St John’s and Christ’s Colleges, Cambridge and endowed professorships of divinity at both universities.

History: On 4 June 1878 Dr. Edward Talbot, Warden of Keble, before a committee of interested persons, moved a resolution "to attempt the establishment in Oxford of a small Hall … in connexion with the Church of England, for the reception of women desirous of availing themselves of the special privileges which Oxford offers of higher education."

Portrait of Lady Margaret Beaufort, mother
of Henry VII, at St John's, Cambridge.
Note Portcullis in window and on wall.

The University had drawn up a scheme of lectures and examinations for women in Oxford. That was fine for residents in the town. But if other women were to make use of the scheme, they needed a residence. At first one hall only was intended, what became Lady Margaret Hall, conducted on Church of England principles. 

However, a second one was then deemed desirable, to be non-sectarian and this became Somerville College. An Association for the Education of Women was created to supervise the educational work of the students in the halls. After 15 years, LMH became largely independent of the AEW.

Today's Principal. The Principal since 2015 is Alan Rusbridger, former editor-in-chief of The Guardian. He was awarded the Right Livelihood Award, the Alternative Nobel Prize, in Stockholm in 2014. He pioneered the widely admired LMH Foundation Year program. He is Chair of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. He has just been named to the Facebook Oversight Board.

Ten Questions about Lady Margaret Beaufort’s Menagerie (hat tip to Paul Christopher Walton, branding strategist, Oxford historian and heraldry fan, who prepared this):

1. Which of the men in her life was known for being caboshed? And why so?
2. Three gold leopards appeared temporarily in Lady Margaret’s menagerie – but who did they belong to?
3. Who swopped three silver helmets for leopards and fleurs-de-lis?
4. Who was the first Lancastrian to use the Yale as a supporter? 
5. Which great-grandson of Margaret also used the Yale as a supporter?
6. Where and when exactly was seen ‘a red firye drago beaten ypo white and red sarcenet’? For a bonus point who/what was Blanc Sanglier?
7. Which county of England has the motto ‘The Creative County’ and how is it related to LMB?
8. If you met Portcullis what might he be doing?
9. Discuss the lineage of the White Greyhound of Richmond (protractors may be used)
10. Whose badge was a pomegranate (and can you create a Gin based infusion to accompany it?)

Send your answer to info@boissevainbooks.com, and if you are the first person to get all ten answers correct, you will be sent a free copy of the 4th edition of Oxford College Arms.

OXFORD'S OPEN DAY, OPEN ARMS | 14 September 2018, Walking Tour

1. Jesus College on Turl Street flaunts its
 green color, which conveys its Welsh and
Celtic appeal (or the field of its
revised arms).

Friday 7 September, 2018–Next week is Oxford's last Open Day in 2018.

One of the commitments of the Vice Chancellor of Oxford, Louise Richardson, is to continue to enlarge the pool of applications. She is embarking on her second academic year.

Achieving this goal is harder to do than it might appear. For many decades, since the days when I was up at Oxford in the 1960s, the University has been expanding the range of applications from secondary school students and the percentage of entrants from the elite (so-called "public" schools because they draw from a wide geographical area) schools has fallen every decade.

One of the problems in attracting promising students from schools that do not ordinarily send their graduates to Oxford is that the University is foreign to them. They are unlikely to know any Oxford alumni. 

2. Exeter College, also on the Turl, has
its purple Welcome banner out.

To address this problem, Oxford University and its constituent colleges have organized two "Open Days" when Oxford's 38 colleges and six Permanent Private Halls (PPHs) open their doors to visiting teenagers who are prospective applicants:

• The first is usually toward the end of June, about two weeks after the end of the last (Trinity) term.
• The other is two weeks before the opening of the first (Michaelmas) term, which in 2018 is next Friday, 14 September (the Feast of St Michael the Archangel is 29 September).

Your Oxbridge Pursuivant has taken some pictures of colleges decked out for Open Days, and have selected five of them for a Walking Tour.

If you want to check out other colleges than the ones on the list, the Oxbridge Pursuivant would like to recommend a handy guide, Oxford College Arms, which was published this month. Order it here: https://amzn.to/2NXh0F1.  It is also on sale by Blackwell's.

A guide to Oxford's 44 colleges and halls, starting from their coats of arms.

The book covers all 44 colleges and PPHs and is up to date through August 2018 (including, for example, the Norrington Table results since 2006). It is a good way for visitors to Oxford–parents, applicants, alumni, students–to stay up to date on the arms, locations, histories and current standings of the colleges and halls.

The photos show that the colleges and halls are becoming more competitive about Open Day. For that day, the college gates are opened wide. The signs signifying "Keep Out" or "£6 Admission" are replaced by welcoming banners, balloons, and open gates.  


Some colleges take the competition to the next level.  Unfairly? You be the judge. Here are some Open Day stories from four colleges and one hall–Jesus, Exeter, Trinity, Regent's Park College, and Lady Margaret Hall. 

3. Trinity College is central, next to the Morse-featured
White Horse, Blackwell's, and the Bodleian libraries.

We start our walking tour going north on Turl Street. We pass Lincoln College on our right, visit Jesus on our left, then Exeter on our right. We now face Trinity College. We take it all in and turn left at the corner, intending to head next for St Regent's College in St Giles. 

However, as we pass Boswell's, we are hijacked. We are offered a free ride akin to that in Midnight in Paris–to a place called LMH, with the promise of free ice cream at the destination. Read on.

4. Regent's Park College makes itself
known in front of the Sheldonian.

1. Jesus College. As one walks on The Turl north from High Street, Jesus is on the left. I was advised by Paul Walton, who knows a thing or two about Wales, that the green color of Jesus is related to its Welsh affiliation, because its foundation was promoted in 1571 by Welshman Dr Hugh Price of St David's Cathedral.  However, the original field of Price's coat of arms had the tincture (colour) of azure (blue). The field's tincture was later revised to vert (green), perhaps in honor of the Green family, or in homage to Price's Welsh heritage.  

Queen Elizabeth is the founder of Jesus College; it is the only college founded at Oxford during her long reign. Its Celtic Studies library is special. Its most famous alumnus is surely Welshman T. E. Lawrence ("Lawrence of Arabia"). Its student body is 15 percent Welsh.

2. Exeter College. Exeter College's color is purple, referencing the fact that it was founded in 1315 by Walter de Stapeldon, a Devon man who rose to become Bishop of Exeter and Treasurer of England under Edward II. Purple is the color of bishops. The eight pairs of golden keys in the Exeter coat of arms reflect the episcopal origin of the college, as St Peter, the first bishop, was given "the keys to the kingdom of heaven", one being for what he "bound" or "loosed" on earth and one for what he thereby "bound" or "loosed" in heaven, as the St James translation of Matthew 18:18 (https://bit.ly/2M7CyNf) goes. Exeter was originally called Stapeldon Hall; it is considered the fourth-oldest college at Oxford.

3. Trinity College. Trinity's arms are those of its Founder, Sir Thomas Pope. The tincture on his arms is azure (blue), with the metal or (gold). The college colors are blue and white. Pope was a Catholic entrusted with the task of dissolving and emptying out church-owned colleges. Durham College was a seminary established by the Bishop Prince of Durham. After Catholicism was reinstated by Mary I, Pope established a new Catholic college on the spot.

5a. Offering a Free Ride to LMH.

4. Regent's Park College. Things are not always what they seem. Regent's Park College is the smallest of the six Permanent Private Halls. The PPHs are increasingly being given similar status as the full colleges, but because of their close religious affiliations are deemed to be less independent than the full colleges. 

Regent's Park College sells itself as a quiet place near the center of Oxford. Its origins go back to a Baptist conference in 1752. The original institution was founded in 1810 and moved to Pusey Street, off St Giles, in 1927. It is near St Cross College, for graduate students, which shares an entrance with Pusey House. 

5b. Dishing the free ice cream at LMH.

Regent's Park College welcomes students in the arts, humanities and social sciences. A few study to be Baptist ministers. The Library includes a special focus on the history of dissenters. In fact, because of its history of religious dissent, members of Regent's Park College are discouraged from using Latin! The college Grace is recited in English by the Principal: For the gifts of your grace and the community of this college, we praise your name, O God. Amen. At the end of Formal Hall the Principal signals the departure of senior members (there is usually no High Table) with the words: "The grace and peace of God be with us all. Amen." Amen to that.

5. Lady Margaret Hall (LMH). Just as Regent's Park College is a hall, so Lady Margaret Hall is a college, as is St Edmund Hall.

5c. Picnic at LMH, by the Cherwell, 1918.
Two Saunders sisters (L) and C.S.L.

LMH is located at the end of Norham Gardens, with property extending to a wide frontage on the River Cherwell. Since this is a bit of a hike without a bike from central Oxford, the offer of a lift with ice cream waiting at the end is a clever way of attracting the interest of potential applicants.

While the lure of free ice cream may seem to be unfair competition, how else expose impressionable students to the glory of the banks of the Cherwell, where picnicked in a 1918 photo three LMHers (two Saunders sisters at left and someone at right identified as C.S.L. who is clearly not C.S. Lewis).