OXFORD 



5909 



Oxford. Plan ol the university city showing position of the colleges and churches 



Oxford, UNIVERSITY OF. Eng- 

 lish university. The date of its 

 foundation is unknown, and its 

 early history is mixed up with 

 that of the monastic schools that 

 were here before the Norman Con- 

 quest. As a uni- 

 versity it dates 

 from about 1100, 

 and the oldest 

 college was 

 founded in the 

 13th century, 

 when money was 

 first left for uni- 

 Oxford Univer- versity purposes, 

 sity arms The university 



was soon famed and flourishing. 

 Students from England and abroad 

 thronged the lectures ; the earliest 

 of the existing buildings were be- 

 gun and the members of the uni- 

 versity became a body under a 

 chancellor, protected by privileges 

 from the king. Colleges and halls 

 were rapidly founded. They were 

 religious foundations, and some of 

 them developed from houses estab- 

 lished in Oxford by religious orders. 

 In 1571 the university was re- 

 organized and in 1G36 its statutes 

 were revised. The constitution was 

 revised in 1854 and extensive 

 changes made in 1877, on both 

 occasions after an inquiry by a 

 royal commission. A further royal 

 ( ominission inquired into the con- 

 ditions and resources of the univer- 

 sity in 1920-21. The reforms of 

 1877 included the making of new 

 statutes for most of the colleges. 

 the abolition of sinecure positions. 

 and in general bringing the uni- 

 versity more into touch with 

 modern conditions. In 1871, by the 

 abolition of religious tests, the uni- 

 versity was opened to Noncon- 

 formists, and in 1920 women were 

 admitted to its membership. 



Apart from the colleges, of which 

 there are 21 and one hall, the 

 unhersity owns a good deal of 

 property. Its buildings and insti- 

 tutions in Oxford include the 

 Bodleian Library, University Gal- 

 leries, Sheldonian Theatre, Indian 

 Institute, observatories, several 

 museums, and the buildings erected 

 for examination and other pur- 

 poses. It owns the parks and has a 

 botanic garden. The head of the 

 university is the chancellor, a 

 nobleman of distinction, and its 

 acting head the vice-chancellor, the 

 head of one of the colleges, who 

 usually serves for four years. 



Discipline is in the hands of two 

 proctors elected annually by the 

 colleges in turn. There are a large 

 number of professors and lecturers, 

 or readers, appointed by the univer- 

 sity, except the regius professors, 

 who are appointed by the crown. 

 The governing bodies are the Heb- 

 domadal council, a small body 

 elected for six years; Congrega- 

 tion, which consists of resident 

 members of the university ; and 

 Convocation, of which all masters 

 of arts and doctors are members, 

 the legislative body of the univer- 

 sity. Degrees are given in arts, 

 divinity, law, medicine, music, and 

 other subjects. There are pa-< 

 courses and, for more ambitious 

 students, honour schools in classi- 

 cal learning, modern history, law, 

 etc. The university awards a 

 number of scholarships ai.:l pri/e-. 

 Two members have been returned 

 to Parliament since 1604. >' 

 University, and the articles on the 

 separate colleges. 



mtUofMfty. History of the 

 t'niver.Mtv <>i (Kfi>rl. G. C. Brod- 

 rick, 188tt; History of the I'IUM -r- 

 *ity "f Oxford, H. C. Maxwcll-l.yte. 

 1886 ; Oxford, C. W. Roaae, 1887 ; 

 Oxford, A. Lang, new ed. 1890; 



OXFORD 



Oxford itn.l 



Ox for. I und He- College-, 

 O. Smith. 1894. 



Oxford U.MVEBSITT PRESS. 

 THE. Oldest inntitution of MM kind 

 in tin) world. The first O .\ford 

 a I wit in commentary by 



>f A'jiiileia on th- 

 ties' Creed, is dated 1468 (? 1 > 

 The Press baa been continuous 

 since 1585, and the Bible section 

 |t>7~. Printing was carried 

 on in the Sheldonian Theatre from 

 1669 to 1713, and the Clarendon 

 I In i Ming in Broad Street until 

 1830, when the Press removed to 

 the extensive premises in Walton 

 Street. The type foundry is the 

 oldest in England, and its types 

 are adaptable to nearly all lan- 

 guages. The Press does it* own 

 electrotyping, stereotyping, and 

 bookbinding ; has its own litho- 

 graphic and collotype plants, and 

 makes its own paper, including 

 the famous India paper, and ink. 



The associated name of the 

 Clarendon Press dates from 1713, 

 when, from the profits of Claren- 

 don's History of the Rebellion, 

 new offices were erected. The Lon- 

 don publishing house is at Amen 

 House, Warwick Square, Ixmdon ; 

 the paper mill at Wolvercotc, near 

 Oxford. There are branches in 

 Edinburgh, Glasgow, Melbourne, 

 Cape Town, New York, Toronto, 

 Bombay, Madras, and Shanghai. 

 On the retirement of H.-nry 

 Frowdp, 1913, Humphrey Milford 

 became the publisher ; and as 

 printer Horace Hart was suc- 

 ceeded on his decease in 1916 by 

 Frederick Hall. In 1917 the stock 

 and copyright of The Dictionary 

 of National Biography were trans- 

 ferred by the family of the late 

 George M. Smith to this Press. 



Oxford, EARL OF. English title 

 held successively by the families of 

 VereandHarley. The great Norman 

 family of Vere was represented in 

 the time of William the Conqueror 

 by Aubrey de Vere, the holder of 

 extensive lands. In 1133 his de- 

 scendant was made lord great 

 chamberlain, and the earls of 

 Oxford held that office until 1625. i 

 In 1142 another descendant was 

 made earl of Oxford. Nearly all 

 the earls, whose chief seat was 

 Castle Hedingham, in Essex, were 

 persons of note. 



Robert, the 9th earl (1362-92), 

 was made duke of Ireland. A close 

 friend of Richard II, he lost his 

 honours, but the title was restored 

 to his descendants, one of whom, 

 John, the 12th earl, was executed 

 as a Lancastrian in 1462. His son, 

 John, the 13th earl (1443-1513), 

 was also a prominent Lancastrian. 

 Edward, the 17th earl (1550-1604), 

 was a typical Elizabethan, a gallant 



