In 1326, the University, under the Chancellorship of Richard de Badew, founded University Hall, two messuages in Milne Street being assigned as a residence for its scholars. Little is known of the new college, but within a decade of its foundation, the founder was forced to seek a patron to rebuild the college, possibly after a disastrous fire. It was presumably Badew’s connection with the Clares that he turned to Lady Elizabeth de Clare for assistance and she refounded it as Clare Hall, endowing it with the advowsons of Littlington in 1336 and Great Gransden and Duxford in 1346, and providing it with a set of statutes in 1356. Thus provision was made for a Master and 15 Scholars (later called Fellows) and also 10 poor scholars.
Thanks to multiple endowments, including land at Potton, Everton and Gamlingay, Clare’s wealth and size grew steadily until it was necessary to completely rebuild the college. After a long legal wrangle, land was acquired from King’s College and between 1638 and the early eighteenth century, the buildings that form Old Court were erected together with the bridge which was completed in 1640. Further substantial additions to the College were not required until the twentieth century, when Memorial Court, designed by Giles Gilbert Scott, built on the West side of the river, was opened in 1926 and extended later in the century. As admission numbers continued to rise, further extensions to College accommodation saw college property on Chesterton Lane consolidated into The Colony and St Regis Flats built on Chesterton Road.
Philip Whitwell Wilson was born in Westmorland, Cumbria, the son of I. Whitwell Wilson, a Justice of the Peace, and Annie Bagster.
He was educated at Kendal Grammar School.
Admitted to Clare College in 1894.
President of the Cambridge Union, and was also one of the first editors of the literary magazine Granta.
He worked in the Press Gallery in the House of Commons for twelve years immediately after leaving Clare and was an MP for St. Pancras (South) between 1906 - 1910. He also went on to write for the New York Times when he moved to America.
Born in Prussia in 1841. Son of John Frederick Lewis, merchant of Burg, Magdeburg, Prussia.
Admitted pensioner (age 27) at Pembroke, on 1 May 1841
Matriculated Michaelmas 1841.
B.A. (4th Wrangler) in 1845.
Migrated to Clare. M.A. 1848.
1848 Exeter Fellow; 1848 Diggons Fellow; 1853-60 Fellow of Clare College.
Naturalised 22 February 1848.
Professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy at St Andrews, 1847-59, and of Mathematics, 1859-79. Resigned.
Hon. LL.D., from St Andrews, 1869.
Fellow of the Royal Society.
Married Sarah Sophia, daughter of Benjamin Cotton, of Upton Manor, Freshwater, Isle of Wight.
Died 8 January 1890.
Father of Max Temple (admitted to Clare in 1880), and Francis Norton (admitted to Clare in 1886).
Master of Clare College (1726-1736).
Became a Fellow of Clare College in 1913.
Edward Leigh (1913-1998)
Working Dates: 1946 -1983
Edward Leigh was one of the few professional photographers to obtain a prestigious Fellowship of the Royal Photographic Society as well as a Fellowship of the Institute of British Photographers (the professional photographers' own body).
His photographic career spanned over 50 years. Before WW2 he worked as a fashion photographer and a stills cameraman for Fox Film Studios, later 20th Century Fox. During the war his printing skills were employed by RAF Oakington to process at great speed the aerial recognisance photographs which were assembled into the mosaic maps used by Bomber Command.
After the war Edward set up his own studio on Kings Parade in the centre of Cambridge, living on the premises. Edward did a great deal of work for University Departments and Cambridge Colleges, Including matriculation and graduation photos, portraits of fellows and visiting Royals. Many of his architectural photographs have been used for decades in books on Cambridge. He was a much sought after industrial photographer, skilled in the use of lighting and good at composition.
When Edward retired, his son John Edward Leigh took over the business, still at 22 Derby Road, Cambridge, which he listed as specialising in advertising photography, for a short period around 1983-85, before the business finally closed.
Working for Edward Leigh at different times were Doug Rattle, Peter Lofts and Frank Bird.
William Loudon Mollison matriculated at Clare in 1872 and was Master of the College 1915-1929.