Talk:Mansfield College, Oxford

Academic Performance
To whoever removed the section on academic performance: Why? Sure, it isn't something Mansfield should be proud of, but this article is neither a prospectus nor an advertisment. If you have a good reason, please share it. Till then - your change has been reverted. The section was supported by a reference. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 163.1.99.59 (talk) 09:54, 13 June 2008 (UTC)

Sister college?
Why does Mansfield not have a sister college? It does! Homerton.

Although, having seens what's left to sister with, I'm quite happy with it being an only child.


 * It seems obvious that Westminster College, Cambridge be the sister college to Mansfield (both being of non-conformist foundation which later became the United Reformed Church), but this remains to be confirmed. What's so wrong with being Dannii to Kylie? – Kaihsu 09:12, 13 June 2006 (UTC)

No, Mansfield doesn't have a sister college - this has proved unfortunate for past MCR events when Oxbridge exchange dinners have been attempted and the MCR just had to get in touch with random Cambridge colleges. Remember that there are fewer colleges at Cambridge than at Ox. --Treefox 15:45, 27 August 2006 (UTC)

Oh, and Westminster isn't actually a Cambridge college... --Treefox 15:45, 27 August 2006 (UTC)

Though from an historical perspective, Homerton College, Cam would make logical sense as a sister college. --Treefox 16:00, 1 October 2006 (UTC)

Could do better
This page reads like it was written by the JCR. "The Kylie Minogue of colleges"? "The college porters are also notable characters"? For god's sake.

Why is there no mention of Champneys's chapel, which is a highly regarded example of late-Victorian Gothic?

Why does the list of alumni include some nonentity that writes for a Nintendo magazine?

Even Heaven's Gate doesn't get a mention, which I would have thought would be trivial enough for this entry.

Beta minus 81.19.57.146 11:31, 25 January 2007 (UTC)

Every wikipedia entry for an Oxford College is written by some bored JCR member... Treefox 08:43, 29 June 2007 (UTC)

Much of the article reads more like a prospectus than an encyclopaedia. 163.1.99.59 (talk) 18:41, 6 June 2008 (UTC)

Notable former students
It seems to me that Adam von Trott zu Solz wasn't a student at Mansfield College but at Balliol College.
 * To be honest, I don't care what it "seems". He is an alumnus of this college. Malcolm Starkey 00:00, 29 June 2007 (UTC)


 * As I understand it, he did his BA at Balliol, then studied theology at Mansfield, which was fairly typical for students in the college's early days. Treefox 16:41, 8 October 2007 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:MansfieldOxford-Crest2.png
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BetacommandBot (talk) 14:47, 8 March 2008 (UTC)

External links modified
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External links modified
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External links modified
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Access
Regarding the point made in this edit, I think it may be slightly overstated. It simply is not true that all other Oxbridge colleges require access through the porter's lodge; indeed, at Cambridge, all of the colleges that lie on The Backs, for example, have at least one formal access point by design that is not the porter's lodge. Similarly, my own college of Peterhouse has two other access points, again by design. - Sitush (talk) 04:11, 4 October 2018 (UTC)

To clarify, I think it may not even be true that most require access through the lodge. Certainly, in the case of Cambridge. Perhaps the problem lies more in the edit summary than the text but my own somewhat hazy memories of Oxford suggest that the Cambridge experience applies to a significant number of Oxford colleges also. - Sitush (talk) 04:18, 4 October 2018 (UTC)


 * I believe there may be a conflict between the official rules (especially at night, but also for non-members) and the facts in practice. Certainly as an undergrad I knew how to get into almost any college. However, they tightened things up at The House, for example, after they started charging tourists for admission. Yngvadottir (talk) 08:55, 4 October 2018 (UTC)


 * Perhaps they have tightened things up but that has nothing to do with design (I was back at Cambridge for a few days in August and had to face-off a very annoyed person with someone from the States who didn't like the fact that I and my partner could avoid paying the entry fee at King's due to me being a member of the university! I had visions of Trump tweeting about it, especially when the porter told them where to go - which was, in short, the airport. Never get on the wrong side of a porter!) - Sitush (talk) 18:20, 6 October 2018 (UTC)

Admission of women
I scoured the internet for a usable reference for that 1979 date (which fits my recollections), but didn't find one. I remember there was an article in The Times, so probably this is an archives access problem. Hence I left the oral history reference in place; I hope someone with access to either paper or paywalled online archives can get us a reliable source. Our article on the university cites this archived university page, which is still online substantially unchanged and doesn't give the 1979 date in either version. There are a couple of scholarly articles mentioning it; I should add one there, but I didn't find one that was more explicit than that "almost all" colleges changed to co-education that year, and Mansfield was still a hall at that time so is particularly unlikely to have been listed. Yngvadottir (talk) 08:55, 4 October 2018 (UTC)


 * I have checked The Times online archive and also the Guardian but cannot spot anything. I am surprised but perhaps it is a problem with the searching algorithm because I then tried to search for my own name and that, too, did not appear even though I could find it when I went to the relevant pages on the relevant dates. - Sitush (talk) 18:35, 6 October 2018 (UTC)
 * Had a look, couldn't find anything, but did find Theodore Mander"one of the founding benefactors of Mansfield College", one-time mayor of Wolverhampton, who died aged 47 in 1901 "following an operation on his kitchen table". Xanthomelanoussprog (talk) 20:16, 6 October 2018 (UTC)
 * Somehow failed to make the connection- he's a member of the Mander family. Xanthomelanoussprog (talk) 06:24, 7 October 2018 (UTC)

George and Elizabeth Mansfield
Job adverts by the college have this pair as the founders, but it's unclear whether they founded Spring Hill College or Mansfield College, or purchased the land for the new college or solely acted as benefactors. Xanthomelanoussprog (talk) 10:51, 4 October 2018 (UTC)
 * The book I added as a source—I think I can see it all, but can you?—says on p. 3, at the start of its history, "Spring Hill College, Birmingham, was founded by the late George Storer Mansfield and his sisters, Mrs. Sarah Glover and Miss Elizabeth Mansfield." I was unable to find a statement that that was why it was renamed to "Mansfield" when it moved, but I may just have missed that. Yngvadottir (talk) 13:25, 4 October 2018 (UTC)
 * Thanks. The plot thickens. According to "The Modern Pulpit Viewed in Its Relation to the State of Society" by Robert Vaughan, George accumulated a lot of property (he may have lived in Derby, may have been a currier and may have held property in Quorndon, Rothley and Mountsorrel, Leicestershire). He bequeathed all his property to his sisters in his will. The sisters were "more concerned to see their brother a man of piety, than to become possessed of his wealth". They set to praying, as their brother had a "practical disregard of religion" and, lo and behold, he did develop "a habit of enlightened and fervent devotedness to the service of God". He then "appropriated" the whole of his estate "and some other properties" to establish the Independent College at Spring Hill. Vaughan was writing in 1842, by which time Mansfield had died. However, there appears to be another side to the story (halfway down this page!, where the college appears to be the brainchild of Rev. Timothy East, later accused of embezzling by the sisters. Xanthomelanoussprog (talk) 20:06, 4 October 2018 (UTC)
 * The version in the 1890 book resembles that in the forum post as far as East's role in suggesting endowing a college, and presents moving out of the house earlier than required as being the sisters' idea (also p. 3). The next mention of East that Google indexes is p. 16, where he is said to have resigned as college treasurer and chair of the Committee of Management after "a very few years" because of "severe indisposition" which had made him unable to perform his duties. The writer says "his connection with the college ceased" after that. So if the laundry was dirty it's been left out of sight. The short time is listed as 1838–1843, but his successor served 20 years. Yngvadottir (talk) 20:59, 4 October 2018 (UTC)
 * Not been able to access the 1890 online (though there's a copy about a mile away from me). East is in the National Portrait Gallery here. Lived to 1871, died age 88, so that "severe indisposition" didn't prevent him living another 28 years! Xanthomelanoussprog (talk) 21:36, 4 October 2018 (UTC)
 * It seems that East played a part in the Chartist movement, according to Birmingham Library's blog. Just found a transcript of the sisters versus East case; they claim they gave East £37,000 from liquidating their properties and investments, of which £20,000 was intended for the college. Xanthomelanoussprog (talk) 22:13, 4 October 2018 (UTC)