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==History== === George Augustus Selwyn === [[File:Selwyn, George Augustus (1809-1878), by Mason & Co..jpg|left|thumb|upright|[[George Selwyn (bishop of Lichfield)|George Augustus Selwyn]] (1809β1878)]] The college was founded following the death of Bishop [[George Selwyn (bishop of Lichfield)|George Augustus Selwyn]], who had played an important role in the establishment of New Zealand as its first bishop. Selwyn was a scholar of [[St John's College, Cambridge]], and a member of the Cambridge crew which competed in the inaugural [[The Boat Race|Boat Race]] in [[The Boat Race 1829|1829]]. He came out second in the Classical Tripos in 1831, graduating Bachelor of Arts (BA) 1831, Master of Arts (MA Cantab) 1834, and Doctor of Divinity (DD) per lit. reg. 1842, and was a fellow of St John's College from 1833 to 1840.<ref name="Short History">{{cite web|url=http://www.sel.cam.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/Selwyn-1882-1973.pdf|title=SELWYN COLLEGE 1882β1973: A Short History|website=Sel.cam.ac.uk|access-date=2017-08-26|archive-date=22 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150922184136/http://www.sel.cam.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/Selwyn-1882-1973.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> After graduating, Selwyn first taught at [[Eton College]]. In 1833, he was ordained deacon, and, in 1834, a priest. Selwyn displayed leadership talent and, in 1841, after an episcopal council held at Lambeth had recommended the appointment of a bishop for New Zealand, Charles James Blomfield, Bishop of London, offered the post to Selwyn. He returned to England in 1867, and accepted the post of [[Bishop of Lichfield]], which he held until his death on 11 April 1878, aged 69. === Foundation of the College === After Selwyn's death in 1878, a number of scholars from Cambridge launched plans to establish a college to honour his life.<ref name="Short History" /> The Selwyn Memorial Committee was founded with [[Charles Abraham (Bishop of Wellington)]] as secretary, and it proposed that a Cambridge college should be established as a memorial. The college's first Master, [[Arthur Lyttelton]], was formally elected on 10 March 1879, the [[Archbishop of Canterbury]] [[Archibald Tait]] was invited to become [[Visitor]] on 28 June 1878 and building of Old Court, as it is now known, began in 1880. [[File:Arthur lyttelton.jpg|thumb|upright|First Master of Selwyn College, [[Arthur Lyttelton]]]] The foundation stone of the college was laid by [[Edward Herbert, 3rd Earl of Powis]] in a ceremony on 1 June 1881, following a lunch in [[King's College, Cambridge]]. A Charter of Incorporation was granted by [[Queen Victoria]] on 13 September 1882, and the west range of Old Court was ready for use by the college's official opening (with the Master's installation) on 10 October 1882, in time for [[Michaelmas term]]. Selwyn's first 28 undergraduates joined the original master and 12 other Fellows at the then Public Hostel of the university in 1882. The first master of the college was [[Arthur Lyttelton]], who sought to establish the college on a firm academic and financial foundation. Lyttelton had been senior tutor at [[Keble College, Oxford]]. He came from a well-established family with strong connections in both Church and State, his mother being the sister-in-law of the prime minister, [[William Ewart Gladstone]], who became a major benefactor of the college. Lyttelton was himself a life-long supporter of the Liberal party and was familiar with many politicians in Westminster, his wife [[Kathleen Lyttelton|Kathleen]], a women's activist, being the daughter of the Liberal MP [[George Clive (Liberal politician)|George Clive]]. Lyttelton persuaded Gladstone to make a personal gift to the college of the louder of the two chapel bells. Gladstone reportedly believed that Cambridge students needed to be well woken if they were to get up at a productive time in the morning. Today, the chapel bell is known as 'Gladstone's Bell' by students.<ref name="Short History"/> [[File:Selwyn College Cambridge (Hall Clock).jpg|thumb|left|upright|Selwyn College Clock Tower]] The college was founded by donations and subscriptions, with a distinctly religious character. The royal charter for the college, reproducing the terms of the charter of Keble College, was sealed on 13 September 1882. The charter declared that the college was "founded and constituted with the especial object and intent of providing persons desirous of academic education and willing to live economically with a College wherein sober living and high culture of the mind may be combined with Christian training based upon the principles of the [[Church of England]]". Initially, only baptised Christians were accepted as students or scholars. The original foundation charter specified that the college should "make provision for those who intend to serve as missionaries overseas and ... educate the sons of clergymen". Selwyn was not yet a full college of the university, but a "Public Hostel", with its undergraduates regarded as non-collegiate and marked with the designation "H. Selw." on Senate House lists.<ref name="Short History"/> === Later development === In 1926 the "Public Hostel" status was abolished, replaced with that of "Approved Foundation", granting more security to the college. The distinction of the college as "H. Selw." on Senate House lists had also ceased from June 1924.<ref name="Short History"/> On 14 March 1958, Selwyn was granted full collegiate status.<ref name="Short History"/> Selwyn, in common with most other Oxford and Cambridge colleges, originally admitted only men, but was one of the first colleges to become mixed when women were admitted from 1976. In that year, women lived only on E and H Staircases, but in subsequent years could live anywhere in College. In 1999, Selwyn appointed the first female Director of Music in an Oxbridge College, [[Sarah MacDonald (musician)|Sarah MacDonald]], and in 2009, Selwyn became the first Cambridge college to appoint a female head porter, Helen Stephens.<ref>{{cite news|title=Cambridge College first as Helen is appointed|publisher=This is South Wales|date=9 September 2009}}</ref> In the 2020s the college became known for its widening-participation and academic successes, admitting one of the highest proportions of maintained school (UK state schools) undergraduates of the Cambridge colleges (81% in 2023<ref>https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/sites/default/files/publications/ug_admissions_statistics_2023_cycle.pdf</ref>) while being ranked 1st for 'good honours' examination results in 2024.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.sel.cam.ac.uk/news/selwyn-success | title=Selwyn success | Selwyn College }}</ref>
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