![DorothyWadham Brass StMary'sChurch Ilminster](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/DorothyWadham_Brass_StMary%27sChurch_Ilminster.JPG)
Dorothy Wadham (; ''née'' Petre) (1534/1535 – 16 May 1618) was the foundress of
Wadham College, Oxford
Wadham College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street and Parks Road.
Wadham College was founded in 1610 by Dorothy W ...
. She has the distinction of being the first woman who was not a member of the Royal Family or titled aristocracy to found a college at Oxford or Cambridge. Her husband was
Nicholas Wadham Nicholas Wadham may refer to:
* Nicholas Wadham (1531–1609)
* Nicholas Wadham (1472–1542)
{{hndis, Wadham, Nicholas ...
(1531-1609) of
Merryfield in the parish of
Ilton
Ilton is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated south-east of Taunton, and north of Ilminster in the South Somerset district. The village has a population of 854. The parish includes the hamlets of Ilford and Cad Green wi ...
, Somerset and of
Edge
Edge or EDGE may refer to:
Technology Computing
* Edge computing, a network load-balancing system
* Edge device, an entry point to a computer network
* Adobe Edge, a graphical development application
* Microsoft Edge, a web browser developed by ...
in the parish of
Branscombe
Branscombe is a village in the East Devon district of the English County of Devon.
The parish covers . Its permanent population in 2009 was estimated at 513 by the Family Health Services Authority, reducing to 507 at the 2011 Census. It is loc ...
, Devon.
Origins
Dorothy was the second and eldest surviving child of the very wealthy Sir
William Petre
Sir William Petre (c. 1505 – 1572) (pronounced ''Peter'') was Secretary of State to three successive Tudor monarchs, namely Kings Henry VIII, Edward VI and Queen Mary I. He also deputised for the Secretary of State to Elizabeth I.
Educate ...
(c.1505-1572),
Secretary of State to four successive Tudor monarchs (namely Kings
Henry VIII
Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...
,
Edward VI
Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. Edward was the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour and the first E ...
and Queens
Mary I
Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, and as "Bloody Mary" by her Protestant opponents, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain from January 1556 until her death in 1558. Sh ...
and
Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen".
El ...
), who had acquired much property following the
Dissolution of the Monasteries. Her mother was
Gertrude Tyrrell, daughter of Sir John Tyrrell. Her date of birth as 1535 may be deduced from one of her two portraits in Wadham College, which gives her age as sixty in 1595. Part of the Petre inheritance received by Dorothy came from grants made by Queen Mary to her father Sir William Petre, of lands formerly held by
Lady Jane Grey
Lady Jane Grey ( 1537 – 12 February 1554), later known as Lady Jane Dudley (after her marriage) and as the "Nine Days' Queen", was an English noblewoman who claimed the throne of England and Ireland from 10 July until 19 July 1553.
Jane was ...
and forfeited to the crown, which had come in part from the great heiress
Cecily Bonville, of
Shute, Devon.
Youth
When Dorothy's mother
Gertrude Tyrrell died on 28 May 1541, she was brought up by Petre's second wife, Anne, who was also a Tyrrell by her first marriage. Later in life, her writing skill and knowledge of Latin was evident, and it is likely that she was educated at her home,
Ingatestone Hall
Ingatestone Hall is a Grade I listed 16th-century manor house in Essex, England. It is located outside the village of Ingatestone, approximately south west of Chelmsford and north east of London. The house was built by Sir William Petre, and ...
, Essex.
Marriage
![WadhamImpalingPetre IlminsterChurch Somerset](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/WadhamImpalingPetre_IlminsterChurch_Somerset.JPG)
On 3 September 1555 at St Botolph,
Aldersgate
Aldersgate is a Ward of the City of London, named after one of the northern gates in the London Wall which once enclosed the City.
The Ward of Aldersgate is traditionally divided into Aldersgate Within and Aldersgate Without, the suffix denot ...
, in the
City of London
The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...
, she married
Nicholas Wadham Nicholas Wadham may refer to:
* Nicholas Wadham (1531–1609)
* Nicholas Wadham (1472–1542)
{{hndis, Wadham, Nicholas ...
(1531-1609). The couple lived at Nicholas's ancestral "noble moated seat" of
Merryfield, in the parish of
Ilton
Ilton is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated south-east of Taunton, and north of Ilminster in the South Somerset district. The village has a population of 854. The parish includes the hamlets of Ilford and Cad Green wi ...
,
Somerset
( en, All The People of Somerset)
, locator_map =
, coordinates =
, region = South West England
, established_date = Ancient
, established_by =
, preceded_by =
, origin =
, lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset
, lord_ ...
. They did not have any children.
Life
The Wadhams were possibly
recusant
Recusancy (from la, recusare, translation=to refuse) was the state of those who remained loyal to the Catholic Church and refused to attend Church of England services after the English Reformation.
The 1558 Recusancy Acts passed in the reign ...
s or crypto-Catholics at a time when Catholics were under penalties in England. Between 1612 and 1613 Dorothy Wadham had her armoury confiscated because she was suspected of
recusancy
Recusancy (from la, recusare, translation=to refuse) was the state of those who remained loyal to the Catholic Church and refused to attend Church of England services after the English Reformation.
The 1558 Recusancy Acts passed in the reign ...
. In 1615 she was granted a formal pardon under the 1593
Act of Parliament
Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the Legislature, legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of ...
against Popish recusants.
Founding Wadham College
Dorothy was the sole executor of Nicholas's will, which provided a bequest "for such uses and purposes" as he had "requested her and she hath assented to". His wishes included the founding of a college in
Oxford University
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
, and this Dorothy accomplished, noting that "it would greatly offend my conscience to violate any jot of my husband's will". She added substantial funds from her own great inheritance to the funds left by her late husband in order to finance the building and establishment of the college.
On his deathbed, Nicholas had summoned Sir John Davis to discuss his plans with Dorothy and their two business agents. Nicholas was persuaded by Davis to sign a legal instrument naming him as jointly responsible with Dorothy for effecting Nicholas' plans for a college. Davis had been convicted as a traitor due to his part in the
Essex conspiracy
Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, KG, PC (; 10 November 1565 – 25 February 1601) was an English nobleman and a favourite of Queen Elizabeth I. Politically ambitious, and a committed general, he was placed under house arrest following a ...
, and was a recusant. His inclusion in the design put the plan in jeopardy. In 1610 it was shown in Parliament that Davis had refused the
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
sacraments. He may have wanted Wadham's foundation to be governed by his own former college,
Gloucester Hall, Oxford
Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east of the ...
. Dorothy wrote to the
Lord High Treasurer
The post of Lord High Treasurer or Lord Treasurer was an English government position and has been a British government position since the Acts of Union of 1707. A holder of the post would be the third-highest-ranked Great Officer of State in ...
,
Robert Cecil, a month after Nicholas's death, denying Davis's accusation that she did not intend to proceed with Nicholas's plans. An offer was made to Gloucester Hall, which was refused by the Principal unless he was made head of the new foundation. Nicholas had intended an offer be made to
Jesus College, Oxford
Jesus College (in full: Jesus College in the University of Oxford of Queen Elizabeth's Foundation) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship St ...
, but no evidence of such exists.
A site was acquired in February 1610 and the architect
William Arnold was commissioned for the construction of the college. A letter from
King James I
James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until ...
to
Oxford City Council
Oxford City Council is the lower-tier local government authority for the city of Oxford in England, providing such services as leisure centres and parking. Social Services, Education and Highways services (amongst others) are provided by Oxfo ...
persuaded the Council to lower the asking price for the site. Dorothy managed to loosen Davis's ties by way of a
collusive suit in chancery in July 1610, which established a trust excluding him. Her brother
John Petre, 1st Baron Petre
John Petre, 1st Baron Petre (20 December 1549 – 11 October 1613) was an English peer who lived during the Tudor period and early Stuart period. He and his family were recusants — people who adhered to the Roman Catholic faith after the E ...
was key in raising support in Parliament, but Dorothy refused his offer of taking over the responsibility "which my dear husband so solely and absolutely trusted me with".
On 20 December 1610 Wadham College received royal
letters patent
Letters patent ( la, litterae patentes) ( always in the plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, president or other head of state, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, titl ...
, and its statutes were approved by Dorothy in 1612. The college was formally instituted in April 1613. The appointment of the Warden, Fellows, and Scholars, and even on occasion the college cook, rested with Dorothy, as shown by a series of letters written by her business agent John Arnold, and signed by her. Dorothy never visited the college and relied on Arnold to communicate her wishes to the Warden and Fellows.
Death and burial
Dorothy died on 16 May 1618, at the Wadham
dower house
A dower house is usually a moderately large house available for use by the widow of the previous owner of an English, Scottish or Welsh estate. The widow, often known as the "dowager", usually moves into the dower house from the larger family h ...
,
Edge
Edge or EDGE may refer to:
Technology Computing
* Edge computing, a network load-balancing system
* Edge device, an entry point to a computer network
* Adobe Edge, a graphical development application
* Microsoft Edge, a web browser developed by ...
, in the parish of
Branscombe
Branscombe is a village in the East Devon district of the English County of Devon.
The parish covers . Its permanent population in 2009 was estimated at 513 by the Family Health Services Authority, reducing to 507 at the 2011 Census. It is loc ...
,
Devon
Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...
. Her body was taken to Merrifield and was buried on 16 June alongside that of her husband in the Wadham Chapel inside the
Church of St Mary, Ilminster, Somerset. The monument to Nicholas and Dorothy Wadham is the principal monument in the church. Their
monumental brass
A monumental brass is a type of engraved sepulchral memorial, which in the 13th century began to partially take the place of three-dimensional monuments and effigies carved in stone or wood. Made of hard latten or sheet brass, let into the paveme ...
is described by A.K. Wickham as "the finest post Reformation brass in England."
Legacy
Rev. Robert Barlow Gardiner edited ''The Letters of Dorothy Wadham, 1609–1618'' (1904, H. Frowde).
References
*Davies, C. S. L. ‘Wadham, Dorothy (1534/5–1618)’, ''
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...
'',
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
, 2004.
External links
*http://www.charmouthhistory.com/catherstone.htm
*https://archive.org/details/lettersdorothyw00gardgoog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wadham, Dorothy
1530s births
1618 deaths
16th-century English women
17th-century English women
17th-century English people
Founders of colleges of the University of Oxford
Dorothy
Dorothy may refer to:
*Dorothy (given name), a list of people with that name.
Arts and entertainment
Characters
*Dorothy Gale, protagonist of ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' by L. Frank Baum
* Ace (''Doctor Who'') or Dorothy, a character playe ...
Burials in Somerset
Dorothy
Dorothy may refer to:
*Dorothy (given name), a list of people with that name.
Arts and entertainment
Characters
*Dorothy Gale, protagonist of ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' by L. Frank Baum
* Ace (''Doctor Who'') or Dorothy, a character playe ...