George Borlase (1743 – 7 November 1809) was an English churchman,

Registrary The Registrary is the senior administrative officer of the University of Cambridge. The term is unique to Cambridge, and uses an archaic spelling. Most universities in the United Kingdom and in North America have administrative offices entitled "reg ...

and Knightbridge Professor of Moral Philosophy at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

Life and career

George Borlase was born 1743 in

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

. He was the sixth son of Walter Borlase, vicar of Madron, and his wife Margaret. After attending a grammar school in

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

, he was admitted to

Peterhouse Peterhouse is the oldest constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England, founded in 1284 by Hugh de Balsham, Bishop of Ely. Today, Peterhouse has 254 undergraduates, 116 full-time graduate students and 54 fellows. It is quite o ...

, Cambridge in 1759 at the age of 16. He graduated from the

Mathematical Tripos The Mathematical Tripos is the mathematics course that is taught in the Faculty of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge. It is the oldest Tripos examined at the University. Origin In its classical nineteenth-century form, the tripos was a ...

in 1764. He subsequently became Fellow of

in 1766, and in February 1778 was elected Registrary to the university. After taking his BD in 1780 he began his career in the church, first as vicar of

Little St Mary's, Cambridge Little St Mary's or St Mary the Less is a Church of England parish church in Cambridge, England, on Trumpington Street between Pembroke College's Mill Lane Project development site and Peterhouse. The church Is in the Diocese of Ely and follo ...

, 1773–89 then as rector of Newton, Suffolk, 1790–1809 and finally as Vicar of

Cherry Hinton Cherry Hinton is a suburban area of the city of Cambridge, in Cambridgeshire, England. It is around southeast of Cambridge city centre. History The rectangular parish of Cherry Hinton occupies the western corner of Flendish hundred on the so ...

in 1789. Borlase was nominated for the Mastership of Peterhouse, but after a contested election against Barnes he was rejected. He was elected Professor of Casuistry in 1788. He never gave any lectures and held his church posts as well as being registrary at the same time. Borlase is most well known for being the first editor of a list of the graduates at Cambridge University between 1659 and 1787, known as the ''Cantabrigienses Graduati'' (London, 1787). He also contributed to the second edition of the ''

Biographia Britannica ''Biographia Britannica'' was a multi-volume biographical compendium, "the most ambitious attempt in the latter half of the eighteenth century to document the lives of notable British men and women". The first edition, edited by William Oldys (169 ...

''. Borlase married Henrietta Serocold, daughter of the Reverend George Serocold in 1791. His second wife was Anne, daughter of the Reverend Thomas Holme, whom he married in 1800. He died on 7 November 1809, aged 67.

References

1743 births 1809 deaths Alumni of Peterhouse, Cambridge Fellows of Peterhouse, Cambridge Registraries of the University of Cambridge People from Penzance People from Cherry Hinton People from Babergh District Knightbridge Professors of Philosophy {{England-academic-administrator-stub