Thomas Nevile (died 1615) was an English clergyman and academic who was

Dean of Peterborough The Dean of Peterborough is the head of the chapter at Peterborough Cathedral. On the Dissolution of Peterborough Abbey in 1539 and the abbey-church's refoundation as a cathedral for the new bishop and diocese of Peterborough, care for the abbey ...

(1591–1597) and

Dean of Canterbury The Dean of Canterbury is the head of the Chapter of the Cathedral of Christ Church, Canterbury, England. The current office of Dean originated after the English Reformation, although Deans had also existed before this time; its immediate precur ...

(1597–1615), Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge (1582–1593), and Master of

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

(1593–1615).

Origins

He was born in Canterbury, a son of Richard Neville of

South Leverton South Leverton is a village and civil parish in Bassetlaw, north Nottinghamshire, England, four miles from Retford. According to the 2001 census it has a population of 478, increasing only marginally to 480 at the 2011 census. A website for the ...

, Nottinghamshire (who moved to Canterbury in his retirement),Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 40, Neville, Thomas (d.1615), by James Bass Mullinger
/ref> a son of Alexander Neville,

Escheator Escheat is a common law doctrine that transfers the real property of a person who has died without heirs to the crown or state. It serves to ensure that property is not left in "limbo" without recognized ownership. It originally applied to a ...

of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire in 1519–20. His mother was Anne Mantell, a daughter of Sir Walter Mantell of

Nether Heyford Nether Heyford is a village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire, England, close to the M1 motorway and the A5 and A45 roads, west of Northampton and northwest of London. The smaller village of Upper Heyford is about half a mile to the ...

, Northamptonshire. His brother was the scholar

Alexander Neville Alexander Neville ( 1340–1392) was a late medieval prelate who served as Archbishop of York from 1374 to 1388. Life Born in about 1340, Alexander Neville was a younger son of Ralph Neville, 2nd Baron Neville de Raby and Alice de Audley. He ...

(1544–1614). He bore the same arms as the prominent and ancient

Neville family The Neville or Nevill family (originally FitzMaldred) is a noble house of early medieval origin, which was a leading force in English politics in the later Middle Ages. The family became one of the two major powers in northern England and played ...

Earls of Westmorland Earl of Westmorland is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of England. The title was first created in 1397 for Ralph Neville. It was forfeited in 1571 by Charles Neville, 6th Earl of Westmorland, for leading the Rising of the North ...

. The origins of the Neville family of South Leverton are unclear, but an early ancestor was Thomas Neville, Recorder of Nottingham and Member of Parliament for

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

in 1472.

Career

He originally came to

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

to study at Pembroke. During a long and distinguished career he held a succession of prestigious ecclesiastical posts including the Deanery of both Peterborough and Canterbury, that allowed him to build substantial personal wealth. Within Cambridge, his popularity in the Court of Queen Elizabeth meant he found similar success there, both as Master of Magdalene College and as

Vice Chancellor A chancellor is a leader of a college or university, usually either the executive or ceremonial head of the university or of a university campus within a university system. In most Commonwealth and former Commonwealth nations, the chancellor ...

of the university in 1588. Then, in February 1593 Elizabeth appointed him to succeed

John Still John Still (c. 1543 – 26 February 1607/1608) was Master of two Cambridge colleges and then, from 1593, Bishop of Bath and Wells. He enjoyed considerable fame as an English preacher and disputant. He was formerly reputed to be the author of an ...

to the Mastership of Trinity, and it is for his mastership of Trinity that he is now best remembered. The college he inherited was little more than the architectural remains of the colleges that had united to form Trinity, and he set about using both his personal wealth and influence to create a setting unrivalled in academic England. To quote Trevelyan, "If Henry VIII founded Trinity, Nevile built it". Over the next decade he razed a number of existing buildings to clear the space for the area now known as Great Court. This included moving Great Gate, the entrance gate to the college, 20 metres east brick by brick, and resulted in one of the largest enclosed courts in Europe. In his final years he built an additional court, Nevile's Court, paid for entirely by himself. A monument showing two kneeling effigies representing Thomas and his brother Alexander survives in Canterbury Cathedral.

References

The Master of Trinity
at

External links

* 16th-century births 1615 deaths Masters of Trinity College, Cambridge Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge Fellows of Magdalene College, Cambridge Masters of Magdalene College, Cambridge 16th-century English Anglican priests 17th-century English Anglican priests Deans of Canterbury Deans of Peterborough Vice-Chancellors of the University of Cambridge {{Anglicanism-stub