William Frere (28 November 1775 – 25 May 1836), was an English lawyer and academic, a law-serjeant and Master of

Downing College, Cambridge Downing College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge and currently has around 650 students. Founded in 1800, it was the only college to be added to Cambridge University between 1596 and 1869, and is often described as the olde ...

Life

Frere was the fourth son of

John Frere John Frere (10 August 1740 – 12 July 1807) was an English antiquary and a pioneering discoverer of Old Stone Age or Lower Palaeolithic tools in association with large extinct animals at Hoxne, Suffolk in 1797. Life Frere was born in R ...

Roydon, South Norfolk Roydon is a small village, parish and electoral ward in the county of Norfolk, England, about a mile west of Diss. It covers an area of and had a population of 2,358 in 981 households at the 2001 census, the population of both parish and war ...

, and younger brother of

John Hookham Frere John Hookham Frere (21 May 1769 – 7 January 1846) was an English diplomat and author. Early life Frere was born in London. His father, John Frere, a member of a Suffolk family, had been educated at Caius College, Cambridge, and became Se ...

. He was born 28 November 1775, but spent much of his childhood at the house of his uncle John Fenn and aunt

Ellenor Fenn Ellenor Fenn ( Frere; 1743–1813; pseudonyms, Mrs. Teachwell, Mrs. Lovechild) was a prolific 18th-century British writer of children's books. Early life Ellenor Frere was born on 12 March 1743/44 in Westhorpe, Suffolk to Sheppard and Susanna ...

whom he later described as 'looking up to my uncle and aunt as parents.' He was sent to

Felsted School (Keep your Faith) , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day and boarding , religion = Church of England , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Chris Townsend , r_head_l ...

and

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

, and in 1796 obtained a scholarship at

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 ...

. In the same year he was elected to the

Craven scholarship Craven may refer to: * Craven in the Domesday Book, an area of Yorkshire, England, larger area than the district ** Craven District, a local government district of North Yorkshire formed in 1974 Places * Craven, New South Wales, Australia, see ...

, and subsequently won several university honours, among them the senior chancellor's medal. He graduated fifth senior optime in 1798. In 1800 he became fellow of the newly founded Downing College. He was called to the bar, and joined the Norfolk circuit in 1802. He was

serjeant-at-law A Serjeant-at-Law (SL), commonly known simply as a Serjeant, was a member of an order of barristers at the English and Irish Bar. The position of Serjeant-at-Law (''servientes ad legem''), or Sergeant-Counter, was centuries old; there are writ ...

in 1809, and three years later was elected Master of Downing College, his appointment being unsuccessfully contested at law. In 1823 he edited the final fifth volume of

Paston Letters The ''Paston Letters'' is a collection of correspondence between members of the Paston family of Norfolk gentry and others connected with them in England between the years 1422 and 1509. The collection also includes state papers and other impor ...

begun by his uncle in 1787. He was made recorder of

Bury St. Edmunds Bury St Edmunds (), commonly referred to locally as Bury, is a historic market, cathedral town and civil parish in Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St.Edmunds and Stowmarket Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton A ...

in 1814, and in 1819 became vice-chancellor of Cambridge University. He lived for part of each year on an estate which he bought at Balsham, Cambridgeshire. He proceeded LL.D. at Cambridge 1825, and D.C.L. at Oxford 1834. In 1826 he quit the bar. He died 25 May 1836.

Works

He edited, with additions, Baron Glenbervie's ''Reports of Cases'', 1813, and the fifth volume of the ''

'' from the manuscript of Sir John Fenn (''Original letters, written during the reigns of Henry VI., Edward IV., and Richard III. by various persons of rank or consequence; containing many curious anecdotes, relative to that period of our history,'' 5. vols. (1787–1823). Some Latin and Greek verse by Frere was published with William Herbert's ''Fasciculus Carminum stylo Lucretiano scriptorum'', 1797.

Family

He married in 1810 Mary, daughter of Brampton Gurdon Dillingham. Philip Howard Frere was their son. During Frere's time, chiefly through his wife, Downing College was a social centre at Cambridge.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Frere, William 1775 births 1836 deaths People educated at Eton College Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Masters of Downing College, Cambridge Vice-Chancellors of the University of Cambridge People from Roydon, South Norfolk People from Balsham

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

People from Dereham English barristers