Dorothy Wadham

Dorothy Wadham, painting from 1595

Dorothy Wadham (* 1534 or 1535; † 16th May 1618 in Edge Barton at Branscombe ) was co-founder of Wadham College of Oxford University .

Origin and youth

Dorothy came from a family of the English gentry and was born as Dorothy Petre as the second, but eldest surviving child of Sir William Petre (1505 / 06–1572) and his wife Gertrude, a daughter of Sir John Tyrrell. Her mother died in 1541, her father was second married to Anne Browne, widowed Tyrrell, who also raised Dorothy. Her father became a lawyer in the service of the crown. From 1544 he served as the first secretary of King Henry VIII. After his death, his son Edward VI. and finally by Queen Mary I until 1557. Dorothy probably grew up in Ingatestone Hall in Essex , her father's house. She learned to write English and understood Latin. On September 3, 1555, she married Sir Nicholas Wadham (1531 / 32-1609), a Somerset noblewoman, in a splendid wedding in St Botolph's Church in Aldgate, London .

Life

Little is known of her life at the side of her husband. She lived with her husband on his family estate Merryfield near Ilton in Somerset, but the marriage remained childless. Presumably influenced by her father's family, she was inclined to be Catholic. In 1612 or 1613, already widowed, she was suspected of being a secret Catholic. As a result, the weapons in her home were confiscated. In 1615 she was officially pardoned on the basis of a law passed against Catholics in 1593. However, there are no indications in her will or in her letters to her brother John Petre that she actually remained a Catholic, and she was friends with members of the Protestant gentry and clergy. Her husband died on October 20, 1609, and Dorothy moved into a widow's residence at Edge Manor near Branscombe in Devon .

Foundation of Wadham College

After the death of her husband, his legacy was controversial. Dorothy was his executor and she announced that her husband had wanted to establish a college in Oxford. His relatives received nothing from the inheritance. Dorothy's father had already practically revived Exeter College in Oxford, and it is possible that the idea of ​​starting her own college in Oxford came from her. Outwardly, however, she always proclaimed that the sole purpose of founding a college was to fulfill the wishes of her late husband. On the other hand, Nicholas Wadham had asked Sir John Davis on his deathbed to consult with Dorothy about the implementation of his plans, and Davis convinced Wadham to sign a written confirmation.

Dorothy Wadham's bedroom in her widow's residence, Edge Barton

However, since Davis was considered a secret Catholic and had been convicted of his involvement in the conspiracy by Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex , the implementation of Wadham's plans threatened to fail. In 1610 an official pardon for Davis by parliament had failed because he had again rejected the sacraments of the Church of England . In addition, Davis probably planned to send the Wadham Foundation to Gloucester Hall , where he had studied himself, while Wadham wanted to use the assets of Gloucester Hall for his start-up. A month after her husband's death, Dorothy turned to Lord High Treasurer Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, and bitterly defended herself against the allegations made by Davis, who accused her of not wanting to continue her late husband's project. After negotiations with the principal of Gloucester Hall about a cooperation had failed, Dorothy had a building site selected for the planned new college in February 1610. She chose William Arnold as the architect . King James I asked Oxford City Council to lower the price of the selected property, and in July 1610 a foundation was established in which Davis was no longer involved. Dorothy's brother John, now baronized, had made this support possible through his ties to the king, but Dorothy declined his offer to take responsibility for founding the college. The college received a letters patent on December 20, 1610 , and in 1612 Dorothy approved the statutes. Construction began that same year and the college was formally established in April 1613. Dorothy directed the foundation herself, adding about £ 7,200 to the college of her own fortune, her husband having already donated £ 19,200 to the college. Dorothy herself took over the selection of the warden , the fellows , the students and even the cook, with the administration she was supported by her confidante John Arnold. However, it never visited its foundation itself, whether this was due to an illness or a travel ban for secret Catholics is unknown. Until her death she took care of the college, which she called her husband's work to the end. She was buried next to her husband in St Mary's Church in Ilminster .

Web links

Commons : Dorothy Wadham  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

• Wadham College: History
• Dorothy Petre on thepeerage.com , accessed July 31, 2015.
• CSL Davies: Wadham, Dorothy (1534 / 5-1618). In: Henry Colin Gray Matthew, Brian Harrison (Eds.): Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , from the earliest times to the year 2000 (ODNB). Oxford University Press, Oxford 2004, ISBN 0-19-861411-X , ( oxforddnb.com license required ), as of 2004