List of chancellors of the University of Cambridge
The chancellor of the University of Cambridge is the ceremonial head of the university. The position dates from the 13th century.[1] Chancellors were elected annually until 1514, and thereafter were elected for life.[2]
| Tenure | Chancellor | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| c.1215–c.1232 | Richard of Wetheringsett | |
| c.1246 | Hugh de Hotton | |
| 1256 | Reginald Gerninghall | |
| 1257 | Stephen Hepworth | |
| 1259 | William de Ludham | |
| 1260 | Richard de Gedney | |
| 1261 | Richard Dryfield | |
| 1267 | John de Asgarby | |
| 1270–1275 | John Hooke | |
| 1276 | Roger de Fulbourn | |
| 1283 | Andrew de Gisleham | |
| 1286 | Thomas Sheringham | |
| 1287 | Stephen Hepworth | |
| 1289–1290 | Ralph de Leicester | |
| 1290–1292 | Geoffery de Pakenham | |
| 1293–1295 | Henry de Boyton | |
| 1295–1296 | John de Bradenham | |
| 1296–1299 | Thomas de Sheringham | |
| 1299 | Stephen Hepworth | |
| 1300–1303 | Stephen Haslingfield | |
| 1303–1307 | Stephen de Segrace | |
| 1307 | Stephen Haslingfield | |
| 1315 | Richard de Ashton | |
| 1321–1326 | Roger Northburgh has been incorrectly described as Chancellor[3] since 1691.[4] | |
| 1326–1329 | Richard de Badew | |
| 1329–1331 | Thomas de Foxton | |
| c. 1330 | Robert de Winwick | |
| 1331–1334 | John de Langley | |
| 1334–1335 | Robert de Mildenhall[5] | |
| 1335–1337 | Henry de Herwarden | |
| 1337–1339 | Richard Harling (or Ling) | |
| 1340 | Robert de Claydon | |
| 1341 | Thomas de Northwood | |
| 1344 | Thomas de Northwood | |
| 1346–1348 | John de Crakhall | Re-elected in 1348 on 9 June[6] |
| 1348 | Thomas de Grantchester | |
| 1348 | William de Lymbergh | Elected 15 December[6] |
| 1349–1351 | Richard Leicester (or Richard de Wetherset, Hetherset, Wetheringsett)[7] | Elected 21 Jan.[6] |
| 1351 | Richard Harling | |
| 1352 | Anthony of Grantchester | |
| 1352–1359 | William Tynkell | |
| 1359–1360 | Thomas Sutton | |
| 1360–1361 | Richard de Wetherset | |
| 1361–1362 | Michael de Haynton | |
| 1361–1366 | Michael de Causton | |
| 1366–1369 | William de Gotham | |
| 1369 | Thomas de Stewkley | |
| 1371 | John de Donwich | |
| 1373–1374 | Adam de Lakenheath | |
| 1374 | John de Donwich | |
| 1376 | William de Gotham | |
| 1378–1379 | Richard Scrope | |
| 1380 | Eudo (or Guy) Zouche | |
| 1380–1381 | John Cavendish | |
| 1382 | Guy Zouche | |
| 1382–1383 | John de Bromyard | |
| 1383 | John of Neketon | |
| 1384 | John de Burgh (or Borough) | |
| 1385 | Thomas Hetherset (or de Hethersett) | |
| 1386 | John de Burgh (or Borough) | |
| 1388 | William Colvile | |
| 1390–1391 | Richard Dereham | |
| 1391 | William Colvile | |
| 1392 | John de Neketon | |
| 1394 | William Colvile | |
| 1396 | Guy Zouche | |
| 1400–1402 | Richard de Billingford | |
| 1404–1408 | Richard Dereham | |
| 1409–1413 | Richard de Billingford | |
| 1414 | Stephen le Scrope | |
| 1415–1422 | John de Rickingale | |
| 1422–1423 | Thomas de Cobham | |
| 1424–1426 | Robert Fitzhugh | |
| 1426 | William Wymbell | |
| 1427 | Marmaduke Lumley | |
| 1429–1430 | John Holeroke | |
| 1431–1432 | William Lascells | |
| 1432 | Richard de Billingford | |
| 1433–1435 | Richard Cawdray | |
| 1436–1445 | John Langton | |
| 1445–1446 | Nicholas Kenton | |
| 1447 | John Langton | |
| 1448 | Robert Ascogh | |
| 1450–1451 | Nicholas Close | |
| 1451–1456 | William Percy | |
| 1456–1458 | Lawrence Booth | |
| 1458 | William Wilflete (or Wolflet) | |
| 1459–1460 | Robert Woodlark | |
| 1461 | Richard Scroope | |
| 1462–1463 | Robert Woodlark | |
| 1463–1464 | John Booth | |
| 1464 | William Wilflete | |
| 1465–1468 | John Harrison (or Herrison) | |
| 1466 | William Wilflete | |
| 1468–1469 | Edward Story | |
| 1469–1471 | Thomas Rotherham (or Scot) | |
| 1471–1472 | Edward Story | |
| 1473–1479 | Thomas Rotherham | |
| 1479–1483 | John Boynton | |
| 1483–1485 | Thomas Rotherham | |
| 1490 | Thomas Cosyn | |
| 1494–1496 | John Blythe | |
| 1496–1499 | George Fitzhugh | |
| 1499–1500 | Thomas Rotherham | |
| 1500 | Richard Fox | |
| 1502 | George Fitzhugh | |
| 1503 | Thomas Ruthall (or Rowthall) | |
| 1504–1535 | John Fisher | Appointed for life in 1514[2] |
| 1535–1540 | Thomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex | |
| 1540–1547 | Stephen Gardiner | |
| 1547–1552 | Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset | |
| 1552–1553 | John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland | |
| 1553–1555 | Stephen Gardiner | |
| 1556–1558 | Reginald Pole | |
| 1559–1598 | William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley | |
| 1598–1601 | Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex | |
| 1601–1612 | Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury | |
| 1612–1614 | Henry Howard, 1st Earl of Northampton | |
| 1614–1626 | Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk | |
| 1626–1628 | George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham | |
| 1628–1649 | Henry Rich, 1st Earl of Holland | A Royalist officer in the English Civil War from 1643, executed for treason in 1649 |
| 1649–1651 | Edward Montagu, 2nd Earl of Manchester | |
| 1651–1660 | Oliver St John | |
| 1660–1671 | Edward Montagu, 2nd Earl of Manchester | Reinstated as Chancellor after the Restoration |
| 1671–1674 | George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham | |
| 1674–1682 | James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth | |
| 1682–1688 | Christopher Monck, 2nd Duke of Albemarle | |
| 1689–1748 | Charles Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset | |
| 1748–1768 | Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne | |
| 1768–1811 | Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton | |
| 1811–1834 | Prince William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh | |
| 1834–1840 | John Pratt, 1st Marquess Camden | |
| 1840–1847 | Hugh Percy, 3rd Duke of Northumberland | |
| 1847–1861 | Albert, Prince Consort | |
| 1861–1891 | William Cavendish, 7th Duke of Devonshire | |
| 1892–1908 | Spencer Cavendish, 8th Duke of Devonshire | |
| 1908–1919 | John Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh | |
| 1919–1930 | Arthur Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour | |
| 1930–1947 | Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley | |
| 1948–1950 | Jan Smuts | |
| 1950–1967 | Arthur Tedder, 1st Baron Tedder | |
| 1967–1976 | Edgar Adrian, 1st Baron Adrian | |
| 1976–2011 | Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh | |
| 2011–2025 | David Sainsbury, Baron Sainsbury of Turville | |
| 2025– | Chris Smith, Baron Smith of Finsbury |
See also
- List of vice-chancellors of the University of Cambridge
- List of chancellors of the University of Oxford
References
- ^ Chancellors of the University of Cambridge. British History Online. Retrieved on 30 July 2012.
- ^ a b John Lamb (1831). "IV: John de Neketon D.D.". Masters' History of the College of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary in the University Cambridge. John Smith, Printer to the University. p. 62.
- ^ "Northburgh, Roger (NRTH321R)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
- ^ Henry Wharton. "Anglia sacra". Retrieved 19 April 2018 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ See the History of the Mendenhall Surname in England website http://www.mendenhall.org.uk/aqwn03.htm#35 for notes relating to him.
- ^ a b c J.R. Tanner, ed. (1917). The historical register of the University of Cambridge, being a supplement to the Calendar with a record of University offices, honours and distinctions to the year 1910. Cambridge University Press.
- ^ Oxford Dictionary of National Biography says: "Wetheringsett [Wethersett], Richard of [Richard of Leicester] (fl. c.1200–c.1230), churchman and theologian, ... is not to be confused with the later chancellor Richard Leicester, who served in 1349–50."
