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Oxford
University Archives
Past members of
the University: a guide to sources
The following is a brief guide to the sources of information available
concerning past members of the University at various points in time. It
gives details of published sources of information, which should be
available in major references libraries, or, in some cases, available
online, and alternatives where there are no published sources available.
The guide is broken down into the following time periods:
All known information about the University careers of members of the
University up to 1540 is contained in two publications compiled by AB
Emden, partly from sources in the University Archives, but to a larger
extent from those held elsewhere.
- A Biographical Register of the University of Oxford
to AD 1500 (3 vols, 1957)
- A Biographical Register of the University of Oxford
AD 1501 to 1540 (1974)
The published sources for this period are two compilations by Joseph
Foster:
- Alumni Oxonienses 1500-1714 (2 vols, 1891-2)
- Alumni Oxonienses 1715-1886 (2 vols, 1891-2)
These were compiled chiefly from sources in the University Archives and,
in most cases, contain all the information we hold on individual members.
There is an overlap with Emden's Biographical
Register for the period 1500-1540 but Emden is the more
informative and reliable source for those years.
The information contained in
the volume for 1500-1714 is available
on the British History Online website at www.british-history.ac.uk/catalogue.aspx?type=3&gid=202 . A digitised copy of the same
publication is available in four parts on the Internet Archive website at:
www.archive.org/details/alumnioxoniensi01fostgoog
(for surnames beginning A-D)
www.archive.org/details/alumnioxoniensi00oxfogoog
(for surnames beginning E-K)
www.archive.org/details/alumnioxoniensi01oxfogoog
(for surnames beginning L-R)
www.archive.org/details/alumnioxoniensi00fostgoog
(for surnames beginning S-Z)
A digitised copy of the later
volume for 1715-1886 is also available in four parts on the Internet Archive
website at:
www.archive.org/details/alumnioxonienses01univuoft
(for surnames beginning A-D)
www.archive.org/details/alumnioxonienses02univuoft
(for surnames beginning E-K)
www.archive.org/details/AlumniOxoniensesTheMembersOfTheUniversityOfOxford1715-1886Their
(for surnames beginning L-R)
www.archive.org/details/alumnioxonienses04univuoft
(for surnames beginning S-Z)
There may also be other copies
available online.
A further work by Joseph Foster, Oxford
Men and their Colleges (2 vols, 1893), lists all those who were
admitted between 1880 and 1892. Again, this was compiled chiefly from
University Archives sources and, in most cases, contains all the
information which we hold on individual members up to the end of 1892.
There is an overlap with Alumni
Oxonienses 1715-1886 and it is recommended that both
publications are consulted for details of members who were admitted between
1880 and 1886.
A digitised copy of this is available on the Internet Archive website
at:
www.archive.org/details/oxfordmen188018900fostuoft
There may also be other copies
available online.
There is no comprehensive published source of information about members
of the University after 1892, although some individual colleges have
published registers of their own members, and members of the University are
listed in the annual University
Calendar. The Archives holds a card register which lists all
members of the University admitted from 1891 to July 1932; this gives name,
college, date of matriculation and degree(s) awarded, and we can supply the
details of specific individuals on request.
The main record of members of the University who matriculated after July
1932 is still held by the University's central administration. The Degree
Conferrals Office can provide verification of Oxford degrees from 1932.
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