Qualla: Selwyn College, Cambridge

Selwyn College, Cambridge: Introduction

Fri, 22 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Diliff, CC BY-SA 3.0. George Augustus Selwyn rowed in the inaugural Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race in 1829, came second in the Classical Tripos in 1831, and was ordained a priest in 1834. In 1841, the Bishop of London offered him a newly created position: the first Bishop of New Zealand. Selwyn accepted and spent 26 years in the southern Pacific, playing a central role in establishing the Anglican church in a new nation. He returned to England in 1867 and died as Bishop of Lichfield in 1878. The college founded in his memory four years later carries his pastoral staff — a hardwood Maori staff he brought back from New Zealand — in its chapel.

Image: Diliff | CC BY-SA 3.0

Selwyn College, Cambridge: A College for Gentlemen of Modest Means

Fri, 22 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Gianluca Miscione, CC BY-SA 4.0. When Cambridge scholars began planning a memorial college for Selwyn after his death in 1878, they imagined an institution that would make Cambridge accessible to men of Christian character who lacked the financial means to attend other colleges. In November 1879, they purchased ...

Image: Gianluca Miscione | CC BY-SA 4.0

Selwyn College, Cambridge: Coat of Arms, Maori Staff, and a Motto Carved in Stone

Fri, 22 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Huangcjz, Public domain. The college coat of arms violates one of the fundamental rules of heraldry — the rule of tincture, which prohibits placing a metal colour on another metal colour — in exactly the same way as the arms of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. The arms' dexter half, adapted from the Diocese of ...

Image: Huangcjz | Public domain

Selwyn College, Cambridge: Hugh Laurie, The Who, and a Unique Winter Ball

Fri, 22 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit J Legeir, CC BY-SA 4.0. Selwyn is the only Oxbridge college to hold an annual Winter Ball — the Selwyn Snowball — traditionally on the last Friday of Michaelmas term. The May Ball tradition dates to 14 June 1948, when hundreds of students in black tie attended the first all-night celebration. In 1967, T...

Image: J Legeir | CC BY-SA 4.0

Selwyn College, Cambridge: Notable Alumni and a Mixed Choir That Tours

Fri, 22 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Jeroen Komen, CC BY-SA 3.0. Selwyn's alumni include Wes Streeting, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care; Kate Forbes, SNP politician and Member of the Scottish Parliament; Hugh Laurie, best known internationally for the television drama House; Sophie Wilson, the computing pioneer who designed the A...

Image: Jeroen Komen | CC BY-SA 3.0