Principal's Blog: 21 November 2025

Ellesmere Society Dinner

The Ellesmere Law Society had a very special guest at its annual dinner on 15 November, the first Lady Chief Justice, Lady Carr of Walton on the Hill. She was introduced by the terrific President of the Society Zara Chaudry who said that when she arrived at College she could not have imagined that she would be sitting as she was that evening between the Lady Chief Justice and a Supreme Court Justice (Lord Burrows). Sue Carr spoke about the need for resilience in legal life, about how we should bend without breaking, recognising that failure is inevitable. She said how important it was to reach out to others for support. It was a very stimulating talk given by the most senior judge in the country who was suffering a very bad cold. It was a great evening and the hall was full and resplendent.

Whilst speaking of lawyers I hope you have all read about our first year law student Han Willhoft King who is a top footballer

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2025/nov/15/han-willhoft-king-teenager-quit-manchester-city-for-oxford-university-law

This article appeared on the morning of the Ellesmere Dinner so it was the talk of the dinner which he attended.

Graduate Dinner

At the Graduate Dinner on 13 November Perry Gauci a History Fellow of Lincoln College gave a fascinating talk on the relations between our two Colleges going from the time when the doors of Lincoln were barred to a Brasenose member who was fleeing the Town Mob to the time during the Second World War when the Colleges combined their offer. There was also the occasion when students at Lincoln rather ungraciously decided to put our College for sale on e bay! It was soon taken down. Perry was in a great position to speak about the two Colleges as he was a graduate student at BNC.

Iain Morris

Continuing the season of our Frankland Visitor James Bobin, we welcomed James for another week of visits. On 17 November he interviewed his friend Iain Morris who lives in LA although he grew up in Chertsey. Iain is best known as the man behind The Inbetweeners and more recently My Oxford Year filmed largely in Magdalen College. He described starting as a film runner which mainly involved making tea for big wigs like… James Bobin. He then moved on to commissioning for Channel 4 but his real love is directing. He told some terrific stories and gave advice to a room which was full to the brim.

Crime & Misdemeanours

The Library & Archives put on a wonderful exhibition called crime and misdemeanours on 18 November in the Medieval Kitchen. It consisted mainly of some ancient rule books of the College. I was pleased to see that in the William Smyth Statutes at the start of the history of the College “Members were required to obey the Principal and his commands. Anyone found rebellious or disobedient would be fined 6s 8d each time”. Perhaps that should be reintroduced! There was also a card about Lawrence Washington who was George Washington’s great great grandfather who matriculated at this College in 1621. He left Brasenose in debt owing 17 shillings and 10 pence. That is a large sum in todays money! Well done to the Library & Archives staff for this extraordinary exhibition.

Interfaith week

From the 9th to 16th November, it was National Interfaith Week, and we host an annual Interfaith talk during the week. This year we welcomed Shaunaka Risi Das, the Hindu chaplain to the University and the Director of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies. Shaunaka introduced us to the core ideas of Hinduism and talked about Hinduism in the UK and in Oxford. Later that week we held our termly Welfare Lunch, which is aimed at supporting our JCR and HCR Welfare Reps and Peer Supporters, and we heard a passionate talk about Inclusion, Welcome, and Disability from the Revd Katie Tupling, the Disability Advisor for the Diocese of Oxford, and sometime chaplain to St Hugh’s College. Katie is herself disabled and spoke from both a personal and professional perspective with an understanding and knowledge of college life. She challenged us to go beyond what we are obliged to do, to considering a more expansive culture of welcome and inclusion.

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