News

The College has recently launched a new Intranet - a dynamic, searchable, private online platform for College members filled with resources and information about all aspects of life at Brasenose.

This is built for all members of our community – students and staff, Fellows and Lecturers, College members and associate members of Common Rooms. Login is, for most members, based on your University Single Sign-On.

https://www.bnc.ox.ac.uk/intranet 

For technical issues/queries, please contact the College IT Office via [email protected]

Prior to the Christmas closure an electronic survey of the felt roof was carried out for quality purposes. No remedials were necessary and the roof is available for the sedum and pebbles to be laid. On the higher roof, the solar thermal frames have been set-out and the paving slab supports located, ready for the frames to be erected.

Internally, works continued on all floors with both 1^st fix and 2nd fix works progressing.

The heat pumps are now running within the plantroom off the temporary power supply and the underfloor heating will be filled in the new year and the system turned on.

Corridor studwork walls in front of the bedrooms have been completed ready for insulation and ply sheathing. Cedar samples have been installed for review and finishing details agreed.

Internally in bedrooms, the 1^st fix wiring has all been completed, numerous rooms fire and air sealed, and the doors and frames are being installed throughout.

This week further window frames will be installed, air tests carried out in the bedrooms, and installation of the basement fire screens.

The steel frame is continuing to be erected and has now been tied into the concrete lift shaft core, the steelwork is continuing around to the south-west corner and down the west wing. This will be completed this next week.  Work will also start on the east wing.

Both staircases are being installed within the main frame and scaffolders will commence installing temporary handrails.

Internally within the Lower Ground floor, the blockwork is continuing.

Externally, the cold-water main has ‘passed’ the inspection by Thames Water. 

Foy Nissen’s Bombay is a small painting on wood which I began in 1975 and broughtwith me to Oxford when I became artist in residence at Brasenose

Brasenose College is mourning the sad death of Max Mian, a 2nd year Classics undergraduate. Max was found on the building site at the Westgate shopping centre on the morning of October 2nd. The police report that the death is unexplained but not suspicious and a file will be prepared for the coroner in due course. The family have been informed and the College has met with them and expressed its sympathy and support. College students and staff have also been informed and offered counselling and support.

John Bowers, Principal of the College, said “Max was a brilliant and popular student and we all miss him greatly. Our thoughts are especially with his family and friends and everyone at the college is doing all we can to help and support them and each other at such a difficult time.”

Miles Overton, the JCR President, said “Max was a popular, much-loved member of the Brasenose Junior Common Room. His tragic death has deeply shocked us all, but the supportive community in which we live has come together at this difficult time. Our thoughts are especially with Max's family and friends, and we in the JCR will always feel his loss."

Researching biographical information and family history

Our main sources of reference for members from 1509-1909 are as follows:

• Brasenose College Register 1509-1909 (Oxford: Blackwell, 1909)
• Joseph Foster’s Alumni Oxonienses 1715-1886 (1888) and Alumni Oxonienses 1500-1714 (1891)

We hold a small collection of personal papers of some former members but the National Archives or Archives Hub are often the best places to search for such records if none are held by Brasenose. Some of our more well-known members may also have an entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. This list of famous Brasenose names includes more information on some historical figures connected to the College. Other sources which may help include:

• The Brazen Nose, the annual College magazine (published from 1909 onwards); the Bodleian Library holds back issues and the more recent issues are available online
• J. Mordaunt Crook’s Brasenose The Biography of an Oxford College (Oxford: OUP, 2008)
• Brasenose Quartercentenary Monographs (Oxford: Blackwell, 1909)

Please email us at [email protected] if you have a specific enquiry. Please note that under the terms and conditions of GDPR the Archives staff reserve the right to keep some records closed.

Memorabilia and Personal Papers

The College holds a small collection of papers and records relating to its members. These include:

Walter Pater

Walter Pater was elected to a Fellowship at Brasenose in 1864. A catalogue of the archive collections relating to Pater is available to view here

Cuthbert Ottaway

Cuthbert Ottaway matriculated on 20 May 1869, aged 18. He captained the England football team in the first international match played against Scotland in 1872. The College Archive holds a small collection of Ottaway’s photograph albums and sketchbooks, which are listed here.

John Buchan

John Buchan matriculated in 1895. He pursued widely diverse activities during his lifetime, not only as a writer but in business, journalism and administration. He is remembered for his fiction, most chiefly for The Thirty-nine Steps, but his other publications included a History of the Great War and a history of his own College. The College's records relating to John Buchan can be viewed on Flickr.

Other useful sources

Principal and Fellows

• List of Principals of Brasenose College
• List of Fellows of Brasenose College 1509-1909

Rolls of Service

• First World War: Oxford University Roll of Service
• Second World War: Brasenose Roll of Service

College Library Report

Presentations to the Library

Library Staff

Fellow Librarian – Professor Simon Palfrey

College Librarian – Liz Kay [email protected] 01865 277827

Library Assistant – Lianne Smith [email protected] 01865 277827

Antiquarian Cataloguer (PT) Sophie Floate [email protected] 01865 277826

Archives Staff

College Archivist – Elizabeth Boardman [email protected]k 01865 277826

Archives Assistant – Georgina Edwards [email protected] 01865 277826

By Anna Broadley, 3rd Year History Student

"Away from dreaming spires, I enjoyed spending my summer listening to the chimes of Big Ben."