I recently gave a talk on the life of Edward Wilson at Caius College Cambridge where Wilson was a pre-clinical student. It is a wonderful college to visit. Established in 1348 by Edmund Gonville and refounded and extended in the sixteenth century by a doctor of medicine, John Keyes, it is called Caius, rather than Keyes because Dr. Keyes ‘Latinised’ the spelling of his name. He built three famous gates in the college grounds. Wilson was above the Gate of Virtue but was not always virtuous by the strict rules of the day. He was ‘sent down’ (expelled) for the heinous crime of leaving the college, after hours, and without permission.
There was a service dedicated to Wilson in the chapel before the talk.The choir was superb.
Gonville and Caius are proud of their famous graduate. A sledge flag that Wilson took to the South Pole has pride of place in the dining hall. It was presented to him by the wife of the Master in 1910, Dr Roberts and has been refurbished recently. The present Master is Sir Christopher Hum.
Tag Archives: Master of Caius
Isobel Williams – Author, Cruise Speaker and Lecturer 