Walter Rothschild & Cambridge

Lionel Walter Rothschild (1868-1937)
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Walter_Rothschild.jpg

As mentioned in a previous post, I spent a few days in Cambridge back in January and in between sessions had some time on my hands were I went exploring. Now the appeal for me was that Walter Rothschild, whose zoological work I’m focusing on for my PhD, attended Magdalene College, Cambridge from 1887 to 1889. So while I was there I thought I would take some time to visit the college and perhaps get a sense of where he was studying. Admittedly it’s hugely different now, but I think there is a lot to be said for a sense of place and if nothing else, I was curious.

I had some idea about his time at Cambridge from reading his biography. We know he studied the Natural Science Tripos and was taught by Alfred Newton, and for the last few months I’ve been trying to get a sense of what it meant to be studying natural history/ biology at this time. It’s reading I’ve found fascinating, but actually it was nice to put the books aside for an hour and just soak up the atmosphere and have a bit of a wander.

Inner Courtyard of Magdalene College

In contrast to some of the other colleges, Magdalene seemed quiet and low key, it was slightly on the edge of the city and didn’t perhaps have the grandeur I experienced when wandering around a couple of the others. But there was something about Cambridge, it struck me as being a great place to study and I wondered if Rothschild felt the same.

Dining Hall of Magdalene College

I’m afraid I can’t tell you much more about his time at Cambridge right now, but that little bit of exploring I did sparked off a few questions that I’m eager to follow up as things move forward. Either that or it’s just another excuse to go back!