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 archives@bnc.ox.ac.uk 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
Rolls of Service
- First World War: Oxford University Roll of Service
- Second World War: Brasenose Roll of Service