Identity area
Reference code
SJCR/SJAC/1/3/2/Parkinson/3
Unique identifier
Title
Date(s)
- 1864-1883 (Creation)
Level of description
Set
Extent and medium
6 volumes; paper
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
The Reverend Stephen Parkinson was born in 1823 near Keighley in Yorkshire. He was admitted Sizar to St John’s in 1841, gaining his BA as Senior Wrangler and 2nd Smith’s Prize in 1845. He graduated Bachelor of Divinity in 1855 and Doctor of Divinity in 1869.
The rest of his life was spent in connection with the College, and he was elected to a Fellowship the same year that he completed his BA. From 1864 to 1882 he served as a College Tutor, and as President between 1865 and 1871. In 1881 the Mastership of the College was vacant, however Parkinson declined to enter as a candidate.
Parkinson published two textbooks, An Elementary Treatise on Mechanics, and A Treatise on Optics, both of which ran to numerous editions and were the standard works in use at the University. He was a well-liked and generous Tutor, with his Eagle Obituary detailing a student who would have been unable to complete his degree without Dr Parkinson’s financial support. A window in the College Chapel was also gifted by Parkinson, as well as a donation to the College Mission.
In 1870 he became a Fellow of the Royal Society , and a year later married Elizabeth Lucy, who was to outlive him following his death in 1889.
Obituary in the Eagle: Vol. 15, 1889, p. 356.
Accessible online at:
https://www.joh.cam.ac.uk/sites/default/files/Eagle/Eagle%20Volumes/1880s/1889/Eagle_1889_Lent.pdf
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Six ledgers from 1864 to 1883 which recorded how much students owed during the different academic terms. The students name is given at the top of a table which is followed by a full breakdown in terms of who the student owes money to and their total bill. The table is divided into two sections. The first part recorded the student’s bill to the college, which included their rent and tuition alongside the money they owed the cooks and laundress. The second section of the table recorded the student’s bill to tradesmen and businesses outside of the college, such as the bookseller and ironmonger. At the bottom of the table is the student’s total bill. The ledger recorded which students had money deducted from their bills due to scholarship or exhibitions. If the student owed money to the college previously, then this amount was also added to the new total bill in the ledger.