James Edwards Sewell (25 December 181029 January 1903) was an English academic,

Warden A warden is a custodian, defender, or guardian. Warden is often used in the sense of a watchman or guardian, as in a prison warden. It can also refer to a chief or head official, as in the Warden of the Mint. ''Warden'' is etymologically ident ...

New College, Oxford New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...

, from 1860 to 1903.
SEWELL, Rev. James Edwards
', in ''Who Was Who'', A & C Black, 1920–2007; online edition by

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, December 2007, accessed 26 August 2008 (subscription required)

Life

Sewell was born on Christmas Day 1810, at

Newport, Isle of Wight Newport is the county town of the Isle of Wight, an island county off the south coast of England. The town is slightly north of the centre of the island, located in the civil parish of Newport and Carisbrooke. It has a quay at the head of the n ...

, where his father Thomas Sewell practiced as a lawyer. He was the youngest son of a large family, and was educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is an English Public school (United Kingdom), public school (a long-established fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) with some provision for day school, day attendees, in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It wa ...

and New College. In 1830 he became a

Fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

of New College, and practically passed the rest of his life there, being elected to the headship in 1860. He was ordained

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian denominations, such as the Cathol ...

in 1834 and priest in 1835, and briefly held a curacy in a village near Oxford, but was soon back at New College as tutor and later

bursar A bursar (derived from ''wikt:bursa, bursa'', Latin for 'Coin purse, purse') is a professional Administrator of the government, administrator in a school or university often with a predominantly financial role. In the United States, bursars usual ...

. From 1860 he was warden of New College. The first University Commission had just released the colleges from the fetters of their original statutes, and Sewell was called on to determine his attitude towards the strong reforming party in New College. Though himself instinctively conservative, he determined that it was his duty to give effect to the desire of the majority, with the result that New College led the way in the general reform movement, and from being one of the smallest became the second largest college in Oxford. Sewell was

vice-chancellor A vice-chancellor (commonly called a VC) serves as the chief executive of a university in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Kenya, other Commonwealth of Nati ...

of the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

1874–78. He died at his lodgings at New College on 29 January 1903, in his ninety-third year, having been warden of the college for 43 years, and was interred in the college cloisters.

Family

His brother,

Henry Sewell Henry Sewell (; 7 September 1807 – 14 May 1879) was a New Zealand politician. He was a notable campaigner for New Zealand self-government, and is generally regarded as having been the country's first premier (a post that would later be offici ...

became the first premier of

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. Another brother, William Sewell, was a writer, as was sister

Elizabeth Missing Sewell Elizabeth Missing Sewell (19 February 1815 – 17 August 1906) was an English author of religious and educational texts notable in the 19th century. As a home tutor, she devised a set of influential principles of education. Biography and writin ...

. His brother Richard Clarke Sewell was a barrister and later reader in law to the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

and author of a large number of legal works.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sewell, James Edwards 1810 births 1903 deaths People educated at Winchester College Alumni of New College, Oxford Fellows of New College, Oxford Wardens of New College, Oxford Vice-chancellors of the University of Oxford