211075 Downing Record 07 - Downing College - University of ...

underpinned by shared secular experience, Harwood as a physician, Annesley asa trained, though non-practising, lawyer. Of independent means, Annesley hadfrom 1774 held the parliamentary seat of Reading; without party affiliation, hisvoting generally supported Pitt’s government. Both the abandoning of Wyatt andthe promotion of Wilkins had an important context in the Society of Antiquaries,London, of which Annesley (1759) and Harwood (1783) were long-standingFellows. In the 1790s Wyatt had aroused criticism over his ‘restoration’ of severalcathedrals, for which he and several of his pupils were blackballed. 2 One victimwas William Porden, another would-be architect of Downing, whose startlingGothic design for the College may be best regarded as a sophisticated lampoon.The successful election of Wilkins to a Fellowship in this same period (1800), lendsfurther significance to his connection with Harwood, listed among his sponsors.Yet Wilkins’ selection was far from inevitable. For a significant period in theprocess the more likely candidate had been George Byfield (c.1756–1813), a moremodest practitioner of Neo-Greek architecture, and at the time involved in theconstruction of several gaols, including that in Cambridge (1802–7). Byfield’s loftyelevation owed much to an alternative network of patronage centring onPhilip Yorke of Wimpole Hall, 3rd Earl of Hardwicke (1757–1834), a majorCambridgeshire landholder and stout Whig, whose family had long exercisedinfluence over the College’s destiny. 3 In the 1760s, Philip’s father, Charles Yorke,as University MP and government law officer had played a leading role in pursuingthe Downing cause on the University’s behalf, efforts halted by his prematuredeath in 1770. Byfield, in addition to his prison work, had undertaken projectsfor Philip’s uncle, the 2nd Earl, also called Philip (1720–90). Byfield’s proponentswithin the College were also indebted to the 3rd Earl’s patronage. The Professorof Law, Edward Christian (remarkably the brother of Fletcher Christian, leader ofthe mutiny on the Bounty) had also been a counsel for the Downing cause andhad advanced almost every step of his career through the Yorkes’ protection andsupport. Byfield’s other supporter was Dr William Craven, Reader in Arabic, whoas Master of St John’s not only had special responsibilities under the College’sCharter, but also held a position nominated by the 3rd Earl’s uncle, James Yorke,bishop of Ely.The question was further complicated by a third focus for support, in LewisWyatt (c.1788–1853), nephew of James Wyatt, whose work Hope had socondemned. The design, in a light Neo-Greek style, was Lewis’ first for a major2. J. Evans, A History of the Society of Antiquaries (1956), pp. 204–14. I am grateful to the Society’sAssistant Librarian, Adrian James, for supplying some further details of Fellowship elections.3. Also a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries (1791), and patron of Sir John Soane; for Philip’seducation and Grand Tour, see P. Searby, A History of the University of Cambridge, III: 1750–1870(1997), 545–61.24