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R S P E C T I V E S
It is a very great pleasure to be asked to
write of one’s memories of the College
after sixty years since its elevation to
the status of Permanent Private Hall of
the University. The pleasure is partly in
the kindness of the Editor in inviting me,
but also in the rather smug recollection
that, at my advanced age, I must have
some of the earliest recollections of the
College amongst those still living! I
came on to Regent’s in 1949 from
reading English at St Edmund Hall. That
I did so is a little strange, since I came
from a church (Ashurst Drive, Illford)
with very strong leanings towards
Spurgeon’s College. Indeed, a student
straight from Spurgeon’s had recently
settled as Minister and made a great
impression on me, one George Beasley-
Murray. But when I told him that I
would like to stay in Oxford he was
generosity itself, and encouraged me
warmly. Robert Child was Principal
then, a gentle bachelor living with his
sister at 55 St Giles’. He had enjoyed a
distinguished Ministry, latterly in
Bristol, but was perhaps slightly less
effective in the academic realm. The
real power behind the throne was the
Senior Tutor, one Ernest Payne. He was
a great church (particularly Baptist)
historian, and an effective teacher and
encourager. The college community was
small and we were all training for the
Baptist Ministry, although after the War
several had broad church and
theological sympathies. In those days,
relations with the college at Bristol were
close and some of their brightest came
on to do a degree; amongst them, Morris
West. I made good use of my time at
Regent’s, became engaged to my wife,
Audrey, who was at Lady Margaret Hall
– oh, and I also read some theology.
I certainly felt the advantage of
my Regent’s training during my years in
the Ministry, until George Beasley-
Murray intervened in my life again and
invited me to teach at Spurgeon’s. I was
eventually rescued in 1975 by another
Principal, Barrie White, who was
already a firm friend, who engineered
my coming to Regent’s to teach Old
Testament. It was still a small
community and the few of us on the
teaching staff became firm friends and
enjoyed a lot of laughter together.
Gradually, under Barrie’s distinguished
leadership the College began to expand,
taking undergraduates in a wider range
of subjects and taking on the teaching
staff for them; mostly, at first, by
appointing Fellows of other colleges as
'lecturers', in the Oxford terminology.
New accommodation was built and the
College became an evermore significant
force on the Oxford scene. This was
particularly so under the inspired
Principalship of Paul Fiddes; and his
great contributions to the life and
character of Regent’s have been
brilliantly carried on by Robert Ellis. Dr
Ellis has at least had the advantage that,
by his time, I had retired and left the
scene to far more able and active men
and women. And still that warm,
welcoming, sometimes hilarious spirit of
welcome and ‘family’ that characterises
Regent’s burns brightly, and makes it
always such a pleasure to visit. Floreat
Regent’s.
Dr Rex Mason (below) is Fellow Emeritus in
Old Testament Studies.
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