COLL BEN 15

Reference code

COLL BEN 15

Title

Newcastle Scholarship

Level

Series

Administrative / Biographical history

In 1829 the 3rd Duke of Newcastle founded three scholarships, open to Oppidans and Scholars, each worth £50 a year and tenable for three years, with a medal for the runner-up. The subjects of examination were classics and divinity. The Newcastle remained the top classics prize and over the years the amount awarded to the winner increased, and further awards were made to the runner -up (the Alfred Lyttelton Scholarship) and other members of the Select. In 1976 the two subjects were separated into a Newcastle Classical Prize, awarded in December, and the Newcastle Scholarship in divinity. The runner-up in this latter still received a medal. The Wilder Divinity Prize, which was awarded on the same papers, initially remained with the Newcastle but was later separated. In 1987 the Scholarship was again redesigned, requiring two papers of a more general moral and theological nature, one of which was based on a set book. In 1988 the Classical Prize was changed to require a dissertation and one paper each in Latin and Greek. Boys studying only one of these languages, or only ancient history, could submit the appropriate papers but were not eligible for the full prize.