Cantabrigians Trivia Quiz

Answer: Thomas Cranmer

Thomas Cranmer (1489-1566) started his studies at Jesus College, Cambridge at the age of fourteen, and completed his Bachelor of Arts degree eight years later. He then completed a Master of Arts, and became a Fellow of Jesus College in 1515. He was ordained in 1520, and in 1527 became a part of the team advising Henry VIII on the king's plan to annul his first marriage, to Catherine of Aragon.

This was one of the main causes for the establishment of the Church of England, which recognised the king as being the head of the church in his own country, rather than the Pope.

In recognition of his services, he was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury in 1532, a post he held until 1555, when he was removed from the post following his conviction for treason because he insisted on the legitimacy of the Church of England, despite the ascension of a Roman Catholic queen. Aside from his political activities, he was a prime mover in establishing the doctrines and practices of the new church, and his influence can still be seen today in 'The Book of Common Prayer' (for which he wrote the first two editions) and 'The Thirty-Nine Articles' (a summary of Anglican beliefs derived from his writings).

Answer: John Winthrop

John Winthrop (1587-1649) entered Trinity College, Cambridge in 1602, but did not complete his studies- he left in 1605 to marry Mary Forth, and became involved in managing the family estates. The ascension of Charles I to the throne in 1625 made the religious and political position of Puritans difficult, as he staunchly supported the Church of England, and moved to supress the various non-conformist groups that had arisen. Following the successful establishment of Plymouth Colony in 1620, a group organised a land grant for the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1628. Following the dissolution of Parliament in 1629, Winthrop became involved with the group, and was on the fleet of ships that sailed there in 1630; the colony was established on the site that is now the city of Boston. Winthrop took over governorship of the colony from Thomas Endecott, who had been sent ahead, and who had established the settlement at Salem.

He was governor, in four separate terms, for twelve years, and was considered to be a moderating force in government between the more extremely conservative and liberal forces.

A number of the nearby colonies were established by those who were not happy with the religious stance of the Massachusetts government.

Answer: Robert Walpole

Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford (1676-1745), was one of 19 children born to a wealthy Norfolk family. After studying at Eton between 1690 and 1696, he entered King's college, Cambridge and began studies designed to lead to a life in the clergy. However, he left in 1698 when his older brother died, and he was required to return home and assist in running the family estate, as he had become the heir. His political career began in 1701, with his election as a member of the Whig party to represent Castle Rising, a seat he only held until 1702, when he changed to King's Lynn, the borough that he would represent for the rest of his career.

The office of Prime Minister was not formally established by any single piece of legislature, but evolved over a long period of time as part of establishing the balance of power between Parliament and Sovereign. Sir Robert Walpole (as he was then styled) led the government from 1721 until 1742, and is now considered to have been the first Prime Minister. The first person to have officially used the title of Prime Minister, however, was Benjamin Disraeli, who used that title as part of his signature of the Treaty of Berlin in 1878.

Answer: Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Alfred Tennyson (later Alfred, Lord Tennyson, then Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson FRS) (1809-1892) was born into a middle-class family (his father was a clergyman, rector of several parishes) with a passion for poetry - he and two of his older brothers published (for local distribution) a collection of their poems when Alfred was only 17.

He entered Trinity College, Cambridge in 1827, where he met two other poets who would become his close friends, Arthur Hallam and William Henry Brookfield.

It was the death of the former (from a stroke) at the age of 22 that inspired one of Tennyson's more familiar poems, 'In Memoriam A.H.H.'. While still a student, he received the Chancellor's Gold Medal in 1829 for his poem 'Timbuktu', a signal honour for a twenty-year-old.

His poetry proved highly popular, and many of them contain lines which have become well-known phrases in the English language, even among those who are unaware of the source. Titles that will be familiar to most students who have studied any English poetry in school include 'The Charge of the Light Brigade', 'Crossing the Bar', 'Idylls of the King', 'The Lady of Shalott' and 'Ulysses'.

In 1850, following the death of William Wordsworth, Tennyson was appointed Poet Laureate, a position he held for over forty years, until his death in 1892.

Answer: Marshall McLuhan

Herbert Marshall McLuhan (1911-1980) was one of the pioneers in the development of media theory, an area of study that developed during the second half of the 20th century as the impact of mass media on society started to become apparent. His undergraduate studies were at the University of Manitoba, where he received a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts in English. Following this, he applied (unsuccessfully) for a Rhodes Scholarship, then entered Trinity Hall, Cambridge in 1934.

Despite the fact that he already had two degrees, he was required to complete an undergraduate degree (with one year's transferred credit) before he could enrol in a doctoral program.

After completing his PhD at Cambridge, he returned to North America, where he taught at a number of American and Canadian universities.

His research focussed on the ways in which popular culture is influenced, and developed into an exploration of the nature of the communication medium in and of itself, independent of the ostensible message.

This was most clearly stated in 'Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man', published in 1964.

Answer: Kim Philby

Harold Adrian Russell Philby (1912-1988), nicknamed Kim after the eponymous hero of a Rudyard Kipling novel, graduated from Westminster School at the age of 16, and won a scholarship to Trinity College, Cambridge. He graduated in 1933 with a degree in Economics, and began a career in British Intelligence (and simultaneously working for the Soviet Union). He was awarded an OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in 1946, an award that was rescinded following his defection in 1963. He subsequently received the Order of Lenin in 1965.

During his time at Cambridge, Philby became involved with a group now known as the Cambridge Five (along with Donald MacLean, Guy Burgess, Anthony Blunt and John Cairncross; there may well have been others), who passed information to the Soviet Union during World War II, and up to the middle of the 1950s. Their existence, along with the extent of their spy activities, was slowly brought to light following the defection of Burgess and MacLean in 1951.

Answer: John Cleese

After graduating from Clifton College, John Cleese (1939- ) spent two years teaching there while waiting for a space to become available at Cambridge, where a surfeit of applicants meant that he could not immediately take up the place he had earned. Two years later he entered Downing College, Cambridge, and almost immediately joined the Cambridge Footlights, the university's amateur theatrical club.

There he met, among others, Graham Chapman, with whom he co-founded the iconic comedy troupe Monty Python.

They invited Michael Palin to join them, and he brought along Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam, with whom he had been working. The television show 'Monty Python's Flying Circus' introduced many of the sketches and characters which later appeared in their first movies. Cleese will be remembered for some of their classic routines: the Ministry of Silly Walks, the Cheese Shop, and the Dead Parrot spring immediately to mind. Post-Python, he went on to establish the inept hotel owner Basil Fawlty in the television series 'Fawlty Towers'.

In 2005 the newly-identified Bemaraha woolly lemur was given the official name Avahi cleesei, in honour of Cleese's work on the behalf of lemurs, one of his favourite animals.

Answer: Stephen Hawking

Stephen William Hawking (1942-2018) is probably the best or second-best known physicist of the 20th century, along with Albert Einstein, due in large part to the commercial success of 'A Brief History of Time', which presented some of the major principles of cosmology in terms that a (dedicated-to-the-task) layperson could understand.

His appearances as himself on such popular television shows as 'The Simpsons' and 'Big Bang Theory' also brought his name to the attention of many who might have otherwise remained blithely ignorant of his contributions to our understanding of the universe. Hawking's undergraduate studies were in physics and chemistry at University College, Oxford (his father's alma mater).

He began his graduate work (in cosmology) at Trinity Hall, Cambridge in 1962, and began the research that made him famous, including the existence of singularities at the centre of black holes, and the fact that black holes can emit radiation. Most of the rest of his career was spent at Cambridge, apart from a period as a visiting professor at California Institute of Technology (1967-1975), an institution which he continued to visit regularly over the years.

Answer: Douglas Adams

After a writing career that started during his prep school days, Douglas Adams (1952-2001) won a scholarship to St John's College, Cambridge in 1971, and completed his Bachelor of Arts in English Literature in 1974. His career as a writer included some early work with the Monty Python team, and a fair amount of struggling to find an outlet for his comedy style.

The success of the radio show 'The hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' proved a turning point, and led to a "trilogy of five books (with a sixth completed by Eoin Coffer after Adams's death)", along with a number of other spinoff enterprises. Those of you who are familiar with the works will know that it all started when the Earth was destroyed by the Vogons in order to construct an intergalactic bypass, and followed the subsequent adventures of Arthur Dent, who was rescued by Ford Prefect, a writer for The Guide. Details of what follows varies from one version to the next, but all include a number of bizarre characters placed in unlikely situations, with implausible results.

Answer: Mike Atherton

While American players may not be familiar with the illustrious sporting career of Michael Andrew Atherton (1968- ), he will be known by cricket fans due to his lengthy tenure as captain of the English test cricket team, which was followed by a career in sports journalism and broadcasting.

After a highly successful cricket career as a schoolboy, he entered Downing College, Cambridge in 1986, and was selected in his first year to play for the Cambridge University Cricket Club. A year later he debuted for the Lancashire County team, and in 1989 he made his first appearance on the English test team.

In 1993, at the tender age of 25, he became captain of the Test team, a post he held with distinction for 54 tests between 1993 and 2001. Australian cricket fans are fond of recalling that Glenn McGrath got Atherton out 19 times (a record at the time for one bowler dismissing a single batsman), and Shane Warne managed ten dismissals.

They are less fond of remembering his 113 not out, scored off 149 balls, which contributed to an English victory at Kennington Oval in a One Day International match in 1997.