Newcastle Scholarship

The Newcastle Scholarship is an annual prize awarded at Eton College in England for the highest performance in a series of special written examinations taken over the course of a week. It was instituted and first awarded in 1829 and is the college's most prestigious prize. Originally focused on both Divinity and Classics (which is now examined separately), the main prize now covers philosophical theology, moral theory, and applied ethics.

History The scholarship was instituted and first awarded in 1829 on the initiative and benefaction of Henry Pelham-Clinton, 4th Duke of Newcastle. The Statutes, recorded in 1841, state:

'The design and object of these Scholarships is to promote and encourage a Religious education and sound and useful Learning in general among the Scholars of Eton School, including particularly accurate Scholarship in Greek and Roman literature but most especially and principally to inculcate a thorough knowledge of the Evidence, Doctrines and Precepts of the Christian Religion.'David Butterfield, The Newcastle Scholarship: a historical survey (Eton 2013).

The winner of the Newcastle Scholarship was awarded a cash prize of £250, a considerable sum in 1829, while the runner-up received a gold medal. Originally a series of up to twelve examinations in the ancient languages and in knowledge of Biblical texts, the Scholarship was split into two in 1977, becoming one Prize for Divinity and one for Classics.

Exam format Since 1987 the Newcastle Scholarship has been an examination in philosophical theology, moral theory, and applied ethics. Candidates sit two three-hour papers after Long Leave (the mid-term break) in the Lent Half (the winter term). Each paper consists of about 12 questions divided into two sections. Candidates must answer three questions in each paper, at least one chosen from each section.

Since its foundation, many distinguished British theologians and philosophers have been invited to examine the Newcastle. In 1840 William Gladstone was one of the examiners, together with Lord Lyttelton.Peter C. Erb, ed., The Correspondence of Henry Edward Manning and William Ewart Gladstone, Vol.1 1833–1844 (Oxford University Press, 2013), p. 153. In addition to setting the papers and marking the scripts, they choose a set book on a theme of their choice, upon which candidates are examined.

Winners Distinguished winners of the Newcastle Scholarship have included Sir Edward Shepherd Creasy (1831), William Johnson Cory (1841),W.C. Lubenow, The Cambridge Apostles 1820–1914: Liberalism, Imagination, and Friendship (Cambridge University Press, 1998), at page 258 William Ralph Inge (1879),W. Sydney Robinson, The Last Victorians: A Daring Reassessment of Four Twentieth Century Eccentrics (Robson Press, 2014) M. R. James (1882),George Woodcock intr., Twentieth Century Fiction (Macmillan Press, 1983), at page 336 Patrick Shaw-Stewart (1905),Miles Jebb, Patrick Shaw-Stewart, An Edwardian Meteor (Dovecote Press, 2010); Evelyn Waugh, Two Lives: Edmund Campion and Ronald Knox (Continuum, 2002), at page 172; Waugh records that the academic strain was such that Shaw-Stewart's hair fell out. Arthur Rhys-Davids (1916), Quintin Hogg, Baron Hailsham of St Marylebone (1925),The New Scientist, Profile: Viscount Hailsham (15 August 1957) Douglas Hurd (1947), William Waldegrave (1965, previously Provost of Eton College) and Kwasi Kwarteng (1992). Those who have become professional classicists include Roger Mynors (1922), Charles Willink (1946), Adrian Hollis (1958), Richard Jenkyns (1966) and Armand D’Angour (1976).

The following is a list of winning Scholars, and Medallists (runners-up) since 1946. They are listed with their post-nominals earned at the school: "KS": King's Scholar; "OS": Oppidan Scholar; "MS": Music Scholar; "ME": Music Exhibitioner.

"ma" indicates the elder of two brothers at the school, or exceptionally the eldest of three or the second of four or more; "mi" similarly indicates the second of two or three, or the third of four or more.

Year Scholar Medallist 1946 C. W. Willink, KS T. J. Burrows, KS 1947 D. R. Hurd, KS S. Goldblatt, KS 1948 C. L. Drage, OS S. M. Haskell, KS 1949 S. M. Haskell, KS S. H. Willink, KS 1950 S. H. Willink, KS M. C. Stokes, KS 1951 S. L. Egerton, KS M. C. Stokes, KS 1952 M. Mortimer, KS W. J. A. Wickham, OS 1953 S. L. Hugh-Jones, KS R. C. Palmer, KS 1954 R. B. O’G. Anderson ma KS P. M. O. Stafford, KS 1955 N. P. Bayne, KS C. M. K. Taylor ma KS 1956 E. L. Hussey, KS P. T. S. Carson, KS 1957 M. Elliott, KS A. S. Hollis, KS 1958 A. S. Hollis, KS T. R. Adès, KS 1959 T. R. Adès, KS J. P. Steele, KS 1960 K. A. O. Fulton, KS G. A. D. Emerson, KS 1961 G. A. D. Emerson, KS J. V. Kerby, KS 1962 R. J. A. Carnwath ma OS P. T. Hutchinson, KS 1963 F. M. Prideaux, KS R. J. Lane Fox, OS 1964 A. G. Foster-Carter, KS R. J. Lane Fox, OS 1965 W. G. Waldegrave, OS A. J. L. Bruce, OS 1966 R. H. A. Jenkyns, KS N. S. R. Hornblower, KS 1967 J. W. Waterfield, KS N. S. R. Hornblower, KS 1968 P. C. H. Snow, KS O. W. A. Barnes, KS 1969 S. P. M. Mackenzie, KS M. P. R. Wormald, KS 1970 R. R. Oliver, OS A. D. A. Macdonald, OS 1971 A. W. R. Morrison, KS A. J. Pemberton, KS 1972 A. J. Pemberton, KS J. D. Leigh Pemberton ma OS 1973 H. C. Lawson-Tancred, KS S. G. Barber, OS 1974 M. J. Lyall Grant, OS J. H. Leigh Pemberton ma OS 1975 H. C. Eyres, KS G. S. Monck OS 1976 A. J. D’Angour ma KS M. A. Anderson KS 1977 A. A. J. Monson ma OS N. I. Macpherson, KS 1978 D. W. K. Anderson, KS M.R.V. Southern KS 1979 J. W. Mackinnon, KS J. W. R Cummings, KS 1980 P. D. P. Barnes ma OS M. Brandreth, KS 1981 K. K. Nath, KS G. T. S. Davson, KS 1982 G. T. S. Davson KS A. D. T. Cromartie, KS 1983 H. J. B. Smith, KS A. D. T. Cromartie KS 1984 D. W. Runciman, OS J. F. Boff, KS 1985 S. H. Mandelbrote, KS A. J. N. Roxburgh KS 1986 P. S. Drinkall, OS J. W. Rees-Mogg 1987 B. J. Smith ma OS W. G. Wringe, KS 1988 H. R. M. Dimbleby C. R. Heatly, KS MS 1989 J. B. R. Reppas ma KS T. G. M. Mitcheson, OS 1990 E. W. J. Lamb N. J. I. Kind, KS 1991 T. P. Elias, KS D. K. Renton, OS 1992 K. A. A. Kwarteng, KS F. F-T. Chen, OS 1993 D. A. S. Hugh-Jones, KS A. C. Warr, OS 1994 I. N. M. Wright, KS A. C. E. Ruck Keene, OS 1995 T. D. Calvocoressi, OS R. J. Starling, KS 1996 P. M-T. Sohmen, KS ME S. Krishnan, KS 1997 R. A. Eliott Lockhart, OS R. V. Gowan ma KS 1998 N. T. Shah, KS L. P. C. Geddes 1999 C. P. W. Fielding, OS N. T. Shah, KS 2000 J. D. J. Neicho, KS M. J. Pappenheim, KS 2001 H. H. Briance, OS A. Grenfell ma KS ME 2002 O. J. C. Bridge H. H. Briance, OS 2003 J. C. Dacre ma K.S H. J. Ellis, OS 2004 H. C. R. Donati, OS T. C. Wingfield, OS 2005 H. C. R. Donati, OS F. J. O. Spring 2006 N. H. J. Gaisman OS ME A. H. White mi KS 2007 M. I. L. Osman A. T. P. Parham mi 2008 G. K. Kotecha, KS J. H. F. Roxburgh, KS 2009 A. A. Nadeem, KS R. Mehan, OS 2010 A. A. Cornish, KS D. J. F. C. Leung, KS MS 2011 W. J. Gowers, KS H. Xu, KS 2012 M. A. P. Seely, KS H. Xu, KS 2013 H. C. Elliott ma KS S. A. P. Norman ma OS ME 2014 C. J. Styles A. A. Groes, OS 2015 B. P. Barnard W. Baker 2016 J. Choo-Choy M. Woernle ma OS 2017 L. Fraser-Taliente OS L. Li KS 2018 K. Power KS A. F. Warley 2019 G. Conradie KS P. D. Anderson 2020 F. A. W. Kirkby MS W. I. S. Ferguson ma 2021 M. K. N. DeLorenzo ma KS J. Chang, KS MS2022 M. K. N. DeLorenzo ma KS R. C. Z. Power OS 2023 A. M. H. McCallum KS A. R. A. McIntyre OS ME 2024 E. W. H. Brown OS ME R. P. M. McKee 2025 J. W. Pike ma KS ME C. J. Gray OS 2026 T. J. P. Zahl OS MS Z. W. Shield ma OS

Recent Examiners

Year Examiner Set Text 1988 Professor John MacQuarrie (Christ Church, Oxford) Peace Studies: The Hard Questions 1989 Canon Brian Hebblethwaite (Queens’ College. Cambridge) Mahoney, Bioethics and Belief 1990 Professor Stephen Prickett (Glasgow University) Prickett, What do the Translators Think They are Up To? 1991 Rabbi Julia Neuberger Webster, A Brief History of Blasphemy 1992 Stephen Sykes (Bishop of Ely) Report on Faith in the Countryside 1993 Professor Basil Mitchell (Oxford University) Sacks, The Persistence of Faith 1994 Sir Anthony Kenny (Rhodes House, Oxford) Casey, Pagan Virtue 1995 Professor Stephen Clark (Liverpool University) Regis, Great Mambo Chicken and the Transhuman Condition 1996 Dr Janet Martin Soskice (Jesus College, Cambridge) Sacks, Faith in the Future 1997 Dr Graham Ward (Peterhouse, Cambridge) Weil, Gravity and Grace 1998 Professor David Pailin (Manchester University) Mesle, Process Theology 1999 Professor Peter Lipton (King's College, Cambridge) Nagel, Mortal Questions 2000 Professor Ann Loades (Durham University) Pelikan, Jesus through the Centuries 2001 Michael Proudfoot (Reading University) Warnock, Imagination and Time 2002 Professor John Webster (Christ Church, Oxford) MacIntyre, Dependent Rational Animals 2003 Professor Roger Trigg (Warwick University) Fukuyama, Our Posthuman Future 2004 Professor Anthony O'Hear (Birmingham University) Hume, Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion 2005 Professor George Pattison (Christ Church, Oxford) Kierkegaard, Fear and Trembling 2006 Dr Fraser Watts (Queens’ College, Cambridge) James Proctor, Science, Religion and the Human Experience 2007 Dr Susan Parsons (Universities of Cambridge and Nottingham) Anselm, Proslogion 2009 Dr Douglas Hedley (Clare College, Cambridge) Kant, The Moral Law 2010 Professor John Cottingham (Reading University) Nietzsche, On the Genealogy of Morality 2011 Dr Paolo Crivelli (New College, Oxford) Plato, Phaedo 2012 Dr Dave Leal (Brasenose College, Oxford) Ryle, The Concept of Mind 2013 Professor Derek Matravers (Emmanuel College, Cambridge) Williams, Morality 2014 Dr William Wood (Oriel College, Oxford) Pascal, Pensées 2015 Dr Clare Carlisle (King's College, London) Lear, Radical Hope 2016 Dr Jonathan Loose (Universities of London and Cambridge) Plantinga, Knowledge and Christian Belief 2017 Professor John Skorupski (Emeritus Professor of Moral Philosophy, University of St Andrews) Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy 2018 Professor Jens Timmermann (Professor of Moral Philosophy, University of St Andrews) Kant, The Conflict of the Faculties 2019 Professor Sarah Coakley (Emeritus Norris-Hulse Professor of Divinity, Murray Edwards College, Cambridge) Fricker, Epistemic Injustice 2020 Professor Oliver O'Donovan (Emeritus Professor of Christian Ethics, Edinburgh) Augustine, On the Nature of the Good and Scheler, Repentance and Rebirth 2021 Dr Daniel Hill (Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, Liverpool) H.L.A. Hart, Law, Liberty and Morality 2022 Professor Edward Harcourt (Fellow and Tutor in Philosophy, Keble College, Oxford) Iris Murdoch, The Sovereignty of Good 2023 Professor Alister McGrath (Emeritus Professor of Science and Religion, Oxford University) Mary Midgley, "What is Philosophy for?" 2024 Professor Nigel Biggar (Emeritus Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology, Oxford University) Reinhold Niebuhr, "Moral Man and Immoral Society" 2025 Dr James Orr (Associate Professor of Philosophy of Religion, Cambridge University) Harry Frankfurt, "On Inequality" 2026 Professor Brian Brock (Professor of Moral and Practical Theology, Aberdeen University) Jacques Ellul, "Presence in the Modern World"

References