Cole at Oxford
History Extra
The first black man recorded as graduating from Cambridge was mixed-race violinist George Augustus Bridgetower (1778–1860). He was elected to Royal Society of Musicians in 1807, and attended Trinity Hall, Cambridge where he earned the degree of Bachelor of Music in 1811. He was the first West Indian graduate recorded in university records.
The second black man was New Yorker Alexander Crummell (1819–1898) who was sponsored by American Anglicans and admitted to Queens’ College, Cambridge as a family man in 1848. He certainly experienced verbal racism, even as late as the day of his graduation ceremony in 1853. Crummell then went to Liberia as a missionary, successfully spending the next 20 years there as a parish rector and Professor of Intellectual and Moral Science at Liberia College.
Had no African student applied to Oxford before 1870? Perhaps had some applied and were rejected Christian Frederick Cole (1852-85) was born in the village of Waterloo, in the British colony of Sierra Leone. His adopted father, a Church of England minister, gained a scholarship for their son to attend the best college in sub-Saharan Africa, a Freetown missionary school with high standards in the Classics. Principal Rev E Jones had been the first African-American to graduate from Amherst College in the USA and it was he who encouraged young Cole to apply for Oxford Uni. So Cole applied, sat for Greek, Latin, arithmetic & algebra exams, and was accepted.
In 1872 Cole’s father died and his uncle took over the guardianship responsibility. Despite Britain’s racist colonial views, Cole enrolled at University College to read for an honours degree in Classics, becoming the first black African to study at the university. He was constantly subject to ridicule and sarcasm verbally and in writing, but apparently was never physically harmed.
Christian Cole was not a residential student, but his uncle did pay for lodgings in the city and for university fees. Cole’s presence attracted attention both inside and outside the university. As a member of Oxford Union debating society, Cole actively debated in the given topics. His academic essays were commended by his tutors and lecturers, and after 4 years of hard study, Cole got his honours degree in 1877. It only fell apart when his uncle ran out of money to support his loved nephew. Instead Christian used his great musical talent to teach music to some undergraduates, and prepared other under-graduates for their divinity exams. Eventually he sought the assistance of the Master of University College in winning exemption from paying fees, but the request failed and Cole had to return to Africa.
By 1879 his friends in Sierra Leone had raised enough money to return him to London and to make a career in Law. He became the first black African member of the Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, one of London’s prestigious Inns of Court. After 4 more years, he was called to the bar as the first African barrister to practise in British courts.
How sad that despite being called to the bar, Cole couldn't secure any chambers in Britain and so took a barristership in Zanzibar instead. Even that success was short lived. Just a year later Cole contracted smallpox and died in Dec 1885 aged 33. In his brief life, Cole had carefully worked his way through the racial and cultural barriers of Victorian Britain to create two historic firsts. Who knows what other remarkable successes this young man might have achieved?
Had no African student applied to Oxford before 1870? Perhaps had some applied and were rejected Christian Frederick Cole (1852-85) was born in the village of Waterloo, in the British colony of Sierra Leone. His adopted father, a Church of England minister, gained a scholarship for their son to attend the best college in sub-Saharan Africa, a Freetown missionary school with high standards in the Classics. Principal Rev E Jones had been the first African-American to graduate from Amherst College in the USA and it was he who encouraged young Cole to apply for Oxford Uni. So Cole applied, sat for Greek, Latin, arithmetic & algebra exams, and was accepted.
In 1872 Cole’s father died and his uncle took over the guardianship responsibility. Despite Britain’s racist colonial views, Cole enrolled at University College to read for an honours degree in Classics, becoming the first black African to study at the university. He was constantly subject to ridicule and sarcasm verbally and in writing, but apparently was never physically harmed.
Christian Cole was not a residential student, but his uncle did pay for lodgings in the city and for university fees. Cole’s presence attracted attention both inside and outside the university. As a member of Oxford Union debating society, Cole actively debated in the given topics. His academic essays were commended by his tutors and lecturers, and after 4 years of hard study, Cole got his honours degree in 1877. It only fell apart when his uncle ran out of money to support his loved nephew. Instead Christian used his great musical talent to teach music to some undergraduates, and prepared other under-graduates for their divinity exams. Eventually he sought the assistance of the Master of University College in winning exemption from paying fees, but the request failed and Cole had to return to Africa.
By 1879 his friends in Sierra Leone had raised enough money to return him to London and to make a career in Law. He became the first black African member of the Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, one of London’s prestigious Inns of Court. After 4 more years, he was called to the bar as the first African barrister to practise in British courts.
How sad that despite being called to the bar, Cole couldn't secure any chambers in Britain and so took a barristership in Zanzibar instead. Even that success was short lived. Just a year later Cole contracted smallpox and died in Dec 1885 aged 33. In his brief life, Cole had carefully worked his way through the racial and cultural barriers of Victorian Britain to create two historic firsts. Who knows what other remarkable successes this young man might have achieved?
Cole's plaque, Oxford, 2017
BBC
A plaque to honour Cole’s successes was placed on University College’s exterior wall, opposite the College’s Law Library Oxford. What a very long time to make the honour happen!