Guide to past members of the University

The following is a brief guide to the sources of information available concerning past members of the University at various points in time. It gives details of published sources that should be available in major reference libraries, some of which are available online, and alternatives where there are no published sources available. The guide is broken down into the following time periods:

Note: Women were not admitted as members of the University until 1920. See our separate Guide to women students for details of the sources of information in the Archives about women students both before and after 1920.

Members admitted to 1540

All known information about the University careers of members of the University up to 1540 is contained in two publications compiled by AB Emden, partly from sources in the University Archives, but chiefly from those held elsewhere.

  • A Biographical Register of the University of Oxford to AD 1500 (3 vols, 1957)
  • A Biographical Register of the University of Oxford AD 1501 to 1540 (1 vol, 1974)

Members admitted from 1541 to 1886

The published sources for this period are two compilations by Joseph Foster:

  • Alumni Oxonienses 1500–1714 (2 vols, 1891–2)
  • Alumni Oxonienses 1715–1886 (2 vols, 1891–2)

These were compiled chiefly from sources in the University Archives and, in most cases, contain all the information we hold on individual members.  There is an overlap with Emden's Biographical Register for the period 1500–1540, but Emden is the more informative and reliable source for those years.

The information contained in the volume for 1500–1714 is available on the British History Online website. A digitised copy of the same publication is available in four parts on the Internet Archive:

A digitised copy of the later volume for 1715–1886 is also available in four parts on the Internet Archive:

There may also be other copies available online.

Members admitted from 1880 to 1892

A further work by Joseph Foster, Oxford Men and their Colleges (2 vols, 1893) lists all those who were admitted between 1880 and 1892. Again, this was compiled chiefly from University Archives sources and, in most cases, contains all the information which we hold on individual members up to the end of 1892. There is an overlap with Alumni Oxonienses 1715–1886 and it is recommended that both publications are consulted form details of members who were admitted between 1880 and 1886.

A digitised copy of this is available on the Internet Archive. There may also be other copies available online.

Members admitted from 1891 to July 1932

There is no comprehensive published source of information about members of the University after 1892, although some individual colleges have published registers of their own members, and members of the University are listed in the annual University Calendar. The Archives holds a card register which lists all members of the University admitted from 1891 to July 1932. This gives name, college, date of matriculation and degree(s) awarded, and we can supply details of specific individuals on request.

Members admitted after July 1932

The main record of members of the University who matriculated after July 1932 is still held by the University's central administration. The Degree Conferrals Office may be able, in certain circumstances, to provide verification of Oxford degrees from 1932.