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Balliol College, Oxford

1263 establishments in EnglandAlfred Waterhouse buildingsBalliol College, OxfordBuildings and structures of the University of OxfordColleges of the University of Oxford
Educational institutions established in the 13th centuryGrade I listed buildings in OxfordGrade I listed educational buildingsUse British English from February 2019
Oxford Balliol College geograph.org.uk 1329613
Oxford Balliol College geograph.org.uk 1329613

Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. Balliol has a long history of innovation. It was one of the first Oxford colleges to appoint a Fellow in English, a Tutorial Fellow in Computer Science and was a founding college for Classical Archaeology and Ancient History. Famously, it was the birthplace of PPE in the 1920s and A. D. Lindsay, later master, played a key role in establishing the degree. In 2006, 45% of Balliol undergraduates obtained First Class degrees, a record within Oxford at the time.Members of Balliol have been awarded 13 Nobel Prizes with 12 Laureates (the most of any Oxford college). Balliol has educated four Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom (the second highest of any Oxford college), Harald V of Norway, Empress Masako of Japan, President Richard von Weizsäcker of Germany, Seretse Khama of Botswana, several Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, 7 Archbishops of Canterbury and 2 Cardinals. Balliol alumni also include the astronomer James Bradley, legal figures Lord Bingham and John Marshall Harlan II, geneticist Baruch Samuel Blumberg, writers Robert Southey, Gerard Hopkins, Matthew Arnold and Algernon Swinburne, historians R. H. Tawney, Christopher Hill and James H. Billington and philosopher Derek Parfit. Among the most famous students are the "Father of Economics" Adam Smith, the leader of the Baháʼí Faith Shoghi Effendi, the biologist Julian Huxley and his son Aldous Huxley, the author of Brave New World.John Wycliffe, who oversaw the first complete translation of the Bible into English, was master of Balliol in the 1360s. Due to the college's antiquity, knowledge of membership before around 1630 is incomplete, though eminent figures like Sir Thomas More and Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester have been suggested as potential students. Through his friendship with master Benjamin Jowett, the poet Robert Browning became the college's first Honorary Fellow.When John de Balliol died in 1268, his widow, Dervorguilla (whose wealth far exceeded that of his own) continued his work in setting up the college. It fell to Dervorguilla to confirm the foundation, with the blessing of the Bishop as well as the University hierarchy. She established a permanent endowment for the College in 1282, as well as its first formal Statutes. She is thus considered the co-founder of the college, and is commemorated through the Dervorguilla Society, and the annual Dervorguilla Seminar Series, while a Latin Requiem Mass was sung at Balliol for the 700th anniversary of her death.

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Balliol College, Oxford
St Giles', Oxford City Centre

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N 51.7547 ° E -1.2578 °
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Balliol College

St Giles'
OX1 3NA Oxford, City Centre
England, United Kingdom
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balliol.ox.ac.uk

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Oxford Balliol College geograph.org.uk 1329613
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Boswells of Oxford
Boswells of Oxford

Boswells of Oxford was the largest independent family-run department store in Oxford, England. The store closed in 2020.The store first traded in 1738, and was the second oldest family-owned department store in the world. It was initially founded by Francis Boswell and located at 50 Cornmarket Street. Boswells started up in business manufacturing and selling luggage and trunks, and it is believed their wares were taken on Captain Cook's trip to explore the Southern Hemisphere. The business remained in the Boswell family until 1890 when there was no one left for direct succession. The ownership passed to Arthur Pearson, the then owner of the Oxford Drug Company. Boswells and the Oxford Drug Company are still owned by the Pearson family and, unusually for a Department Store, Boswells still contained a Pharmacy - right until it closed. In 1928, it expanded its premises with the main entrance moving to Broad Street, opposite Balliol College and close to the spot (marked with a cross in the middle of the road) where the Oxford Martyrs were burnt at the stake in the 16th century. The store was traditional in style and a local shopping landmark, particularly for toys, kitchenware, and luggage, continuing the tradition from 1738. It retained a smaller side entrance at the north end of Cornmarket Street, which was originally the Oxford Drug Company building. Its address is now 1–4 Broad Street. The company did not use an apostrophe in its name, although others sometimes mistakenly do so. In 2014, the store launched an e-commerce website to replace a purely marketing website and sold products from all its departments online. In 2015, Boswells expanded upstairs to create a new tearoom and customer toilets, and added a takeaway cafe in 2018. The store departments were: Basement – Cookshop and Kitchen Electricals, Hardware, Household Essentials, Lighting, Small Electricals, Tableware Ground Floor – Cosmetics, Accessories, Umbrellas and Bags, Gifts, Luggage, Pharmacy, Tourism, Broad Street Cafe First Floor – 1738 Tearoom, Toys and Games Second Floor – Bedding and Bathrooms, Customer Toilets, Haberdashery, Parcel Collection pointIn 2020, there was a closing down sale after 282 years of trading. The COVID-19 pandemic brought forward the closure of the store. The store closed due to the crisis, apart from the pharmacy, which closed on 11 April 2020.