List of alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge

This is a list of notable alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge. Note that some of the alumni noted hereafter are connected to Trinity through honorary degrees. Not all studied at the College.

Politicians

Sir Francis Bacon lawyer, philosopher; Lord Chancellor

Enoch Powell, Conservative British politician

Lee Hsien-Loong, Prime Minister of Singapore

Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India

Royalty

King Edward VII

Charles, Prince of Wales, eldest son of Elizabeth II

King George VI

• HRH The Prince of Wales (born 1948)
• King Edward VII (1841–1910), reigned 1901–1910
• King George VI (1895–1952), reigned 1936–1952
• Prince Ranjitsinhji (1872–1933), cricketer; Indian prince

Clergy

• Alfred Barry (1826–1920), Principal of King's College London (1868–1883), educationalist, and former Bishop of Sydney
• Edward White Benson (1829–1896), Archbishop of Canterbury, 1883–1896
• Matthew Blagden Hale, first Bishop of Perth; later Bishop of Brisbane, social and educational pioneer
• Joseph Barber Lightfoot (1828–1889), Bishop of Durham; theologian
• Adam Loftus (1533–1605), Archbishop of Armargh and Dublin, Lord Chancellor of Ireland
• Handley Moule (1841–1920), Bishop of Durham; theologian
• Charles Perry (1807–1891), first Bishop of Melbourne
• John A. T. Robinson(1919–1983) theologian; Bishop of Woolwich, Dean of Trinity
• John Sanderson (c.1540–1602), priest and writer on logic
• Lawrence Sanderson (c.1542–1611), landowner and clergyman
• The Reverend Canon Henry Spencer Stephenson, M.A. (1871–1957), chaplain to King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II
• John Stott (1921–2011), Evangelical Church Leader
• John Tiarks (1903–1974), Bishop of Chelmsford
• Richard Chenevix Trench (1807–1888), poet, Archbishop of Dublin; theorist of English Language
• Brooke Foss Westcott (1825–1901), Canon of Westminster, Bishop of Durham
• Robin Woods (1914–1997), Dean of Windsor and Bishop of Worcester

Law and justice

• Maurice Amos, friend of Bertrand Russell and Quain Professor of Jurisprudence at University College London
• Robert Benson (1797–1844), barrister and judge
• Sue Carr (born 1965), Justice of the High Court
• Charles Sargent (1821 - 1900) Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court
• Nicholas Conyngham Tindal (1776–1786), celebrated lawyer and judge
• John Copley, 1st Baron Lyndhurst (1772–1863), lawyer; Lord Chancellor 1827–1830; 1834–1835; 1841–1846
• Kenelm George Digby (1890–1944), High Court judge in India
• Sir Robert Filmer (1588–1653), barrister, political philosopher
• Sir Christopher Floyd (born 1951), The Rt Hon. Lord Justice Floyd, appointed Lord Justice of Appeal in 2013
• Sir Travers Humphreys (1867–1956), judge
• George Jeffreys, 1st Baron Jeffreys (1645–1689), judge; Bloody Assizes; Lord Chancellor
• Frederic William Maitland (1850–1906), legal historian
• Sir Frederick Pollock (1845–1937), jurist
• Sir David Richards (born 1951), judge in the High Court
• James Scarlett, 1st Baron Abinger (1769–1844), judge, Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer
• Edward Vernon Utterson (c. 1776–1856), lawyer; one of the Six Clerks in Chancery; literary antiquary, collector and editor

Media and journalists

Alexander Armstrong actor, television presenter and comedian

• Alexander Armstrong (born 1970), actor, television presenter and comedian, known for The Armstrong and Miller Show and hosting Pointless with Richard Osman
• John Drummond (1934–2006), broadcaster, arts administrator, writer, director of BBC Proms and Radio 3
• Ian Fells, energy adviser and broadcaster
• Vanessa Feltz (born 1962), journalist and broadcaster
• Stephen Frears (born 1941), film director
• Mel Giedroyc (born 1968), comedian and television presenter; The Great British Bake Off
• James Harding (born 1969), editor of The Times
• Jonathan King (born 1944), pop impresario jailed for sexually abusing boys
• India Knight (born 1965), author and journalist
• John Lloyd (born 1951), comedy writer and television producer, known for the likes of the Blackadder series, Spitting Image, Not the Nine O'Clock News, The News Quiz and QI
• Richard Osman (born 1970), television presenter and producer, co-host of Pointless
• Eddie Redmayne (born 1982), Oscar-winning actor

Academics and scientists

Sir Isaac Newton, one of the most influential scientists of all time

James Clerk Maxwell, Scottish physicist

• John Dalberg-Acton, 1st Baron Acton (1834–1902), historian
• Joseph Arthur Arkwright (1864–1944), bacteriologist, FRS
• Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay (1800–1859), historian, politician, and essayist
• John Haden Badley (1865–1967), educationalist, founder (1893) and headmaster (1893–1935) of Bedales School
• John Bell, Professor of Law, Fellow of Pembroke College, Cambridge
• James Challis (1803–1882), astronomer; twice observed Neptune without noting it, before its discovery
• Jared Diamond (born 1937), US physiologist and biogeographer, Pulitzer Prize winner
• Simon Digby (1932–2010), Oriental scholar
• Sir Arthur Eddington (1882–1944), astronomer
• Sir James Frazer (1854–1941), anthropologist; writer, The Golden Bough
• Sir Francis Galton (1822–1911), scientist; meteorology, heredity
• Christopher Grigson (1926–2001), electrical engineer and naval architect
• George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon (1866–1923), Egyptologist; funded the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb
• Christopher Hinton, Baron Hinton of Bankside (1901–1983), nuclear engineer; constructed Calder Hall, the first large scale reactor
• Tristram Hunt (born 1974), historian and former politician
• Henry Jackson (1839–1921), classicist and reformer, Vice Master, 1914
• Ian Jacobs (born 1957), gynaecologist and academic
• David Gwilym James (1905–1968), Vice-Chancellor of the University of Southampton, 1952–1968
• Sir Richard Jebb (1841–1905), Greek scholar
• Lawrence Lessig (born 1961), leading US cyberlaw expert, founder of the Creative Commons movement, and free software advocate
• Ling Wang (1917–1994), historian of science
• George Campbell Macaulay (1852–1915), classical scholar
• Sir Bernard Pares (1867–1956), historian in Russian history
• Nicholas Patrick (born 1964), NASA astronaut
• Richard Porson (1759–1808), classical scholar
• Alfred Radcliffe-Brown (1881–1955), social anthropologist
• Vilayanur Ramachandran (born 1947), psychologist, neuroscientist
• John Ray (1627–1705), naturalist; created the principles of plant classification
• Charles Rolls (1877–1910), co-founder of Rolls-Royce; aviator
• Hugh James Rose (1795–1838), Principal of King's College London (1836–1833)
• Victor Rothschild, 3rd Baron Rothschild (1910–1990), zoologist, suspected Soviet sympathizer
• J. F. Roxburgh (1888–1954), classicist, first head master of Stowe School
• W.A.H. Rushton (1901–1980), physiologist, one time president of the Society for Psychical Research
• Adam Sedgwick (1785–1873), geologist
• Cedric Smith (1917–2002), statistician and geneticist
• John Maynard Smith (1920–2004), evolutionary biologist and geneticist
• James Spedding (1808–1881), scholar; editor of Bacon's Works
• William Fox Talbot (1800–1877), inventor of photography
• John Arthur Todd (1908–1994), geometer
• Sir George Otto Trevelyan (1838–1928), historian; MP; father of G. M. Trevelyan
• William Thomas Tutte (1917–2002), Bletchley Park codebreaker and graph theorist
• John Waterlow (1913–2010), physiologist specialising in childhood malnutrition
• Tim Westoll (1919–1999), ornithologist
• George Michael Wickens (1918–2006), linguist and humanities scholar
• Francis Willughby (1635–1672), naturalist

Philosophers

Bertrand Russell, philosopher, logician, mathematician, historian, and social critic

• Simon Blackburn (born 1944), philosopher
• C. D. Broad (1887–1971), philosopher
• Ian Hacking (born 1936), Canadian philosopher
• G. E. Moore (1873–1958), philosopher
• Frank Plumpton Ramsey (1903–1930), philosopher, mathematician, economist
• Bertrand Russell (1872–1970), philosopher
• Henry Sidgwick (1838–1900), philosopher, major proponent of women's colleges
• A. N. Whitehead (1861–1947), philosopher, mathematician
• Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951), philosopher

Writers

Lord Tennyson, poet

Lord Byron, poet

Muhammad Iqbal, Islamic poet and philosopher

A. A. Milne, writer, author of Winnie the Pooh children's novels

• Clive Bell (1881–1964), art and literary critic; husband of Vanessa
• Charles Astor Bristed (1820–1874), American author and scholar
• George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (1788–1824), poet; "She Walks in Beauty", Don Juan
• Edward Hallet Carr (1892–1982), writer and international relations theorist
• Erskine Childers (1870–1922), writer, Irish Nationalist; The Riddle of the Sands
• Abraham Cowley (1618–1667), poet, dramatist – The Mistress
• George Crabbe (1754–1832), poet; did not matriculate
• Aleister Crowley (1875–1947), writer, poet, occultist, and 'Magician'; Magick in Theory and Practice
• Richard Cumberland (1732–1811), playwright; The Brothers, The West Indian
• Warwick Deeping (1877–1950), novelist
• Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex (1566–1601), soldier, courtier to Elizabeth I; executed for rebellion
• John Dryden (1631–1700), Poet Laureate; "Absalom and Achitophel"; translator of Virgil
• Edward FitzGerald (1809–1883), poet; Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám
• Giles Fletcher (1588–1623), poet; "Christ's Victory" and "Triumph"
• George Gascoigne (1525–1577), poet, dramatist; "Jocasta", "The Glasse of Government"
• Edmund Gosse (1845–1928), poet, critic; On Viol and Flute
• Thom Gunn (1929–2004), Modernist poet
• George Herbert (1593–1633), poet
• A. E. Housman (1859–1936), poet, classical scholar
• Henry Hyndman (1842–1921), English writer and politician
• Muhammad Iqbal (1875–1938), Islamic poet and philosopher
• Stanley Mordaunt Leathes (1861–1938), poet, historian and senior civil servant
• Nathaniel Lee (1649–1692), dramatist; The Rival Queens
• John Lehmann (1907–1987), poet, man of letters; inaugurated The London Magazine
• Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton (1803–1873), novelist; The Last Days of Pompeii; politician
• Andrew Marvell (1621–1678), poet; "Horatian Ode", "The Rehearsal Transpros'd"; MP (Hull)
• Frederick Maurice (1805–1872), theologian, writer, Christian Socialist
• A. A. Milne (1882–1956), writer; Winnie-the-Pooh
• Nicholas Monsarrat (1910–1979), novelist; The Cruel Sea, Three Corvettes
• Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977), Russian and English novelist; Lolita
• Lenrie Peters (1952–1959), Gambian novelist, poet and educationist
• Thomas Randolph (1605–1635), poet, dramatist
• T. J. Cobden Sanderson (1840–1922), bookbinder; Arts and Crafts Movement pioneer
• Sir Henry Spelman (1562–1641), antiquary; Reliquiae Spelmannianae
• Lytton Strachey (1880–1932), biographer; Eminent Victorians; Bloomsbury Group
• Sir John Suckling (1609–1642), poet, dramatist
• Tom Taylor (1817–1880), Scottish dramatist; editor of Punch
• Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (1809–1892), poet – "Maud", "In Memoriam"
• William M. Thackeray (1811–1863), novelist; Vanity Fair, Henry Esmond (dropped out after second year)
• Sir George Trevelyan, 4th Baronet (1906–1996), educator, new age thinker and writer
• George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham (1628–1687), wit, politician, dramatist; The Rehearsal; member of the 'Cabal'
• Raymond Williams (1921–1988), Marxist critic, novelist; The Country and the City
• Leonard Woolf (1880–1969), writer; husband of Virginia Woolf; Bloomsbury Group
• Geoffrey Winthrop Young (1876–1958), mountaineer and author

Sports

• George 'Gubby' Allen (1902–1989), cricketer – captained England; played in Bodyline series
• Sir George Branson (1871–1951), Cambridge rowing blue and High Court judge^[2]
• Harry Chester Goodhart (1858–1895), twice FA Cup winner and England international footballer; Professor of Humanities at Edinburgh University^[3]
• Dar Lyon (1898–1964), first class cricketer; Chief Justice of the Seychelles
• Philip Morton (1857–1925), cricketer and schoolmaster^[4][5]
• Sir Peter Scott (1909–1989), artist, ornithologist; Olympic sailor (1936)
• Rev. Henry Holmes Stewart (1847–1937), FA Cup winner in 1873^[6]
• Charles Plumpton Wilson (1859–1938), England footballer and Rugby player
• H. de Winton and J. C. Thring, created the first formal set of rules for Association football (The Cambridge Rules)
• Maxwell Woosnam (1892–1965), Olympic and Wimbledon lawn tennis champion and England national football team captain

Spies

Kim Philby, Soviet spy

• Anthony Blunt (1907–1983), Soviet spy; art historian
• Guy Burgess (1910–1963), Soviet spy and traitor
• Michael Greenberg (1914–1992), Foreign Affairs Economist U.S. Foreign Economic Administration; Soviet spy
• Kim Philby (1911–1988), double agent; communist
• Michael Whitney Straight (1916–2004), US magazine publisher, presidential speechwriter, Soviet spy

Business

• Norman Blackwell, Baron Blackwell (born 1952), businessman and politician
• Sir Andrew Thomas Cahn (born 1951), Vice Chairman for Public Policy of Nomura Group; former CEO of UK Trade & Investment
• Sanjeev Gupta (born 1970s), businessman
• Sir Robin Ibbs (born 1926), banker
• Sir Michael Adrian Richards (born 1951), former UK National Cancer Director; Chief Inspector of Hospitals, Care Quality Commission, from May 2013
• Rod Smallwood (born 1950), co-manager of Iron Maiden and co-founder of Sanctuary Records
• Andy Taylor (born 1951), co-manager of Iron Maiden and co-founder of Sanctuary Records
• John Tusa (born 1936), managing director of BBC World Service
• Simon Wolfson, Baron Wolfson of Aspley Guise (born 1967), CEO of Next plc

Military

• Brigadier-General Charles Strathavon Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby (1870–1949), soldier
• James Yorke Scarlett (1799–1871), British general and hero of the Crimean War
• David Stirling (1915–1990), founder of the Special Air Service

Others

• Christopher Alexander (born 1936), architect, author of The Timeless Way of Building and father of the design patterns movement
• Terry Eagleton (born 1943), literary critic
• Nathaniel Eaton (1609–1674), first schoolmaster at Harvard
• James Clerk Maxwell Garnett CBE (1880–1958), educationist, barrister, and peace campaigner
• Sir Sarat Kumar Ghosh (1878–1962), Indian Civil Service officer
• Antony Gormley (born 1950), sculptor, best known for Angel of the North 1968–71
• Stephen Greenhalgh (born 1967), Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime in London^[7]
• Michael Gurstein (born 1944), Canadian community informatician
• Peter Llewellyn Gwynn-Jones (born 1940), Garter Principal King of Arms, 1995–
• Sir Stuart Milner-Barry (1906–1995), chess player, World War II codebreaker and civil servant
• William Smith O'Brien (1803–1864), Irish Nationalist
• Baron Kishichiro Okura (1882–1963), Japanese playboy and motor racing enthusiast
• St. John Philby (1885–1960), explorer of Arabia; father of Kim
• Alexander Ramsay of Mar (1919–2001), great grandson of Queen Victoria
• Sir Benegal Narsing Rau (1887–1952), Indian Civil Service officer
• Anthony and Peter Shaffer (born 1926; Anthony died 2001), dramatists
• Sir Charles Villiers Stanford (1852–1924), composer, organist
• Thomas Francis Wade (1818–1895), diplomat; developed a romanization system for Mandarin Chinese that formed the basis for the Wade–Giles system
• Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872–1958), composer; Sea Symphony, Pilgrim's Progress

References