Vinerian Scholarship

The Vinerian Scholarship is a scholarship given to the University of Oxford student who "gives the best performance in the examination for the degree of Bachelor of Civil Law". Currently, £2,500 is given to the winner of the scholarship, with an additional £950 awarded at the examiners' discretion to a proxime accessit (runner-up).^[1]

The Vinerian Scholarship is the most prestigious law scholarship awarded by the University of Oxford. Past award holders have distinguished themselves in the judiciary, legal practice, academia, civil service and in other fields. The list of scholars since 1929 includes three Law Lords (Lord Hoffmann, Lord Edmund-Davies and Lord Saville), and justices of the highest courts in Australia (Dyson Heydon and Patrick Keane), Canada (Ronald Martland) and South Africa (Edwin Cameron).^[2]

Vinerian scholars

Past winners of the Vinerian Scholarship include:

• Charles Abbott, 1st Baron Tenterden
• Sir Thomas Plumer, MR (1777)
• John Taylor Coleridge (1812)
• Nassau William Senior (1813)
• Frederic Rogers, Baron Blachford (1834), Oriel College, Oxford
• Thomas Henry Haddan (1838)^[3]
• Sir William Cameron Gull, 2nd Baronet of Brook Street (1883), Christ Church, Oxford
• F. E. Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead^[4][5](1896)^[6]
• Francis de Zulueta (1903), New College, Oxford
• Augustus Uthwatt, Baron Uthwatt (1904)^[7]
• John Clifford Valentine Behan (1906), University of Melbourne – Hertford College, Oxford
• Henry Angus (1914), Balliol College, Oxford

Suspended for World War I (1916 – 1920)

• Harold Hanbury (1921), Brasenose College, Oxford
• Cyril Pearce Harvey (1923)^[8]
• Lord Edmund-Davies (1928), King's College London – Exeter College, Oxford^[9]

Change in statute to award scholarship on the basis of BCL examinations (1928)

• Ronald Martland^[10] (1931), University of Alberta – Hertford College, Oxford
• John Gabriel Starke^[11] (1934), University of Western Australia – Exeter College, Oxford
• (William) Reginald Verdon-Smith (1936)^[12] – Brasenose College, Oxford
• Norman Marsh (1937)^[13] – Pembroke College, Oxford

Suspended for World War II (1940 – 1945)

• Zelman Cowen^[14] (1947 joint), Melbourne Law School – New College, Oxford
• Rex Welsh^[14] (1947 joint), University of the Witwatersrand – Oriel College, Oxford
• Tony Honoré (1948 joint), New College, Oxford
• William Lederman (1948 joint), University of Saskatchewan – Exeter College, Oxford
• Peter Carter (1949), Oriel College, Oxford
• Ian Brownlie^[15] (1952), Hertford College, Oxford
• Allan Gotlieb (1953), University of California, Berkeley – Christ Church, Oxford
• Leonard Hoffman, Lord Hoffmann^[16] (1957), University of Cape Town – The Queen's College, Oxford
• Colin Tapper (1959),^[17] Magdalen College, Oxford
• Robert Roy Stuart (1961),^[18] University of Alberta – Wadham College, Oxford
• Richard Buxton (1962), Exeter College, Oxford
• Jeffrey Hackney (1963), Wadham College, Oxford
• John Eekelaar^[19] (1965), King's College London – University College, Oxford
• John Dyson Heydon (1967), University College, Oxford – University College, Oxford
• Ross Alan Sundberg (1969)^[20][21] University of Melbourne – Magdalen College, Oxford
• Michael Hart (1970), Magdalen College, Oxford
• Mark Weinberg (1972), Monash University Faculty of Law
• Paul Craig (1974),^[22] Worcester College, Oxford
• Hugh Collins (1975), Pembroke College, Oxford
• Peter Cane^[23][24] (1976), Sydney Law School – Magdalen College, Oxford
• Patrick Keane^[25] (1977), University of Queensland – Magdalen College, Oxford
• Mary Stokes (1980),^[26] Brasenose College, Oxford
• Edwin Cameron^[27] (1982), University of Stellenbosch – Keble College, Oxford
• Norman O'Bryan^[28] (1983), Melbourne Law School – Wadham College, Oxford
• John Gardner^[29] (1987), New College, Oxford – New College, Oxford
• Graham Virgo (1988), Downing College, Cambridge – Christ Church, Oxford
• Paul Nicholls^[30] (1990), University of Sheffield – Worcester College, Oxford
• Andrew Palmer^[31] (1992), Monash University – St John's College, Oxford
• Andrew Bell^[32] (1993), Sydney Law School – Magdalen College, Oxford
• Jeremy Kirk^[33] (1996), Australian National University – Magdalen College, Oxford
• Ann Buckingham^[34] (1997), Victoria University of Wellington
• Henry Forbes Smith^[35] (1998 joint), University of Otago – Merton College, Oxford
• Angus Johnston^[36] (1999), Brasenose College, Oxford – Brasenose College, Oxford
• Stephen Free^[37] (2000), Australian National University – Magdalen College, Oxford
• Burton Ong^[38] (2001), National University of Singapore – Merton College, Oxford
• David Murray (2002),^[39] Christ Church, Oxford – Christ Church, Oxford
• Ben Allgrove^[40] (2003), University of Adelaide – Magdalen College, Oxford
• Andrew Scott^[41] (2005 joint), St John's College, Oxford
• Marc Brown^[42] (2005 joint), Mansfield College, Oxford
• Paul Adams^[43] (2006), St Catherine's College, Oxford – St Catherine's College, Oxford
• Imran Afzal^[44] (2007), Merton College, Oxford – Merton College, Oxford
• Natasha Bennett^[45] (2008), Trinity College, Cambridge – Merton College, Oxford
• Michael Bolding^[46] (2009), Melbourne Law School – Lincoln College, Oxford
• Frederick Wilmot-Smith^[47] (2010), Christ's College, Cambridge – Balliol College, Oxford
• Niranjan Venkatesan^[48] (2011), National Law School of India University – Magdalen College, Oxford
• Naomi Oreb^[49] (2012), Sydney Law School – Magdalen College, Oxford
• Ajay Ratan^[50] (2013), Downing College, Cambridge – Trinity College, Oxford
• James Ruddell^[51] (2014), University of Auckland – Merton College, Oxford
• Owen Lloyd^[52] (2015), Merton College, Oxford – Merton College, Oxford
• Marlena Valles^[53] (2016), The University of Edinburgh – Jesus College, Oxford
• Tristan Cummings^[54] (2017), Merton College, Oxford – Merton College, Oxford
• Christopher Stackpoole^[55] (2018), Queensland University of Technology – Merton College, Oxford

Oxford colleges with Vinerian scholars since 1929

References