Sir Winston remembered at Churchill College

Lady Soames, the only surviving child of Winston and Clementine Churchill, planted a weeping mulberry tree on the grounds of Churchill College – in the shadow of the oak planted by her father on October 17, 1959.

Churchill College is the national and Commonwealth memorial to the great wartime leader and houses the archive of his papers, as well as those of Margaret Thatcher and nearly 600 other eminent politicians, diplomats, military figures, scientists and engineers.

It was founded in Sir Winston’s honour in 1959, with the former Prime Minister, aged 84, making the trip to Cambridge to mark the genesis of its newest College.

He planted his mulberry tree in a then unoccupied muddy field on farmland on the outskirts of West Cambridge.

The 87-year-old Lady Soames said: “It makes me very happy and proud that today I shall be literally following in my father’s footsteps in planting a tree in the grounds of Churchill College.”

“It means a great deal to me that I have a close association with Churchill College – indeed they have honoured me by making me an Honorary Fellow.

“I find it moving that as an elder statesman in the 1950s my father grasped the realities of the atomic age and was the founder of this major institution devoted to the advancement of science and technology.”

In less than 50 years, 24 of Churchill’s members have won Nobel Prizes; meaning it can boast more Prize winners than countries such as Russia, Sweden and China.

Footage of Sir Winston’s first and only visit to the College survives, along with an audio recording of the speech made to press and assembled guests, including a large crowd of local school children.

He said: “This is for me a most happy occasion. It is certainly an unusual honour and distinction that a College bearing my name should be added to the ancient and renowned foundations which together form the University of Cambridge.”

A Daily Express cutting from the day shows Britain’s most famous Prime Minister surrounded by enthralled children and onlookers, including one little girl staring at Sir Winston with rapt attention.

Fifty years on, the girl pictured - Caroline Lloyd Evans - was again at the College, alongside several founding postgraduate students who arrived in 1960 from 12 different countries. All surviving past Masters - Sir William Hawthorne, Lord Broers, Sir John Boyd and current Master, Sir David Wallace - were also in attendance.

The seed from which the idea of a Churchill College grew was planted by Sir John Colville, Lord Cherwell and Churchill, while on holiday in Sicily in 1955.

Churchill wanted a purpose-built science and technology College which could emulate and aspire to the work of MIT, which the former PM hugely admired.
However, he wanted the College to contain a mix of non-scientists as well, to ensure that scholars and fellows had access to a well-rounded education.

His 1959 speech at the College throws an intriguing light on his wish for Britain to continue as a world leader in the fields of science and technology, particularly with regards to the space race and the onset of the Cold War.

He said: “More than any other country in the world, Britain must rely on the enterprise and trained ingenuity of her people. Since we have neither the massive population, nor the raw materials, nor yet adequate agricultural land to enable us to make our way in the world with ease, we must depend for survival on our brains, on skilled minds that are at least proportionately equal to those in the United States and Soviet Russia.

“Let no one believe that the lunar rockets, of which we read in the press, are merely ingenious bids for prestige. They are manifestations of a formidable advance in technology. As with many vehicles of pure research, their immediate uses may not be apparent. But I do not doubt that they will ultimately reap a rich harvest for those who have the imagination and power to develop them, and to probe ever more deeply into the mysteries of the universe in which we live.”

The College’s 50th Anniversary will also be used as the springboard for a new, high-level fundraising campaign.

Sir David Wallace, Master of Churchill College, said: “Ours is a modern College in an ancient university. It has always aimed to innovate. The 50th anniversary provides a historic opportunity to build on our achievements. We aim to do this literally, by providing a New Court for sixty students whom we cannot now accommodate on campus. The cost of the New Court is £8million. We also plan to raise a further £4million to provide both undergraduate and postgraduate studentships.”