James Edwards Sewell

Who was James Edwards Sewell?

James Edwards Sewell, Warden of New College, Oxford, was educated at Winchester College and New College.

In 1830, he became a Fellow of New College, and practically passed the rest of his life there, being elected to the headship in 1860. The first University Commission had just released the colleges from the fetters of their original statutes, and Sewell was called on to determine his attitude towards the strong reforming party in New College.

Though himself instinctively conservative, he determined that it was his duty to give effect to the desire of the majority, with the result that New College led the way in the general reform movement, and from being one of the smallest became the second largest college in Oxford. Sewell was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford 1874–78.

He died in his ninety-third year, having been Warden of New College for 43 years, and was interred in the College cloisters.

His brother, Henry Sewell became the first premier of New Zealand. Another brother, William Sewell, was a writer, as was sister Elizabeth Missing Sewell.