Fashion Academic Robe Fellower Commoner of Trin. Coll. (Trinity College) Cambridge University

"A Fellow Commoner"

Antique copper hand coloured stipple copperplate engraving by John Whessel (1760-1797) after Richard Harraden (1756-1838) for Costumes of the University of Cambridge Drawn by R. Harraden.

Published by R.Harraden, Cambridge, Proprietor of the Views of Cambridge May 1 1803

Condition = Very good.  Hand coloured. Faint evidence of past mat presentation around paper edges.

Size of Image 175mm x 128mm

Academic Term "Fellow Commoner":

 A fellow‑commoner was a rank of student above pensioners but below noblemen. They paid double the tuition and enjoyed more privileges than pensioners, such as "commoning" with Fellows. As fellow‑commoners had considerable wealth, they were ineligible for scholarships and paid fellowships at some colleges Fellow‑commoners who wore a hat instead of a velvet cap were known as hat fellow‑commoners. They were often sons of nobility but not the eldest, who enjoyed the rank of "noblemen"