MANSELL
,
FRANCIS
(
1579
-
1665
), three times
principal of Jesus College, Oxford
;
one of the
Mansels
of
Muddlescombe
(
Kidwelly
), descendants of
Francis
Mansell
, second son of
Sir
Edward
Mansel
(see under
Mansel
) — the papers of this branch are at
N.L.W.
He was b. in
1579
(christened
23 March 1578/9
), third son of the above
Francis
. From
Hereford school
, he went in
Nov. 1607
to
Jesus College
,
Oxford
, graduated
20 Feb. 1608/9
, and proceeded
D.D.
in
1624
. He was elected
Fellow
of
All Souls
(though not on his first attempt in
1613
). At the end of
July 1620
he was made
principal of Jesus
by the
vice-chancellor
, despite opposition from some of the Fellows.
Mansell
ejected four of these; but (possibly deeming his place too hot to hold) resigned in
1621
, and was replaced by
Eubule
Thelwall
(q.v. under
Thelwall
family
). But when
Thelwall
d. (
1630
)
Mansell
obtained the
principalship
without difficulty. He was, says
E. G.
Hardy
, ‘
by far the most picturesque figure in the College history
.’ Very authoritarian, he yet proved very sagacious; he
greatly enlarged the college buildings
, contributed liberally to its funds, and gathered in many donations. When the
Civil War
broke out,
Mansell
was in
Wales
, where he remained for years (while
Oxford
was under siege),
assisting the royalist cause
; but when in
1647
the parliamentary visitors descended upon
Oxford
, he hurried there to stand his ground. In
1648
he and the Fellows were deprived, and he returned to
Wales
, living for a time at
Llantrithyd Court, Glam.
But in
1651
he was back in
Oxford
— in the same year (so greatly was he respected at
Jesus
), he was allowed to
occupy rooms in the tower above the college gate; there he remained during the
principalship
cf his two successors, until the
Restoration
restored him in his turn. But he was now an old man, with
failing eyesight
; he resigned in seven months (
1661
), being succeeded by
Leoline
Jenkins
(q.v.)
; but he continued to reside in college, and d. there
1 May 1665
; ‘
a man of sternness indeed, and severity … but one who had gained in a singular degree the love and veneration of every member of his College
’ (
Hardy
). He left all his property to
Jesus College
.
Bibliography:
-
Oxford Dictionary of National
Biography
(by
A. F. Pollard
);
-
Hardy
,
Jesus College
, 1899
(including selections from
Leoline Jenkins
's biography of Mansell).
Author:
Emeritus Professor Robert Thomas Jenkins, C.B.E., D.Litt., Ll.D.,
F.S.A., (1881-1969), Bangor
