james wilkins, the builder of downing, must be distinguished from the later william wilkins, the gothic experimentalist. if the second wilkins had worked in the manner of the first, we should have missed some valuable historical relics, but should have gained in other respects. downing, with its heavy angularities and immense porticoes, is not a very great advance on the plans so cherished by mr james essex, but it bears the marks of a good intention, and is an excellently proportioned building. it was begun in 1807, but has never been finished, and now simply consists of two parallel ranges running north and south, with a wide space of lawn between them. its situation is very remote, but to this it owes its chief beauty, the lovely park with its fine avenues. the view northwards from[264] the park, embracing the fellows’ garden, and ending in the towers of the new roman catholic church, is worth seeing, although the contrast of the classical college with one of the latest examples of modern gothic work is somewhat inharmonious.
downing is almost the youngest of cambridge colleges, and its history is chiefly concerned with its foundation. at gamlingay, in the only part of cambridgeshire that can be called picturesque, there lived from about 1680 to 1749, a baronet named sir george downing. he had been the victim of a compulsory marriage. at the early age of fifteen, he had been married to his cousin mary forester, who herself was only thirteen. they never lived together, and in 1717, sir george made a will by which he bequeathed his estates to some collateral relatives. this document contained the provision that, if his heirs died out, the estates were to be applied to the use of a college which his trustees should found in cambridge. he nevertheless outlived the trustees, and, dying in 1749, left his property to his collateral heir, sir jacob downing. sir jacob was married, but died without issue in 1764. his wife retained the estates, but this gave rise to a long lawsuit, and, at her death, chancery pronounced the original will to be valid. the charter was granted in 1800, but the buildings were not begun till 1807,[265] and the college was not in working order till 1821.
sir george downing’s design had included a master and sixteen fellows. in addition—presumably to confer some prestige upon a late foundation—he had provided for two professorships in connection with the college, the downing professorships of medicine and of the laws of england. although the influx of undergraduates was at first very small, the valuable law scholarships attracted many students in course of time. the second master, mr serjeant frere,* was an eminent lawyer, and is still renowned as the first of college masters who dispensed their hospitality without too keen an eye to rigid selection. dr annesley, the first master, from 1805 to 1812, was the head of a college which had no corporate existence, and mr frere, for nine years, was in a similar position. downing has the misfortune of being in a very remote, although charming situation, and the number of her undergraduates has never been very large. but her present society includes the professor of law, dr maitland; and her master, dr alexander hill, is a distinguished ornament of the medical school. and, among the doctors who have been educated at downing are the late sir george humphrey, professor latham, and one of the best known of living physicians, professor bradbury.
