ABSTRACT
John Henry Newman was a Londoner by birth, and attended a school in Ealing before proceeding to Trinity College Oxford, where he began residence in 1817. He was successful in his studies, but not in his degree, for which he over-read and was awarded only a bare pass. Newman's part in this began when he started the series of Tracts for the Times, defending the Catholic inheritance of the Church of England. His sermons at St Mary's proclaimed the same message, and Newman achieved an unrivalled place in notoriety and influence at Oxford. Newman's acceptance of the office of Rector was tempered with apprehension because of the administrative work involved. Newman takes 'university' as suggesting a universality of concern for all branches of knowledge. Newman's own policies in the setting up of the university should also be borne in mind, if we are to seize the full content of his thought.
