Gonvile, Edmund
GONVILE, EDMUND (d. 1351), founder of Gonville Hall, now Gonville and Caius College, at Cambridge, England, is thought to have been the son of William de Gonvile, and the brother of Sir Nicholas Gonvile. In 1320 he was rector of Thelnetham, Suffolk, and steward there for William, earl Warren and the earl of Lancaster. Six years later he was rector of Rushworth, and in 1342 rector of Terrington St John and commissioner for the marshlands of Norfolk. In this year he founded and endowed a collegiate church at Rushworth, suppressed in 1541. The foundation of Gonville Hall at Cambridge was effected by a charter granted by Edward III. in 1348. It was called, officially, the Hall of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin, but was usually known as Gunnell or Gonville Hall. Its original site was in Free-school Lane, where Corpus Christi College now stands. Gonvile apparently wished it to be devoted to training for theological study, but after his death the foundation was completed by William Bateman, bishop of Norwich and founder of Trinity Hall, on a different site and with considerably altered statutes. (See also CAIUS, JOHN.)
Note - this article incorporates content from Encyclopaedia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, (1910-1911)
