Thomas Nevile

[1] During a long and distinguished career he held a succession of prestigious ecclesiastical posts including the Deanery of both Peterborough and Canterbury, that allowed him to build substantial personal wealth.

Within Cambridge, his popularity in the Court of Queen Elizabeth meant he found similar success there, both as Master of Magdalene College and as Vice Chancellor of the university in 1588.

To quote Trevelyan, "If Henry VIII founded Trinity, Nevile built it".

Over the next decade he razed a number of existing buildings to clear the space for the area now known as Great Court.

A monument showing two kneeling effigies representing Thomas and his brother Alexander survives in Canterbury Cathedral.