Official Archive of the Master and Fellows of Gonville and Caius College in the University of Cambridge

The College consists of the corporate body of the Master and Fellows. The College is governed according to a set of statutes, whether imposed by a founder, such as William Bateman or John Caius as was the case until the nineteenth century, or by Statutory Commissioners, as has been the case thereafter. Since the sixteenth century, executive decision-making has been undertaken by the Senior Fellows, and since the nineteenth century by the College Council, consisting of the Master and twelve Fellows. Since the early twentieth century, the majority of the Fellowship have also met corporately once a term in the General Meeting.

The records of the Council and of the General Meeting are produced by the Registrary and authenticated by the Master or 'custos'. Dr Caius in his sixteenth century statutes established the office of Registrary, a College officer drawn from among the fellowship, whose duties were to keep the records of college meetings, to write the admission register (a function since passed on to the Senior Tutor and Tutorial Office) and generally to act as the secretary of the College in important matters.

(A list of the holders of the office of Registrary was compiled by Catherine Hall, and published in The Caian, 1990).

The records consist of:

- copies of the College’s published statutes, Privy Council orders for their amendment, and minutes and papers relating to challenges to and reform of their provisions.

- the pandectae which recorded corporate transactions which required the College seal

- the gesta, the proceedings of the College Council together with supporting papers

- the minutes and supporting papers of the General Meeting of the Fellows.

The published statutes and their supporting papers and the Pandectae are on open access with no restrictions.

For external research access (which will be considered to include former Fellows and Caians)

Statutes: open access

Gesta: closed for 30 years

Registrary’s Supplement: closed for 99 years

Expurgated Supplement: closed for 30 years

Council papers: closed for 99 years

Registrary’s book: closed for 99 years

General Meeting minutes and papers: closed for thirty years

Compendium: closed for thirty years

For current members of Council:

Access to all records of the Council and the General Meeting, except the Registrary’s book.

For former members of Council:

Access to the gesta and the records of the General Meeting, and to those council papers which were submitted during their period on the Council.

For Fellows who are not members of Council:

Access to the gesta and the records of the General Meeting, and to any Council papers that they themselves may have generated.

For student representatives to Council:

Access to the unreserved gesta.

- See foundation deeds, and Gonville and Bateman's manuscript statutes in the Bursary records (BUR)

- See the Magisterial records (MAS) for additional records of governance, including additional copies of the gesta

- See the papers of E.S. Roberts (PPC/ESR).