A grand compounder was a degree candidate at the University of Oxford who paid extra for his degree; £30 rather than £7 for a BA, and £40 rather than £14 for an MA. Undergraduates with a certain high level of income were required to do this; in 1817 this level was a benefice rated in the Kings Books at £40, or other income in excess of £300. The practice was abolished in 1857.
In exchange for their money, at their graduation a grand compounder was able to process from his college to the convocation house and back again in the company of the Vice-Chancellor, wearing a scarlet gown. In earlier times a trumpeter walked in front blowing his instrument.
At the University of Cambridge the income threshold for a compounder was £26 13s 4d.
References
- Hargreaves-Mawdsley, W. N. (1957). "Grand Compounders" (PDF). Oxoniensia: 111. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
- THE OXFORD UNIVERSITY CALENDAR 1817. Oxford: J Parker. 1817. p. 103. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
- Gibson, William (2004). "The Regulation of Undergraduate Academic Dress at Oxford and Cambridge, 1660–1832". Transactions of the Burgon Society. 4: 26–41. doi:10.4148/2475-7799.1027. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
- CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY CALENDAR 1829. 1829. p. 164.