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remarkable that his son managed to get a good education. Edward, or
Ned as he liked to be called by his friends, attended Oswestry
Grammar School and then entered Jesus College, Oxford, in 1682 to
study law. Jesus College, which received its Royal Charter in 1571,
had been established through a bequest by Dr Hugh Price of St David's
Cathedral, and had strong Welsh connections, which it still retains.
One relatively recent alumnus was T. E. Lawrence, better known as
Lawrence of Arabia, who graduated in 1910. Lhwyd remained at Jesus
for five years but did not graduate with a degree. He became side-
tracked by a new interest, one that was ultimately to supply him
with a modest living, and that allowed him to exercise his consider-
able imagination and skills as a collector of facts and data - skills that
probably would have served him better in the Middle Temple. Little
is known of his character and only one portrait exists: a small black
and white ink drawing that exists in two known versions, one deco-
rating a document now in Merton College, Oxford, the other in the
Ashmolean Museum. One version has Lhwyd's face framed by the
first initial of his Christian name; the second, which is reproduced
here (Figure 4.1 ), is clearer as this initial has been removed. In this half-
length portrait he is wearing a gown, a white scarf is wrapped tightly
around his neck, and his head is covered by a wig of shoulder-length
white curls. He has striking eyes, and a slight smile which hints at his
good sense of humour. Probably drawn in his late thirties the portrait
suggests that he enjoyed the meals served up at the College refectories,
as evidenced by the soft rounded features around his chin and neck.
ROBERT PLOT'S ASSISTANT
Soon after he arrived in Oxford, Lhwyd began to assist Robert Plot,
Professor of Chemistry and Keeper of the Ashmolean Museum from
1683 to 1691. He was subsequently appointed his assistant and
as 'Register of the Chymicall courses at ye Laboratory', positions
that must have carried a small but necessary stipend. This institution
was housed in the first purpose-built museum in Britain, which
was erected between 1679 and 1683 beside the Sheldonian Theatre,
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