Image of Jesus College war memorial

Sir Robert Cecil Muir-Mackenzie, Lieutenant, Durham Light Infantry

Sir Robert Cecil Muir-Mackenzie came up to Jesus College in October 1910 after attending Marlborough College.​

Born in Marldon, Devon: 19 October 1891

Killed in action: 12 April 1918

 He gained his BA in 1913 after taking Special papers I and II in both History and Mechanical Sciences.

Sadly little else is known about his time in College.  Indeed a letter written to the student magazine, Chanticlere, in May 1912 laments the fact that it was “written merely for the amusement and edification (?) of only a few members”.  The correspondent goes on to say

“Sir, the doings and saying of these inane buffoons interest no one but themselves: the College has thought so for long enough in secret, and now I venture to lay pen to paper and voice the sentiment of the vast majority of men in residence.  Let us have a magazine that will appeal to all.” (p. 32)

The author is unknown but as Muir-Mackenzie is not mentioned in the magazine for the entirety of his three years in residence it is likely he was one of the “vast majority”.

The obituary for him in 1919 merely records his family and military details, i.e. he had married and had a child, he had become the 5th Baronet of Delvine in February 1918. He was sent to the front in 1916, gazetted to Lieutenant the same year and was awarded the Military Cross before he was killed in action in April 1918. (Jesus College Cambridge Society Annual Report 1919, p. 27)

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