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- The following records come from the Alumni Dublinenses by Burtchaell and Sadleir (Dublin 1935):
1674, May 16 - Benjamin Span (Spanne) is listed as an alumni of Trinity College in Dublin who entered the school at age 17. The following statment gives his birth place as Bromborough, Cheshire and his father being Richard Span, "a private gentleman" and comes from the "Alumni Dublinenses" by Burtchaell and Sadleir, Dublin 1935 in the collection of the Trinity College Library. It is a register of graduates of Trinity College from 1593-1862.
"Span (Spanne), Benjamin, a Pensioner (fee-paying student), entered the college on 16 May 1674, aged 17. Prior to that he was educated by a Mr Golburne in Cheshire, England. He was born in Bromborough, Cheshire. He became a scholar in 1675. A scholar was a student awarded special privileges for high achievement in examinations. He graduated a Bachelor of Arts in the spring of 1678 and was awarded a Masters degree in the summer of 1681. Benjamin was the son of Richard, a private gentleman."
Why Benjamin went to Dublin to receive his degree, over Oxford or Cambridge for instance, is a good question: they were perhaps, in an academic fashion, part of the mid-17th century movement encouraged by Jacobean officials to colonize Ireland, especially by religion, and the Spann family would have been Anglican if they attended Trinity College and became priests. They would have been anti-Catholic, and would have especially served the English colonists there. He apparently wanted his sons to do the same thing, since they went to Trinity-Dublin as well. [3]
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