Stolen plate returned to Cambridge University 117 years later

By Faye Mayern

A dining hall plate stolen by a Cambridge University student 117 years ago has finally been returned to his former college.

The Gonville & Caius College plate is believed to have been nicked by Gordon Stewart Wimbush while he was studying at Cambridge University in 1908.

Yvonne Browne, 85, was given the plate by the Wimbush family, who lived next door to in Coventry and has now returned it home.

Yvonne was given the plate while in her twenties from Ruth Wimbush - the widow of First World War veteran Gordon Wimbush who studied Law and History.

She said: “They were the grandparents I never had - all mine had died before I was born - as well as the portal to another age, the key to a way of life now defunct but excitingly brought to life in the many anecdotes and family stories they used to tell.

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“I know Gordon would have been happy for me to have it, as I had been like a daughter to them.

"I look back with gratitude, as well as fondness, for the opportunity to have been in touch with these wonderful people, Edwardians to the core, with their kindness, gentle manners and refined ways.

“I gladly return the plate to its proper home in their memory.”

Gonville and Caius College said: "Students have been known to ‘pinch’ items of crockery and cutlery from College meals as souvenirs.

"[It] has a longer and more touching history than most."

The plate has been handed over to the Caius Archive, where it will remain as a testament to what College Archivist James Cox calls “a fabulous story”.