Thomas Parne (1694-1751) was educated at Bedford School, before matriculating at Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1714, where he became a scholar in 1717, and fellow in 1720 (B.A., 1718; M.A., 1721; B.D., 1729; D.D., 1739). He was University librarian, 1734-1751, and chaplain to King George II, 1744-1751. Parne died on 11 July 1751.
The first home of Cambridge University Library was at the buildings now known as the 'Old Schools', developed during the fifteenth century. In its early years the Library was under the superintendence of the University Chaplain; the first librarian was appointed in 1577, and the first regulations for the Library's administration were drawn up five years later. Until the bequest of Tobias Rustat in 1666, the Library had no income for purchasing books, relying instead on gifts and bequests. The Library was granted the right to claim a copy of every work published in the United Kingdom by the Licensing Acts of 1662-1679 and 1685-1695, and by the Copyright Act of 1709 and successive Acts, although this privilege was not fully exploited until the nineteenth century. The Library moved to the present building, designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, in 1934.
From the guide to the Cambridge University Library: Supplement to the Manuscripts Catalogue, 1732-1748, (Cambridge University Library, Department of Manuscripts and University Archives)
