Clare Hall was founded in 1966, but the motivation for its founding began much earlier with the remarkable developments of research in Cambridge after the Second World War. The growth of research in the University and the broadening of graduate teaching during the 1950s led to an increase in senior posts that was not matched by the growth in fellowships in the Cambridge colleges. This imbalance encouraged the founding of new colleges: Churchill College in 1960 and then a series of graduate colleges. Clare College began to explore the idea of setting up a new centre for graduate students in 1961, but this was in conflict with the desire to bring more senior members of the University into the College fellowship. The Master of Clare, Sir Eric Ashby (later he became Lord Ashby of Brandon), argued the need for action, but he could not get any agreement from the Clare Governing Body on what action to take and the discussions in Clare became very complicated and controversial.In a lecture given in 1976 on the tenth anniversary of the founding of Clare Hall, Lord Ashby described how the dilemma was resolved by a document which he received from Richard Eden in January 1964,