The private halls of the University of Oxford were educational institutions within the University. They were introduced by the statute ''De aulis privatis'' ("On private halls") in 1855 to provide a less expensive alternative to the colleges and academic halls of the early nineteenth century. They survived until 1918, when the last two private halls were recognised as

permanent private hall A permanent private hall (PPH) in the University of Oxford is an educational institution within the university. There are five permanent private halls at Oxford, four of which admit undergraduates. They were founded by different Christian denomina ...

History

In the 19th century various factions at Oxford called for reform of the university. In 1850 the prime minister,

Lord John Russell John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, (18 August 1792 – 28 May 1878), known by his courtesy title Lord John Russell before 1861, was a British Whig and Liberal statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1846 to 1852 and a ...

, asked a Royal Commission to investigate the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

; however the

Earl of Derby Earl of Derby ( ) is a title in the Peerage of England. The title was first adopted by Robert de Ferrers, 1st Earl of Derby, under a creation of 1139. It continued with the Ferrers family until the 6th Earl forfeited his property toward the en ...

had taken over as prime minister by the time the commissioners published their report in 1852. The commissioners' report found that potential students were deterred by the cost of living in one of the existing colleges or halls of the university as required by the university statutes of the time. It therefore recommended that the university should be allowed to expand by opening new halls of residence and by allowing students to live in lodgings not connected to the existing colleges or halls. A proposal allowing

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Th ...

of the University to open private halls was included in the

Oxford University Act 1854 The Oxford University Act 185417 & 18 Vict c 81, sometimes called the Oxford University Reform Act 1854 or the University Reform Act 1854,Sabine Chaouche. Student Consumer Culture in Nineteenth-Century Oxford. Palgrave Macmillan. 2020p 231 Assoc ...

, and the university accordingly issued its statute ''de aulis privatis'' in 1855. The statute allowed MAs of the university over the age of twenty-eight with the approval of the vice-chancellor to open private halls within one and a half miles of Carfax as “licensed masters”. In the period 1855 to 1918 thirteen such halls were established, but never recruited large numbers of students. The longest lived was Charsley's Hall. Further reforms allowed the admission of non-collegiate students in 1868 and opening of

Keble College Keble College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its main buildings are on Parks Road, opposite the University Museum and the University Parks. The college is bordered to the north by Keble Road, to ...

in 1870, which both offered lower costs than the older colleges. In 1871, the

Universities Tests Act The Universities Tests Act 1871 was an Act of Parliament, Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It abolished religious "Tests" and allowed Roman Catholics, Nonconformist (Protestantism), non-conformists and non-Christians to take up profe ...

allowed Catholics and dissenters to take degrees at the university (apart from theology); however a papal decree forbidding Catholics studying at Oxford or Cambridge was not withdrawn until 1895. Shortly afterwards, the Jesuits opened Clarke's Hall (1896) and the Benedictines Hunter-Blair's Hall (1899). In 1918 a university statute was issued to allow the opening of

s situated less than 2 1/2 miles from Carfax and not run for profit. The only two remaining private halls took the opportunity to become permanent as

Campion Hall Campion Hall is one of the five permanent private halls of the University of Oxford in England. It is run by the Society of Jesus and named after Edmund Campion, a martyr and fellow of St John's College, Oxford. The hall is located on Brewer S ...

and St Benet's Hall.

List of private halls

References

Sources

* * {{cite book, doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199243563.001.0001, title=The University of Oxford: A History, year=2016, last1=Brockliss, first1=L.W.B. , publisher=Oxford University Press, isbn=9780199243563 Private halls of the University of Oxford