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St Alban Hall, sometimes known as St Alban's Hall or Stubbins, was one of the medieval halls of the
University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world's second-oldest university in contin ...
, and one of the longest-surviving. It was established in the 13th century, acquired by neighbouring Merton College in the 16th century but operated separately until the institutions merged in the late 19th century. The site in
Merton Street Merton Street is a historic and picturesque cobbled street in central Oxford, England.
,
Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the Un ...
, is now occupied by Merton's Edwardian St Alban's Quad.


History

St Alban Hall took its name from Robert of Saint Alban, a citizen of Oxford, who conveyed the property to the priory of nuns at Littlemore, near Oxford, about the year 1230. In February 1525, on the recommendation of
Thomas Wolsey Thomas Wolsey ( – 29 November 1530) was an English statesman and Catholic bishop. When Henry VIII became King of England in 1509, Wolsey became the king's almoner. Wolsey's affairs prospered and by 1514 he had become the controlling figu ...
,
Lord Chancellor The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. T ...
, as a result of the Littlemore Priory scandals, the priory was dissolved. Its lands and houses in Oxford passed to Wolsey for the use of his new Cardinal College. When Wolsey fell from power in 1529, Littlemore Priory, along with the rest of his wealth and estates,
escheat Escheat is a common law doctrine that transfers the real property of a person who has died without heirs to the crown or state. It serves to ensure that property is not left in "limbo" without recognized ownership. It originally applied to a ...
ed to
the Crown The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has differen ...
.
Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disagr ...
then granted St Alban Hall to George Owen, D.M., who was both the king's physician and a
Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...
of
Merton College Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, ...
. Owen conveyed it to Sir John Williams, later Lord Williams of Thame, and
Sir John Gresham Sir John Gresham (1495 – 23 October 1556) was an English merchant, courtier and financier who worked for King Henry VIII of England, Cardinal Wolsey and Thomas Cromwell. He was Lord Mayor of London and founded Gresham's School. He was the b ...
. By permission of
Edward VI Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and King of Ireland, Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. Edward was the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour ...
, in 1547 they transferred the Hall to John Pollard and Robert Perrot, Esquires, who sold it to the Warden and Fellows of Merton College."The historical register of the University of Oxford: being a supplement to the Oxford University calendar, with an alphabetical record of University honours and distinctions completed to the end of Trinity term 1888", pp. 214–215 St Alban Hall continued for another three centuries as a separate hall with its own students and principal.St Alban Hall, Library & Archives
from Merton College web site, archived 29 October 2010 at
Archive.org The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music ...
It was governed by the university's statutes for Academical Halls, and its principal was chosen by the chancellor of the university. Chancellor Grenville appointed
Richard Whately Richard Whately (1 February 1787 – 8 October 1863) was an English academic, rhetorician, logician, philosopher, economist, and theologian who also served as a reforming Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin. He was a leading Broad Churchman, ...
as principal in 1825, in an attempt to raise standards there.
John Henry Newman John Henry Newman (21 February 1801 – 11 August 1890) was an English theologian, academic, intellectual, philosopher, polymath, historian, writer, scholar and poet, first as an Anglican priest and later as a Catholic priest and ...
was Whately's vice-principal from 1825 to 1826, and Samuel Hinds from 1827 to 1831. As later recalled by Dr Henry Robinson, in 1832 there was only one undergraduate, a man named Tenant, who was known as "the solitary tenant of Alban Hall".Henry Robinson, DD
"St Alban Hall, Oxford"
in ''
London Society ''London Society'' was a Victorian era illustrated monthly periodical, subtitled "an illustrated magazine of light and amusing literature for the hours of relaxation". It was published between 1862 and 1898 by W. Clowes and Sons, London. The m ...
'', January 1887, reprinted in Volume 51, London: F. V. White & Co., 1887, pp. 191–198
There were seven members when Robinson arrived in 1838, rising to twelve by the time he came down. The only tutor was the vice-principal, while the principal, Edward Cardwell, was a university lecturer on divinity. Those aiming for an honours degree took a private tutor, of whom Bob Lowe of Magdalen was the most popular. The Hall then had four servants, a cook, a manciple, a porter, and a boy. Robinson had found St Alban Hall "rather an expensive place, the number being so few, and there was no endowment." The last principal, William Salter, was appointed in 1861 and resigned in 1882. In 1877 Prime Minister
Disraeli Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, (21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881) was a British statesman and Conservative politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He played a central role in the creation o ...
appointed commissioners under Lord Selborne and later
Mountague Bernard Mountague Bernard (28 January 1820 – 1882) was an English international lawyer. Life He was the third son of Charles Bernard of Jamaica, the descendant of a Huguenot family, and was born at Tibberton Court, Gloucestershire. He was educated ...
to consider and implement reform of the university and its colleges.L. W. B. Brockliss, ''The University of Oxford: A History'' (Oxford University Press, 2016)
p. 364–365
/ref> The commissioners came to the view that the four remaining medieval halls were not viable and should merge with colleges.Brockliss (2016)
pp. 370–371
/ref> In 1881, the commissioners made a University Statute which provided for St Alban Hall to be united with Merton College in the event of Principal Salter's resignation or death. The Hall then had eighteen members in residence, who were admitted to Merton. In 1887, a similar Statute extinguished New Inn Hall and combined it with
Balliol College Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided th ...
, on the death of Henry Hubert Cornish. In the event, of the halls only St Edmund Hall would avoid merger. Henry Robinson cast some of the blame for the end of the Hall on
Lord Salisbury Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury (; 3 February 183022 August 1903) was a British statesman and Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom three times for a total of over thirteen y ...
, the university's chancellor: Robinson died a few days after his article was published.


Buildings

St Alban Hall's buildings included a main quadrangle and a smaller court. The Merton Street front of the quad was rebuilt in 1600, funded by
Benedict Barnham Benedict Barnham (baptised 1559 – 1598) was a London merchant, alderman and sheriff of London and MP. Life Barnham was born the fourth son of the merchant Francis Barnham (died 1575), a draper, alderman and sheriff of London in 1570, and Ali ...
. The buildings were reconstructed again and a chapel added by John Gibbs from 1863, funded by Principal Salter. After 1882 the chapel was no longer needed and was secularized. Between 1904 and 1910 the buildings of the former hall were demolished, apart from part of their front elevation on Merton Street, and the St Alban's Quadrangle of Merton College built on the site.


Principals

A list of the principals of St Alban Hall. *1437: Roger Martin *1439: Robert Ashe *1444: John Gygur *1450: William Shyrefe *1452: William Romsey *1468–1477: Thomas Danett *1477: Richard FitzJames, later Bishop of London *Thomas Lynley *Robert Gosbourne * Ralph Hamsterley *1501: Hugh Saunders, alias Shakspeere *1503: John Forster *1507: John Beverstone *1507: William Bysse *1509: Richard Walker *1510: John Pokyswell *1514: John Hoper *Simon Balle *1527: Walter Buckler *1530: Robert Tailer *1532: William Pedyll *1535: Robert Huyck *1536: Richard Smyth, also first Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford *1539: Humphrey Burneford *1543: John Estwyck *1547: William Marshall *1567: Arthur Atye *Richard Radclyffe *1599: Robert Masters *1603: Henry Masters *1614: Anthony Morgan *1621: Richard Parker *1624: Edward Chaloner *1625–1661: Richard Zouch *1641: Sir Giles Sweit *1664–1673:
Thomas Lamplugh Thomas Lamplugh (1615 – 5 May 1691) was an English churchman who became Archbishop of York. Life He was the son of Christopher Lamplugh of Thwing, East Riding of Yorkshire, Yorkshire and his wife Anne, daughter and coheir of Thomas Roper of ...
*1673–1679:
Narcissus Marsh Narcissus Marsh (20 December 1638 – 2 November 1713) was an English clergyman who was successively Church of Ireland Bishop of Ferns and Leighlin, Archbishop of Cashel, Archbishop of Dublin and Archbishop of Armagh. Marsh was born at Han ...
*1679: Thomas Bouchier *1692: Richard Duckworth *1723: James Bouchier *1736: Robert Leyborne *1759: Francis Randolph *1797–1823:
Thomas Winstanley Thomas Winstanley (1749 – 2 September 1823) was an academic at the University of Oxford, who held the positions of Camden Professor of Ancient History, Laudian Professor of Arabic, and principal of St Alban Hall. Life Winstanley was born in th ...
*1823–1825: Peter Elmsley *1825–1831:
Richard Whately Richard Whately (1 February 1787 – 8 October 1863) was an English academic, rhetorician, logician, philosopher, economist, and theologian who also served as a reforming Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin. He was a leading Broad Churchman, ...
, later Archbishop of Dublin *1831–1861: Edward Cardwell *1861–1882:
William Charles Salter William Charles Salter (1824 – 1 August 1889) was a Church of England clergyman, Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford, and the last Principal of St Alban Hall. Early life Salter was the only son of James Salter, gentleman, of Tiverton, Devon, a ...


Notable alumni

* Cuthbert Mayne (c. 1543–1577), Roman Catholic priest executed in the time of Elizabeth I * Sir Thomas Gresham (died 1630), landowner and member of parliament *
Robert Harcourt Sir Robert John Rolston Harcourt, JP (1902 – 25 August 1969) was a Northern Irish politician. Robert Harcourt, known as John, became the director of F. E. Harcourt and Company coal merchants. He was High Sheriff of Belfast in 1949, and later ...
(died 1631), explorer * Thomas Crompton (died 1608), a barrister and judge *
Thomas Lawton Thomas Lawton (c. 1558 – 1606) was an English barrister and judge who briefly sat in the House of Commons in the year 1584 and from 1604 to 1606. Lawton was the third son of John Lawton of Church Lawton, and his wife Margaret Dutton, daughter ...
(c. 1558–1606), a barrister and judge *
John Penry John Penry (1563 – 29 May 1593), who was executed for high treason during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, is Wales' most famous Protestant Separatist martyr. Early life He was born in Brecknockshire, Wales; Cefn Brith, a farm near Llanga ...
(1563–1593), Welsh Protestant martyr *
Matthew Slade Matthew Slade ( Mattheus Sladus) (1569–1628) was an English nonconformist minister and royal agent, in the Netherlands by 1600 and active there in the Contra-Remonstrant cause. Early life Born at South Perrot in Dorset, he was second son of John ...
(1569–1628), nonconformist minister *
Gervase Clifton, 1st Baron Clifton Gervase Clifton, 1st Baron Clifton (c. 1570 – 14 October 1618) was an English nobleman. Origins Clifton was a son of Sir John Clifton (d.1593) of Barrington Court, Somerset, by his wife Anne Stanley, daughter of Thomas Stanley, 2nd Baron M ...
(c. 1570–1618), landowner and peer *
Edward Lapworth Edward Lapworth (1574–1636) was an English physician and Latin poet, and the first Sedleian reader at the University of Oxford. Life Lapworth was a native of Warwickshire; his father was physician to Henry Berkeley. He was admitted B.A. at S ...
(1574–1636), physician and Latin poet *
Philip Massinger Philip Massinger (1583 – 17 March 1640) was an English dramatist. His finely plotted plays, including '' A New Way to Pay Old Debts'', '' The City Madam'', and '' The Roman Actor'', are noted for their satire and realism, and their pol ...
(1583–1640), dramatist *
William Lenthall William Lenthall (1591–1662) was an English politician of the Civil War period. He served as Speaker of the House of Commons for a period of almost twenty years, both before and after the execution of King Charles I. He is best remembered f ...
(1591–1662), Speaker of the House of Commons * Samuel Turner (c. 1582–1647), Cavalier soldier *
Sir Richard Browne, 1st Baronet, of Deptford Sir Richard Browne, 1st Baronet of Deptford (c. 1605 – 12 February 1682/83) was English ambassador to the court of France at Paris from 1641 to 1660. Life Browne was the son of Christopher Browne and Thomazine Gonson. His grandfather was Sir ...
(died 1683), English ambassador to France * Richard Alleine (1610/11–1681), Puritan divine *
William Alleine William Alleine (1614 – October 1677) was an English minister. Life He was the younger brother of Richard Alleine, born at Ditcheat, Somerset, in 1613–1614. As with all this family, his first education was under his own father. He proceeded t ...
(1614–1677), clergyman *
Bartholomew Ashwood Bartholomew Ashwood (1622–1680) was an English puritan divine. Life Ashwood was 'a Warwickshire man,' son of a clergyman of the same name (who matriculated at Magdalen College, Oxford, in 1591, also as a Warwickshire man, aged 13, and proceede ...
(1622–1680), puritan divine *
John Durel John Durel (1625–1683), John Durell, or Jean Durel, was a cleric from Jersey, known for his apologetical writing on behalf of the Church of England. He became Dean of Windsor in 1677. His French translation of the 1662 ''Book of Common Prayer'' ...
(1625–1683), clergyman * Francis Willis (1718–1807), physician * John Evans (1756–1846), Welsh surgeon and cartographer *
Stephen Reay Stephen Reay (29 March 1782 – 20 January 1861) was a Scottish academic and clergyman, who was Laudian Professor of Arabic from 1840 until his death."A Field Guide to the English Clergy' Butler-Gallie, F p52: London, Oneworld Publications, 2018 ...
(1782–1861), Laudian Professor of Arabic *
Nathaniel Dawes Nathaniel Dawes (24 July 1843 – 12 September 1910) was an Anglican bishop in Australia. He was the first Bishop of Rockhampton in Queensland, from 1892 to 1909. He was the first bishop to be consecrated in Australia. Early life Dawes was ...
(1843–1910), Anglican bishop in AustraliaJohn Bayton, "Dawes, Nathaniel (1843–1910)" in Australian Dictionary of Biography (Melbourne University Press, 1966, ISSN 1833-7538) * Edward Smith (1854–1908), clergyman and first class cricketer


Notes


External links

*Henry Robinson, DD
"St Alban Hall, Oxford"
in ''
London Society ''London Society'' was a Victorian era illustrated monthly periodical, subtitled "an illustrated magazine of light and amusing literature for the hours of relaxation". It was published between 1862 and 1898 by W. Clowes and Sons, London. The m ...
'', January 1887, reprinted in Volume 51, London: F. V. White & Co., 1887, pp. 191–198 {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Alban Hall St Alban Hall, Oxford Former colleges and halls of the University of Oxford 1882 disestablishments in England Buildings and structures demolished in 1905 Demolished buildings and structures in England