St Mary Hall was a medieval academic hall of the University of Oxford. It was associated with Oriel College from 1326 to 1545, but functioned independently from 1545 until it was re-incorporated into Oriel College in 1902.
History
In 1320, when he was appointed rector of the Church of St Mary the Virgin, Adam de Brome was given the rectory house, St. Mary Hall, on the High Street. St. Mary Hall was acquired by Oriel College in 1326: Bedel Hall, which adjoins St. Mary's to the south, was given by Bishop Carpenter of Worcester in 1455. These two halls, along with St. Martin's Hall, served as annexes for Oriel College.
In the early 16th century, the college's St. Antony's and Dudley exhibitioners were lodged in St Mary Hall and Bedel Hall, and around this time the two halls were united. St. Mary Hall subsequently developed into an independent entity, and in 1545, on the order the Visitor, Bishop Longland of Lincoln, the door between St Mary Hall and Oriel was blocked. The Hall subsequently employed its own lecturers, and the intake of St Mary's was periodically more than that of Oriel.
In 1552, there were 18 members of St. Mary Hall, excluding the Principal. The Principals of St Mary Hall continued to be fellows of Oriel until 1656. By 1875, the size of St.Mary Hall's undergraduate body had risen to 60, a large number for one of the University's colleges at that time.
The Hall was effectively the property of its Principal, who was also Vicar of St Mary's Church. The last Principal, Drummond Percy Chase, who had been appointed in 1857, created an agreement with Oriel as a consequence of which the Hall became the property of Oriel on his death, which subsequently occurred in 1902, when according to the agreement, the Hall was incorporated into Oriel College. Some agreements created when St. Mary Hall were a separate organisation continue to exist: for example, the benefice of the Vicar of St Mary's Church includes dining rights at Oriel.
The present St. Mary's Quad, or 'third quadrangle', of Oriel occupies three ranges of the former buildings of the St. Mary Hall. The Principal's house was demolished for the construction of the Rhodes Building, which was designed by Basil Champneys, and which was completed in 1911.
Principals
Adam de Brome
1532–1537 John Rixman
1546–1550 Morgan Phillips
1556–1561: William Allen, later a Cardinal
1656–1660 Thomas Cole
1664–1689: Joseph Crowther (died 1689), also Chaplain to the Duke of York
1689–1712: William Wyatt (died Nov. 1712) 1712–1719: John Hudson 1719–1764: William King 1764–1801: Thomas Nowell 1801–1815: Phineas Pett 1815–1833: John Dean (born 1769, died 1833) 1833–1848: Renn Dickson Hampden 1848–1857: Philip Bliss (born 1787, died 1857) 1857–1902: Drummond Percy Chase (born 1820, died 1902)
Notable former students
John Ball (Puritan), BA 1608
William Henry Charsley, Master of Charsley's Hall, Oxford
Edward Craggs-Eliot, 1st Baron Eliot, matriculated 1742
Brajendranath Dey, of the Indian Civil Service, matriculated 1874
Thomas Elyot (alleged) Thomas Harriot, 16th-century astronomer, mathematician, ethnographer, and translator Theodore Hook, matriculated but did not come into residence; author Robert Hues, B.A. 1578 John Hunter, matriculated 1755 Sir Christopher Hatton, lord chancellor of England James Leith Moody, priest (BA, 1840; MA, 1863) Henry Newton, diplomat Geoffrey Osbaldeston, High Court judge in Ireland, matriculated 1575 Robert Parsons, leading Jesuit priest George Sandys John Marston (poet)