Ely Theological College
Ely Theological College was a college in Ely, Cambridgeshire, for training clergy in the Church of England. Founded in 1876 by James Woodford, Anglican Bishop of Ely, the college had a strong Anglo-Catholic tradition. Ely's "ritualistic" tendencies were attacked by Mr Samuel Smith MP in a House of Commons debate in 1899.
Because of its reputation for strong Anglo-Catholicism the clergy trained there had little hope of rising to senior positions in the church; the first one to become a diocesan bishop was Edward Wynn in 1941. The principal from 1891 to 1911 was B. W. Randolph ; he was succeeded by Charles John Smith who maintained the customs established in Randolph's time. The vice-principal was then Harry Thomas, a former missionary who later became the suffragan bishop of Taunton.
The college closed in 1964.
Notable alumni
- Vigo Auguste Demant, Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology at Oxford University
- Alec Graham, Bishop of Newcastle
- Henry Ernest Hardy, also known as “Father Andrew”, co-founding friar of the Society of Divine Compassion, parish priest serving the East End of London
- Brian Brindley, Anglo-Catholic canon and later convert to Roman Catholicism
- Eric Lionel Mascall, theologian