List of people associated with Balliol College, Oxford

The following is a list of notable people associated with Balliol College, Oxford, including alumni and Masters of the college. When available, year of matriculation is provided in parentheses, as listed in the relevant edition of The Balliol College Register or in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Complete (or very nearly complete) lists of Fellows and students, arranged by year of matriculation, can be found in the published Balliol College Register; the 1st edition,^[1] 2nd edition^[2] and 3rd edition.^[3]

This list of notable alumni consists almost entirely of men, because women were admitted to the college only from 1979.^[4] To assist with verification, each name links to its Wikipedia page (except for those so ancient that no page exists). Each name only appears once in the lists, even though the person may have established themselves in more than one category.

Alumni

Security, Military and Intelligence

Cressida Dick, (1979) commissioner of the London Metropolitan Police and daughter of Balliol Senior Tutor Marcus Dick
Lieutenant-General Simon Mayall (c1975) Defence Senior Advisor Middle East
Nigel Sheinwald (1972) Ambassador to the United States
John Holmes Chairman of the Electoral Commission
Martin Fido 1963 Fellow, True crime writer
John Keegan 1953 Military historian
Sir Nigel Foulkes, 1938 Chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority^[5]
R. V. Jones 1934 FRS "the father of scientific intelligence"
Sir John Rennie 1932 Director MI6
Group Captain Archie Hope 1930 DFC, RAF pilot WW2
Hon Richard Gilbert Hare Head of Russian propaganda, Ministry of Information WW2
Lieutenant Arthur Rhys-Davids 1916 MC declined scholarship to join the Royal Flying Corps
Captain John Aidan Liddell 1908 VC MC Royal Flying Corps
Lieutenant-General Adrian Carton de Wiart 1899 VC left before graduating to fight in Boer War
Vice-Admiral William Monson 1581 his Naval Tracts describe Navy life

Social and political theorists

Raj Patel (1991) social justice
Geoff Mulgan 1979 Collective intelligence
Graeme Garrard (1990) political thought
Stephen Macedo (1980) liberalism
Michael Sandel (1975) social justice
Alex Callinicos (1968) Trotskyist political theorist
Aly Kassam-Remtulla (1999) cultural anthropologist and non-profit executive
David Miller 1967 social justice
Robert Putnam 1963 Fulbright Fellow, two-level game theory, "Bowling Alone"
Steven Lukes FBA 1958 Fellow, sociology
Peter Sedgwick 1952 The politics of psychiatric services
Norman O. Brown 1932 Freudo-Marxism
Sir Leon Simon 1900 Zionist
Sir Ernest Barker 1893 FBA political science
Robert Ranulph Marett 1885 cultural anthropology

Philanthropists

Stephanie Shirley 2001 funded the Oxford Internet Institute which is based at Balliol.
Matthew Westerman 1983 funded Pathfinder scheme and extended it to Asia^[6]
John Templeton 1934 Rhodes Scholar, Fund Manager
J. Irwin Miller American industrialist, modern architecture
Cecil Jackson-Cole 1928 (external student^[7]) founder of OXFAM
William Appleton Coolidge (1901–1992) 1924 Set up Pathfinder scheme for students to visit USA^[8]^[6]^[9]
Ralph Radcliffe Whitehead 1874 arts and crafts movement
Hannah Brackenbury 1865 major donor to Balliol College for scholarships and buildings
Dervorguilla of Galloway 1282 endowed Balliol College as a "college for the poor"

Colonial administrators

Crawford Murray MacLehose Joined 1936. Diplomat: ambassador to South Vietnam 1967–9, to Denmark 1969–71, Governor of Hong Kong 1971-82 (longest serving ever) .Life peer 1982 (crossbench). Died 2000.
Cyril George Fox Cartwright^[10]
Sir Lionel Barnett Abrahams 1888 Senior civil servant, India Office
Shyamji Krishna Varma 1879 India
George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston 1878 viceroy of India
Victor Bruce, 9th Earl of Elgin (c1867) viceroy of India
Henry Primrose private secretary to the Viceroy of India, chair Inland Revenue
Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne 1863 listed as Lord Kerry viceroy of India
Roger Ludlow 1609 (spelt Ludlowe) US Colonial lawmaker

Music

Miron Fyodorov (2004) Russian hip hop artist Oxxxymiron
Nicholas Kenyon (1969) BBC Radio 3, BBC Proms
Vernon Handley 1951 Conductor
George Malcolm 1934 harpsichordist
Richard Buckle 1934 Left after a year. Founded Ballet magazine
Sydney Carter 1933 "Lord of the Dance"
Inglis Gundry 1923 Composer
Victor Hely-Hutchinson 1920 switched to RCM after one year, "Carol Symphony"
F. S. Kelly 1900 Musician and composer. Olympic gold medallist in rowing
John Farmer 1885 College organist, composer and keyboardist
Harold Boulton 1878 "Skye Boat Song"
Julian Sturgis 1868 "the best serious librettist of the day" (W.S.Gilbert) FA Cup Final winner

Chess

Raaphi Persitz 1953 chess master, financial journalist and chess writer
Leonard Barden 1949 chess master, activist and journalist
Sir Theodore Tylor 1918 Fellow, blind, jurisprudence don, chess master
H. J. R. Murray 1887 school inspector, chess historian, "The History of Chess", son of the editor of the Oxford English Dictionary

Sport

Matthew Syed (1992) table tennis Commonwealth champion, columnist and broadcaster
Richard Sharp 1959 England rugby union captain
Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi 1959 India cricket captain
Alan Rotherham 1881 England rugby union captain

Other

Johnny Acton (1989) cook
Ghislaine Maxwell, socialite and convicted child sex trafficker^[11]
Aly Kassam-Remtulla Rhodes Scholar

Fictional

Sir Humphrey Appleby
The Rev Francis Arabin (from Barchester Towers)
John Blaylock (from Whitley Streiber's The Hunger)
Captain Hook
Sir Arnold Robinson
Captain John Charity Spring
Lord Peter Wimsey

Notable applicants who were not matriculated

Balliol Chancellors of Oxford University

Masters of Balliol

Balliol is run by the Master and Fellows of the college. The Master of the college must be "the person who is, in [the Fellows'] judgement, most fit for the government of the College as a place of religion, learning, and education".^[14] The current Master of Balliol is Helen Ghosh.^[15]

References

^ Balliol College (University of Oxford); Jones, John; Viney, Sally; Hilliard, Edward; Elliott, Ivo d'Oyle; Lemon, Elsie (1914). The Balliol College Register (1st ed.). Oxford. Retrieved 25 March 2013.(1914, covering matriculations 1832-1914)
^ Balliol College (University of Oxford) (1934). The Balliol College Register (2nd ed.). Oxford. Retrieved 25 March 2013.(1934, covering matriculations 1833-1933)
^ Balliol College (University of Oxford) (1953). The Balliol College Register (3rd ed.). Oxford. Retrieved 25 March 2013.(1953, covering matriculations 1900-1950)
^ "Balliol Women: Some Alumnae of the College | Balliol College, University of Oxford". www.balliol.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
^ "Foulkes, Sir Nigel (Gordon)" in Who's Who online, accessed 21 October 2023 (subscription required)
^ ^a ^b https://www.alumniweb.ox.ac.uk/balliol/about-the-westerman-pathfinders
^ ONDB
^ "William A. Coolidge".
^ "William A. Coolidge Dies; Sheehan Gathering". 3 June 1992.
^ "Archives & Manuscripts - Memorial inscriptions". Balliol College. 2017. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
^ Selinger-Morris, Samantha (12 August 2020). "Who is Maxwell and what is she charged with?". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
^ Avrion, Mitchison. "Getting into New College, Oxford". Web of Stories. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
^ Plea Rolls of the Court of Common Pleas. National Archives.; CP 40 / 677; in 1430; Thomas Chace appears as first name, but as defendant in a case of debt, brought by Thomas Coventre.
^ Statute II "The Master", clause 1
^ "Election of New Master". Balliol College, Oxford. 18 March 2011. Retrieved 25 June 2011.

[1] Balliol College (University of Oxford); Jones, John; Viney, Sally; Hilliard, Edward; Elliott, Ivo d'Oyle; Lemon, Elsie (1914). The Balliol College Register (1st ed.). Oxford. Retrieved 25 March 2013.(1914, covering matriculations 1832-1914)

[2] Balliol College (University of Oxford) (1934). The Balliol College Register (2nd ed.). Oxford. Retrieved 25 March 2013.(1934, covering matriculations 1833-1933)

[3] Balliol College (University of Oxford) (1953). The Balliol College Register (3rd ed.). Oxford. Retrieved 25 March 2013.(1953, covering matriculations 1900-1950)

[4] "Balliol Women: Some Alumnae of the College | Balliol College, University of Oxford". www.balliol.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 4 May 2018.

[5] "Foulkes, Sir Nigel (Gordon)" in Who's Who online, accessed 21 October 2023 (subscription required)

[alumniweb.ox.ac.uk-6] ttps://www.alumniweb.ox.ac.uk/balliol/about-the-westerman-pathfinders

[7] ONDB

[8] "William A. Coolidge".

[9] "William A. Coolidge Dies; Sheehan Gathering". 3 June 1992.

[CGFC-10] "Archives & Manuscripts - Memorial inscriptions". Balliol College. 2017. Retrieved 17 September 2021.

[11] Selinger-Morris, Samantha (12 August 2020). "Who is Maxwell and what is she charged with?". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 26 April 2021.

[12] Avrion, Mitchison. "Getting into New College, Oxford". Web of Stories. Retrieved 11 July 2024.

[13] Plea Rolls of the Court of Common Pleas. National Archives.; CP 40 / 677; in 1430; Thomas Chace appears as first name, but as defendant in a case of debt, brought by Thomas Coventre.

[14] Statute II "The Master", clause 1

[15] "Election of New Master". Balliol College, Oxford. 18 March 2011. Retrieved 25 June 2011.

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