13 Facts About Balliol College

Balliol College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England.

When de Balliol died in 1268, his widow, Dervorguilla, a woman whose wealth far exceeded that of her husband, continued his work in setting up the college, providing a further endowment and writing the statutes.

Balliol College was founded in about 1263 by John I de Balliol under the guidance of Walter of Kirkham, the Bishop of Durham.

New Balliol College had in 1964 resolved to admit women, but had been prevented from doing so without the approval of the university, which argued that this would be detrimental to the existing women's colleges.

The first woman undergraduate to reside at Balliol College was Elena Ceva-Valla, who arrived on 16 September 1979.

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Balliol College's dining hall was built in 1877, replacing an older hall in the front quadrangle, which had become too small for the college's population.

Garden Quad at Balliol College is the scene of the well-known limerick that parodies the immaterialist philosophy of Bishop Berkeley:.

Balliol College provides its students with facilities including accommodation, the Hall, a library, two bars, and separate common rooms for the fellows, the graduates and undergraduates.

The fact that Balliol College had admitted a number of Indian and Asiatic students gave many of the taunts from the Trinity side a distinctly racist tone: Balliol College students, for example, were sometime referred to as "Basutos".

Balliol College has produced a wide range of graduates who have contributed significantly to public life.

Balliol College people were, for example, prominent in establishing the International Baccalaureate, the National Trust, the Workers Educational Association, the welfare state, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and Amnesty International.

Balliol College members have predominated as holders of the office of Chancellor of the university from the 20th century to the present; George Nathaniel Curzon, Harold Macmillan, Roy Jenkins and Chris Patten, the last two being opposed in their election by Edward Heath and Lord Bingham of Cornhill respectively.

The former Master of Balliol College, Sir Drummond Bone, was a post-graduate student there and a scholar of the Romantic poet Lord Byron, and held the post from October 2011 to April 2018, following his retirement as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Liverpool in 2008.