William Ralph Inge

William Ralph Inge (; 6 June 1860 – 26 February 1954) was an English author, Anglican priest, professor of divinity at Cambridge, and dean of St Paul's Cathedral. Although as an author he used W. R. Inge, and he was personally known as Ralph, he was widely known by his title as Dean Inge. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature three times.

Early life and education

He was born on 6 June 1860 in Crayke, Yorkshire, England. His father, Rev. William Inge was the local curate, and would later go on to become Provost of Worcester College, Oxford. His mother was Susanna Inge ( Churton), daughter of Edward Churton, rector of Crayke and the Archdeacon of Cleveland. Inge had a "staunchly high-church upbringing".

Inge was educated at Eton College, where he was a King's Scholar and won the Newcastle Scholarship in 1879. In 1879, he went on to King's College, Cambridge, where he won a number of prizes including the Chancellor's Medal, as well as taking firsts in both parts of the Classical Tripos.

His only parochial position was as vicar of All Saints, Knightsbridge, London, from 1905 to 1907.

In 1907, he moved to Jesus College, Cambridge, on being appointed Lady Margaret's Professor of Divinity.

In 1911, he became Dean of St Paul's Cathedral in London. He served as president of the Aristotelian Society at Cambridge from 1920 to 1921.

He retired from full-time church ministry in 1934.

Inge was also a trustee of London's National Portrait Gallery from 1921 until 1951.

Writing Inge was a prolific author. In addition to scores of articles, lectures and sermons, he also wrote over 35 books. Inge was a columnist for the Evening Standard for many years, finishing in 1946.

He is best known for his works on Plotinus and neoplatonic philosophy, and on Christian mysticism, but also wrote on general topics of life and current politics.

He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature three times. book, The New Gymnosophy: Nudity and the Modern Life, and was critical of town councillors who were insisting that bathers wear full bathing costumes.

Recognition He was made a Commander of the Victorian Order (CVO) in 1918 and promoted to Knight Commander (KCVO) in 1930.

Personal life

On 3 May 1905, Inge married Mary Catharine "Kitty" Spooner, daughter of Henry Maxwell Spooner, the Archdeacon of Maidstone. They had five children: William Craufurd Inge (1906–2001) Edward Ralph Churton Inge (1907–1980) Catharine Mary Inge (1910–1997), married Derek Wigram Margaret Paula Inge (1911–1923), died from type 1 diabetes Richard Wycliffe Spooner Inge (1915–1941), priest, killed on an RAF training flight

Inge's wife died in 1949.

Inge spent his later life at Brightwell Manor in Brightwell-cum-Sotwell, Oxfordshire, where he died on 26 February 1954, aged 93, five years after his wife.

Publications The following bibliography is a selection taken mainly from Adam Fox's biography Dean Inge and his biographical sketch in Crockford's Clerical Directory.

Society in Rome under the Caesars 1888 Eton Latin Grammar 1888 Christian Mysticism (Bampton Lectures) 1899 Faith 1900 Contentio Veritatis Essays in Constructive Theology by Six Oxford Tutors (two essays) 1902 Faith and Knowledge: Sermons 1904 Light, Life and Love (Selections from the German mystics of the Middle Ages) 1904 also online at Project Gutenberg and CCEL Studies of English Mystics 1905 Truth and Falsehood in Religion (Cambridge Lectures 1906 Personal Idealism and Mysticism (Paddock Lectures) 1906 All Saints' Sermons 1907 Faith and its Psychology (Jowett Lectures) 1909 Speculum Animae 1911 The Church and the Age 1912 The Religious Philosophy of Plotinus and some Modern Philosophies of Religion 1914 Types of Christian Saintliness 1915 Christian Mysticism, considered in eight lectures delivered before the University of Oxford (1918) The Philosophy of Plotinus (Gifford Lectures) 1918. Online: Volume 1 Volume 2 Print versions: (softcover), (hardcover) Outspoken Essays I 1919 & II 1922

The Victorian Age: the Rede Lecture for 1922 1922 Assessments and Anticipations 1922 (2nd ed. 1929) Personal Religion and the Life of Devotion 1924 Lay Thoughts of a Dean 1926 The Platonic Tradition in English Religious Thought Hulsean Lectures 1926 England 1926 The Church in the World 1927 Protestantism (London: Ernest Benn Limited, 1927) Christian Ethics and Modern Problems 1930

Things New and Old 1933 God and the Astronomers 1933 The Post Victorians 1933 (Introduction only) Vale 1934 The Gate of Life 1935 A Rustic Moralist 1937 Our Present Discontents 1938 A Pacifist in Trouble 1939 The Fall of the Idols 1940 Talks in a Free Country 1942 Mysticism in Religion 1947 The End of an Age and Other Essays 1948 Diary of a Dean 1949 The Things That Remain edited by W R Matthews 1958