Mr Ryan Blank, Head of Politics, Harrow School, PhD Candidate in Modern British History at the University of Cambridge, & Affiliated Researcher at the Pusey House Centre for Theology, Law and Culture.

Abstract

Tractarianism was famous, in its own period, for the intensity of its friendships. Notably, the founding of the theological movement grew out of the friendship of John Keble with several of his students and his determination to help them develop in godliness and good learning. Several of these students, when they themselves became Oxford tutors, attempted to formalise Keble’s method of instruction; notably under Robert Wilberforce and Hurrell Froude at Oriel and under Isaac Williams at Trinity. The controversy attached to John Henry Newman’s involvement in the attempted reforms of tutoring at Oriel have perhaps obscured the Kebleian influence and the collapse of these reforms has often been seen as a catalyst for the Tracts for the Times project. This paper will explore the founding of Pusey House and Keble College as Anglican centres of learning in the Tractarian model, and illustrate the ways in which Edward Bouverie Pusey and Henry Liddon attempted to formalise Tractarian ethos through the creation of memorial institutions dedicated to Christian learning where friendship would facilitate spiritual renewal. More details available here.