Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford - Alumni - Clergy

Clergy

Three Archbishops of Wales have studied at Jesus College. Alfred George Edwards, the first archbishop of the Church in Wales after its disestablishment, read Literae Humaniores from 1871 to 1874, and was archbishop from 1920 to 1934. Glyn Simon, who was a student from 1922 to 1926, was Archbishop of Wales from 1968 to 1971. He was succeeded by Gwilym Owen Williams, who was archbishop from 1971 to 1982.

Other bishops to have held office in Wales include Francis Davies, Roy Davies, John Harris, and Morgan Owen (who were all Bishops of Llandaff), Humphrey Humphreys, Daniel Lewis Lloyd and Humphrey Lloyd (who were Bishops of Bangor), William Lloyd and John Wynne (who were Bishops of St Asaph), and John Owen and William Thomas (who were Bishops of St David's). William Thomas Havard was a Welsh rugby international before becoming Bishop of St Asaph, then Bishop of St David's.

Former students of the college to have become bishops outside England and Wales include Rowland Ellis (Bishop of Aberdeen and Orkney from 1906 to 1911), Richard Meredith (Bishop of Leighlin from 1579 to 1597), and John Rider (Bishop of Killaloe 1612 to 1632). In the twentieth century, bishops to have studied at the college include Kenneth Cragg (assistant Bishop of Jerusalem from 1970 to 1973), John Dickinson (assistant Bishop of Melanesia from 1931 to 1937), Gordon Roe (Bishop of Huntingdon from 1980 to 1997), Alwyn Williams (Bishop of Durham from 1939 to 1952 and Bishop of Winchester from 1952 to 1961), and Clifford Woodward (Bishop of Bristol from 1933 to 1946 and Bishop of Gloucester from 1946 to 1953).

Several former students have been appointed as cathedral deans; many others became parish priests in Wales and elsewhere in the Anglican church, some also finding time for other activities such as writing poetry or pursuing antiquarian interests. At least five have been Dean of Bangor – Henry Thomas Edwards, Henry Lewis James, Evan Lewis, John Pryce and James Vincent Vincent. Frederick Llewelyn Hughes was Dean of Ripon from 1951 to 1967, Alexander Wedderspoon was Dean of Guildford from 1987 to 2001, and Wesley Carr was Dean of Westminster Abbey from 1997 to 2006. Edmund Meyrick, who studied at the college between 1656 and 1659, became Treasurer of St David's Cathedral; his bequest founded the college's Meyrick scholarships for students from North Wales, and scholarships from this fund are still awarded. The lexicographer John Davies of Mallwyd, who translated the Bible into Welsh, studied at the college. In the mid-19th century, some Anglican priests were influenced by John Henry Newman and converted to Roman Catholicism, including David Lewis; Edmund Ffoulkes converted too, but later went back to Anglicanism, becoming vicar of the University Church of St Mary the Virgin in Oxford. John David Jenkins, who was Canon of Pietermaritzburg for a time, was later nicknamed the "Rail men's Apostle" for his ministry to railway workers in Oxford. David Walter Thomas, a priest in Gwynedd, was instrumental in the foundation of a Welsh church in the Welsh settlement in Argentina.

Some students have become ministers in other denominations of Christianity. Methodists include David Charles and Christopher Bassett; Baptists include Gwilym Davies (the first person to broadcast on the radio in Welsh, in 1923); Welsh Presbyterians include William David Davies and Gwilym Edwards; Unitarians include John Islan Jones; and Catholics include John Hugh Jones and the Benedictine monk and poet Sylvester Houédard.