William Ralph Inge

William Ralph Inge (Ĭng), 1860–1954, Anglican prelate and author. He was fellow of King's College, Cambridge (1886–88), fellow and tutor of Hertford College, Oxford (1889–1904), and vicar of a London parish (1905–7). He then became Lady Margaret professor of divinity and fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge. He was dean of St. Paul's Cathedral from 1911 ...

William Ralph Inge (Ĭng), 1860–1954, Anglican prelate and author. He was fellow of King's College, Cambridge (1886–88), fellow and tutor of Hertford College, Oxford (1889–1904), and vicar of a London parish (1905–7). He then became Lady Margaret professor of divinity and fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge. He was dean of St. Paul's Cathedral from 1911 to 1934. Well known for his originality of thought and for his pessimism, the latter earned him the title "the gloomy dean." His works include several on mysticism, a subject in which he was much interested. See Christian Mysticism (1897), Personal Idealism and Mysticism (1907), Mysticism in Religion (1948), and Diary of a Dean (1949).

See biography by A. Fox (1960); study by R. M. Helm (1962).