Hence, though five of the halls were surviving at the
time of the University Commission (of 1850), all of them but St.
Edmund Hall have now disappeared.
In theory, "hall" and "college" have much in common; one Cambridge
college indeed has retained the name of "hall," and two of the
women's colleges in Oxford have preferred to keep the old style. In
practice, their difference lies in the two facts that colleges are
wealthier, with more endowments, and that they are self-governing,
with Fellows who co-opt to vacancies in their own body and elect
their head. St. Edmund Hall has its head appointed by the fellows of
Queen's, with which institution it has long been connected.
[Plate XXV. St. Peter-in-the-East Church and St. Edmund Hall]
The origin of this hall is an unsolved problem: it derives its name
according to one theory from Edmund Rich, the last Archbishop of
Canterbury to be canonized, and probably the first recorded Doctor of
Divinity at Oxford. But this theory is very doubtful, and Hearne,
most famous of Oxford antiquarians, and probably the best known
member of St. Edmund Hall, did not believe it. In any case, most of
the buildings of the hall date long after St.
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