II. The title "Regius Professor" was specified in 1761 by letters patent of George III. The School of Divinity was founded in the late 18th century with the Regius Professor as its head. The School's link to the Church of Ireland was controversial after the Irish Church Act 1869 disestablished the church and the University of Dublin Tests Act 1873 allowed non-Anglican fellows. The debate became dormant after 1911 letters patent altered the School's governance. It reignited in the 1960s, after which vacancies in the School of Divinity went unfilled, including the Regius Professorship in 1982. The School of Divinity was replaced in 1978–81 by a non-denominational School of Hebrew, Biblical and Theological Studies (renamed the Department of Religions and Theology in 2004) although the statutes mandating a School and Regius Professor of Divinity remain unrepealed. Professors were: Professors of Divinity 1: 1591– (Luke Challoner) 2: 1607–21 James Ussher 3: 1621–23 (Samuel Ward) 4: 1623–48 Joshua Hoyle 5: 1662–70 Richard Lingard 6: 1670–78 Michael Ward 7: 1678–92 William Palliser 8: 1693–99 George Browne 9: 1699– Owen Lloyd 10: 1714– Richard Baldwin 11: 1722– Claudius Gilbert 12: 1743– Henry Clarke 13: 1746– John Pellisier 14: 1753– John Lawson 15: 1759– Brabazon Disney Regius Professors of Divinity 15: 1761– Brabazon Disney 16: 1790–1819 James Drought 17: 1819–29 Richard Graves, D.D. Dean of Ardagh. 18: 1829–50 Charles Richard Elrington 19: 1850–62 Joseph Henderson Singer 20: 1852–66 Samuel Butcher 21: 1866–88 George Salmon 22: 1888–1917 John Gwynn 23: 1917–30 Alan Hugh McNeile 24: 1930–35 Newport John Davis White 25: 1935–57 John Ernest Leonard Oulton 26: 1957–62 Richard Randall Hartford 27: 1964–82 Hugh Frederic Woodhouse See also Regius Professor References Citations Sources Religion in the United Kingdom Divinity, Regius Divinity, Regius Divinity Divinity, Regius School of Arts and Humanities, University of Cambridge Lists of people associated with the University of Oxford 1535 establishments in England