[1] The College was established to provide higher education to Catholics who were forbidden by papal decree to attend the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge.
The College was established at Abingdon House in Kensington which was adapted by George Goldie, and Monsignor Thomas John Capel was appointed Rector.
Much of the initial cost, however, was placed upon the bishops themselves and many, including William Bernard Ullathorne, Bishop of Birmingham, although agreeing in principle with the idea of the college, objected to having to bear the costs of an institution based in London that they felt would not benefit students in their dioceses.
[5] By 1878 the College finances were in chaos – Capel was removed from the post of rector and attempts were made to find a successor.
Horwood, Tom "The Rise and Fall of the Catholic University College, Kensington, 1868–1882" Journal of Ecclesiastical History 2003