Ralph Churton came up to Brasenose College in 1772, aged 17. He was awarded a B.A. degree in 1775 and elected to a Fellowship at Brasenose in 1778. In 1785 he delivered the Bampton Lecture at Oxford University (On the Prophecies Respecting the Destruction of Jerusalem). He became Rector of Middleton Cheney in Northamptonshire (a living owned by Brasenose College) in 1792 and Archdeacon of the Diocese of St. David's in 1805.
He is best known for his sermons as well as his biographies of Brasenose College men, including the College founders Bishop William Smyth and Sir Richard Sutton, as well as Alexander Nowell.