Ignatius Spencer was an English nobleman and Catholic priest of the Passionist Order who lived from 1799 to 1864. Born into an aristocratic family as the son of the 2nd Earl Spencer, he was initially ordained as an Anglican priest and served the parish of Brington. Following a period of spiritual doubt and study of the early Church Fathers, he converted to Catholicism in 1830. He later joined the Passionists, dedicating his life to the religious conversion of England through preaching and prayer.