Bishop’s college was founded by the first Anglican Bishop of Calcutta, Bishop Thomas Middleton on 15th December 1820 at Sibpur, on a site next to the Botanical Gardens by the side of Hoogly river. The original buildings still survive as part of the Bengal Engineering and Science University. It was originally intended to serve as an Arts College, as well as for the training of Indian Christians for the priesthood, and as catechists and teachers in ChristianColleges and Schools.
With the introduction of the railway, it was felt that the college should be shifted to a suitable site in Calcutta and finally the present site at Beckbagan, Lower Circular Road (A J C Bose Road) was decided upon. The college shifted to its present site in the 1880’s. In the new setup of the college there was a lower grade boarding school for Indian Christians with an industrial department attached to it, a High School and a College.
Since Church Union in 1970, Bishop’s college has become a college of the Church of North India though the students and the faculty represent several denominational traditions. Apart from the B.D. degree, the college started offering B.Th in the Bengali medium. The Bengali B.Th programme was stopped in the 1990's. The college commenced an M.Th programme in 1973 and since 1980 this program continues under the auspices of the North India Institute of Post – Graduate Theological Studies (NIIPGTS) which is a collaborative effort between Bishop’s College and Serampore College.
Over the last two centuries the college has had as part of its student body and faculty several eminent personalities such as Krishna Mohan Banerjee, Nehemiah Goreh, Bishop Herbert Pakenham Walsh, Bishop A J Appasamy, S. K. George, John G. Arapura, Canon Subir Biswas and Y.D. Tiwari.