Goodenough College

Goodenough College is a postgraduate residence and educational trust in Mecklenburgh Square in Bloomsbury, central London, England. Other names under which the college has been known are London House, William Goodenough House, and the London Goodenough Trust.

Profile

Goodenough College is an educational charity that provides residential accommodation for talented British and international postgraduates and their families studying in London. The College attempts to provide community through a programme of intellectual, cultural, and social activities that aims to provide students with an international network and a global outlook.

Goodenough has residential and study facilities and provides a programme of activities whose goal is to enhance students' personal, social and intellectual development. In a typical year, the College is home to approximately 700 international postgraduate students and their families, from approximately 80 different nations.

The College is located in London and set on Mecklenburgh Square. Director of the College since April 2021 has been Alice Walpole.

History

Foundation

The College was incorporated in 1930 by a group of prominent Londoners, including the chairman of Barclays Bank and founder of Barclays Bank DCO (Dominion, Colonial, and Overseas) Frederick Craufurd Goodenough. Goodenough and his friends wanted to provide able young men coming to London from the dominions and colonies, future leaders of what was then a large empire, with a collegiate life along Oxbridge lines in London. The College was a moot hall and at the same time a place where they would form lasting friendships in tolerance and understanding.

The search for a site for the new college was centred on Bloomsbury, to which the University of London was preparing a move from South Kensington. An site for sale freehold was found between Guilford Street and Mecklenburgh Square, and the College bought it in 1930.

London House

Plans were to design and build a new college, but this would take time which the governors did not want to waste. In the traditional manner of Bloomsbury's philanthropic institutions, they made a start in a small way in some of the roomy old houses on the site. London House first opened its doors in October 1931, in Nos. 4–7 Caroline Place (now Mecklenburgh Place) on the west side of the site. The house was soon full, with a long waiting list, and by the start of World War II occupied all the Caroline Place houses.

A new London House for 300 single students was built between 1935 and 1963 to the designs of the architect Sir Herbert Baker, his partner Alexander T. Scott, and their successor Vernon Helbing. It was completed in three stages:

Stage 1 (1935–37). The southeast corner includes the Great Hall, Charles Parsons Library, common rooms, and the Guilford Street entrance. This was the only part to be completed in Sir Herbert Baker's lifetime.

Stage 2 (1948–53). The rest of the south wing, the west wing, and the northwest corner. Alexander Scott continued in Baker's style, with some simplification of detail.

Stage 3 (1961–63). The north wing, including the northeast corner. It was built to a lower cost than the other stages, for example, no flint-work. At the same time, architect Vernon Helbing created the college chapel out of former offices.

William Goodenough House

In the 1940s, at the instigation of the Chairman of the College Governors, Sir William Goodenough, the Lord Mayor of London launched a Thanksgiving Fund, to raise money in the U.K. and to thank the people of the Commonwealth and the United States for their generous gifts, especially of food parcels, during and after World War II. The money raised was used to build William Goodenough House for women and married students from those countries, replacing houses destroyed or badly damaged in the war on the northeast of the Square. At the same time, the bombed houses in adjacent Heathcote Street were rebuilt as an annex, and the House was completed in 1957. Later wings, Julian Crossley Court (1974) and Ashley Ponsonby Court (1991), brought the capacity of the House up to 120 rooms for single students and 60 flats for married couples and families.

The two parallel institutions developed their characters over time – the quiet surroundings of the WGH common rooms appealed to some LH residents, and various "Willie G" girls preferred the noisier atmosphere of the London House bar. Traditions developed, such as the LH rugby team singing lullabies to the inhabitants of WGH after the annual sports dinner, and many LH-WGH romances flourished, and in some cases resulted in marriage and children. The two houses, London House and William Goodenough House eventually became mixed in 1991.

The Goodenough on Mecklenburgh Square

Nos. 22–25 Mecklenburgh Square survived the war and were used as a nurses’ home until 1989 when they were handed back in a dilapidated state. At first, the houses were repaired and used as inexpensive accommodation for short-stay visitors, mostly returning alumni and other academics in London to attend conferences and seminars. By 1997, however, it was apparent that the building required modernisation if they were to meet the standards that would be required in the 21st century.

The houses were closed, and plans were made to add No. 21 and renovate and upgrade for £3.5 million. There were delays because the Georgian houses are listed buildings in a conservation area, and the work required the approval of both English Heritage and the London Borough of Camden planning department. Eventually, the plans were passed, and the Goodenough Club opened in April 2001. The hotel is open to academic and professional visitors as well as conference delegates from around the world and was renamed The Goodenough on Mecklenburgh Square in 2018.

List of heads of Goodenough College

Directors of the College, 1945–present

As the name of the College and the Director's equivalent position has changed over time, the title of each appointee is given.

Wardens of London House, 1947–2008

Up until the 1970s, London House was a single-sex men-only building. The position of London House warden was abolished in 2008.

Controllers and wardens of William Goodenough House, 1950-–2007

From the instigation of William Goodenough House in 1950, it was run by a separate warden. Up until the 1970s, William Goodenough House was a single-sex women-only building, while London House was a men-only building. The position of William Goodenough House warden was abolished in 2007.

Chairmen of the board of governors, 1931–present

Notable alumni

1940s
* Sir Sydney Kentridge QC, barrister Goodenough College: Notable Alumni of Goodenough College

1950s
* The Hon. F. W. de Klerk (LH 58), former President of South Africa

1960s
* Dame Norma Restieaux (WGH 65), Associate Professor of Cardiology at the University of Otago
* Gordon Thiessen (LH 65–67), former Governor of the Bank of Canada
* The Rt Revd George Cassidy (LH 66), Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham

1970s
* The Rt Hon Sir David Lloyd Jones (LH 74–75), Lord Justice of Appeal in England and Wales and Chairman of the Law Commission
* Dr Helen Clark (WGH 75–76), former Prime Minister of New Zealand

1980s
* Paul Zed (LH 80–81), member of Canadian parliament
* Professor Edward Byrne (WGH 80–82), President and Principal of King's College, London
* Dr Jennifer Barnes (WGH 82–83), President of Murray Edwards College, Cambridge
* The Hon. Dr. Greg Selinger (LH 83–85), former Premier of Manitoba
* Karan Bilimoria, Baron Bilimoria (LH 85–87), co-founder and chairman of Cobra beer
* Dr Max Price (WGH 86–87), Vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Town
* Professor George Ellis (WGH 87–88), Emeritus Distinguished Professor of Complex Systems in the Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics at the University of Cape Town
* The Rt Hon Carwyn Jones (LH 88–89), First Minister of Wales

1990s
* David McGuinty MP (WGH 90–93), member of Canadian parliament
* Stuart Shilson (LH 91–93), former Assistant Private Secretary to The Queen in the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom
* Stephanie Nolen (LH 93–94), journalist
* Nicole Krauss (LH 97–98), author
* Sergei Stanishev (LH 99–00), former Prime Minister of Bulgaria

2000s
* Ashvin Kumar (LH 01–03), filmmaker
* Llŷr Williams (WGH 02–06), pianist
* Scott MacIntyre (LH 05–06), former American Idol contestant
* Lewis Pugh (WGH 05–06), environmental campaigner
* Eoghan Murphy (LH 0 04-05), former member of Irish parliament and Irish Government Minister.
2010s

* Kola Tubosun (WGH 19-20), Nigerian writer and linguist.

See also

* International Students House, London
* International House of New York
* International Student House of Washington, D.C.

References

External links

Goodenough College website

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Educational institutions established in 1930
Educational charities based in the United Kingdom
Higher education colleges in London
Education in the London Borough of Camden
Buildings and structures in Bloomsbury
Herbert Baker buildings and structures
Goodenough family
Grade II listed buildings in the London Borough of Camden
1930 establishments in England