Wymondley College was a
dissenting academy
The dissenting academies were schools, colleges and seminaries (often institutions with aspects of all three) run by English Dissenters, that is, those who did not conform to the Church of England. They formed a significant part of England's edu ...
at
Wymondley House in
Little Wymondley
Little Wymondley is a village and former civil parish situated between Hitchin and Stevenage, now in the parish of Wymondley, in the North Hertfordshire district, in the county of Hertfordshire, England. Paradoxically, it has a larger popula ...
,
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...
, England. Intended for the education of future
nonconformist
Nonconformity or nonconformism may refer to:
Culture and society
* Insubordination, the act of willfully disobeying an order of one's superior
*Dissent, a sentiment or philosophy of non-agreement or opposition to a prevailing idea or entity
** ...
ministers of religion, it was in operation from 1799 to 1833, when it relocated to Byng Place in London and became known as
Coward College
Coward College was a dissenting academy at Byng Place, Torrington Square, London. Intended for the education of future nonconformist ministers of religion, it was in operation from 1833 to 1850. It was the successor to Wymondley College in Littl ...
. It was also known as Wymondley Academy and Wymondley House.
Foundation
In 1799, a
philanthropic trust established by
William Coward
William Coward (1657?–1725) was an English physician, controversial writer, and poet. He is now remembered for his sceptical writings on the soul, which Parliament condemned as blasphemous and ordered to be burned in his presence.
Life
He wa ...
took possession of Wymondley House in Little Wymondley, Hertfordshire. They intended it to be a replacement home for the
Daventry Academy
Daventry Academy was a dissenting academy, that is, a school or college set up by English Dissenters. It moved to many locations, but was most associated with Daventry, where its most famous pupil was Joseph Priestley. It had a high reputation, an ...
, a somewhat peripatetic institution which had last been based in
Northampton
Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...
. It had closed that location in 1798 on receiving a report that
John Horsey, whom it had placed in charge there in 1789, was preaching
Socinianism
Socinianism () is a nontrinitarian belief system deemed heretical by the Catholic Church and other Christian traditions. Named after the Italian theologians Lelio Sozzini (Latin: Laelius Socinus) and Fausto Sozzini (Latin: Faustus Socinus), uncle ...
.
The Coward Trust spent £4,258 on purchase and renovation of the Wymondley building,
enlarging it to accommodate two tutors and 24 students
in their pursuit of studies for
dissenting ministry. The trust also determined that the school should be known as ''Wymondley House'', although in practice even in its own day it was more commonly referred to as ''Wymondley College'' or ''Wymondley Academy''.
Staff
Overall management of the college was the responsibility of four trustees.
William Parry was appointed as theological tutor at the new site, a post that gave to its holder and his wife the responsibility for domestic management.
Parry, who had been educated at the
Homerton dissenting academy, had the support of the
King's Head Society
The King's Head Society was an 18th-century organisation funding dissenting academies in England.
The King's Head Society was a group of laymen named after the pub behind the Royal Exchange at which they met. From 1730 they worked to promote Calv ...
and it was hoped that he would prevent the influence of heresy.
At first, Parry was assisted in the teaching of classics and mathematics by William Ward, a former student at Homerton who had become minister at
Uppingham
Uppingham is a market town in Rutland, England, off the A47 between Leicester and Peterborough, south of the county town, Oakham. It had a population of 4,745 according to the 2011 census, estimated at 4,853 in 2019. It is known for its ep ...
. Ward resigned in 1804 after a disagreement with Parry. He was replaced by one of Parry's own former students, William Brown, who left in 1807 when students complained about him. Two more short-lived holders of the assistant's post followed, with
Henry Forster Burder
Henry Forster Burder, D.D. (1783–1864) was an English nonconformist minister.
Life
The eldest son of the Rev. George Burder, and brother of Thomas Harrison Burder, he was born 27 November 1783, at Coventry. He was articled in 1798 to a whole ...
, who had been educated at
Hoxton College, and Alexander Bower both staying a year. Homerton-educated John Bailey was appointed in December 1809 and his death in 1818 led to the brief tenure of William Day, a former student of Wymondley whom Parry then found to have been depraved in his conduct. Parry died in January 1819, not long after reporting Day to the trustees.
Parry's leadership had been characterised by a lack of discipline within the college but this did not improve much with the arrival his replacement,
John Atkinson, who had previously been headmaster at
Mill Hill School
Mill Hill School is a 13–18 mixed independent, day and boarding school in Mill Hill, London, England that was established in 1807. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference.
History
A committee of Nonconformist me ...
and a tutor of classics at Hoxton College.
Some students were expelled and others moved to
Manchester College, York
Harris Manchester College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It was founded in Warrington in 1757 as a college for Unitarian students and moved to Oxford in 1893. It became a full college of th ...
as, not for the first time, accusations of
doctrinal differences emerged.
In February 1821, the trustees told Atkinson that he was unsuitable for the post, an event that may have caused him to die soon after following a paralytic seizure. His successor was briefly the former Hoxton student Joseph Turnbull and then Thomas Morell, who held the post until the closure of the college in 1833.
Morell, who had been an
Independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independ ...
minister at
St Neots
St NeotsPronunciation of the town name: Most commonly, but variations that ''saint'' is said as in most English non-georeferencing speech, the ''t'' is by a small minority of the British pronounced and higher traces of in the final syllable ...
in
Huntingdonshire
Huntingdonshire (; abbreviated Hunts) is a non-metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire and a historic county of England. The district council is based in Huntingdon. Other towns include St Ives, Godmanchester, St Neots and Ramsey. The popul ...
, was assisted until September 1822 by Turnbull, whom the trustees then deemed to be unsuitable. Turnbull's replacement as assistant was Robert Lee of
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
, who tenure was ended two years later following what was described as a "moment of weakness" involving a female servant while his wife was away.
Historian Simon Dixon notes that "Expulsions, resignations, and defections to the Church of England occurred throughout the Wymondley period, with significant breakdowns in discipline occurring in 1812, 1816, 1820, and 1833" but that the Morell era was generally less fractious than the years preceding him.
This may have been at least in part because Morell made it a condition of his own appointment that the college, although reluctant, introduced a probationary period for new students, whereas previously there had been no screening at all. The reputation of the college, which at one point had been so bad due to allegations of heterodoxy that local churches hesitated to accept the services of its students, and whose student roll had been as low as four in 1821, was restored. There were 19 enrolled students in 1826.
Aside from the full-time academic staff, there were also occasional visiting lecturers. For example,
William Trew, who had taught
elocution
Elocution is the study of formal speaking in pronunciation, grammar, style, and tone as well as the idea and practice of effective speech and its forms. It stems from the idea that while communication is symbolic, sounds are final and compelli ...
elsewhere, gave classes in 1805 and 1822, John Jackson gave lessons on
natural philosophy
Natural philosophy or philosophy of nature (from Latin ''philosophia naturalis'') is the philosophical study of physics
Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior throu ...
for some time after the arrival of Morell, and
Charles Frederick Partington did the same between 1827 and 1829.
There had been an approach from the Bristol Theological Institution in 1819, suggesting that the academy should move to
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
, but the proposal was dismissed. The first evidence of a serious intent to move location is documented in December 1831, when the trustees thought a shift to London would open opportunities to access teaching at the
University of London
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...
, which had recently opened. Suitable premises were soon found, the site at Wymondley was closed and sold, and in 1833 the college moved to Byng Place, London, where it was known as Coward College. Morell, who had initially been skeptical of moving, became theological tutor at the new institution. Turnbull's successor as assistant, William Hull, had been told that his services would not be required there because Morell could cope alone if students also had access to the university, and thus in 1832 he left to become a minister in
Enfield
Enfield may refer to:
Places Australia
* Enfield, New South Wales
* Enfield, South Australia
** Electoral district of Enfield, a state electoral district in South Australia, corresponding to the suburb
** Enfield High School (South Australia)
...
. Classics tutoring for the brief period thereafter was done by Richard Cotterell Evans.
Curriculum
College students were enrolled on five-year courses and lived on the premises. The costs of boarding and tuition were mostly met by the Coward Trust but, since Coward's will excluded giving regular grants to those aged over 22, the Jackson Trust often provided support for older students.
The
theology course was much influenced by the lectures of
Philip Doddridge
Philip Doddridge D.D. (26 June 1702 – 26 October 1751) was an English Nonconformist (specifically, Congregationalist) minister, educator, and hymnwriter.
Early life
Philip Doddridge was born in London the last of the twenty children of D ...
and the students benefitted from the library that he had started and which had been expanded into a well-respected collection as the college had moved around its various previous locations in
Daventry
Daventry ( , historically ) is a market town and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority in Northamptonshire, England, close to the border with Warwickshire. At the 2021 Census Daventry had a population of 28,123, making ...
,
Hoxton
Hoxton is an area in the London Borough of Hackney, England. As a part of Shoreditch, it is often considered to be part of the East End – the historic core of wider East London. It was historically in the county of Middlesex until 1889. I ...
and Northampton. They were also taught a range of obviously relevant subjects, including
ethics
Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns m ...
,
pneumatology
Pneumatology refers to a particular discipline within Christian theology that focuses on the study of the Holy Spirit. The term is derived from the Greek word ''Pneuma'' ( πνεῦμα), which designates "breath" or "spirit" and metaphoricall ...
, scriptural chronology and
theology
Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...
. Other subjects included
algebra
Algebra () is one of the broad areas of mathematics. Roughly speaking, algebra is the study of mathematical symbols and the rules for manipulating these symbols in formulas; it is a unifying thread of almost all of mathematics.
Elementary a ...
, geography, geometry,
logic
Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the science of deductively valid inferences or of logical truths. It is a formal science investigating how conclusions follow from premises ...
and natural philosophy, as well as the
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
,
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
and
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
languages, and Jewish antiquities. In addition to these subjects, the last of which was based on the work of
Caleb Ashworth
Caleb Ashworth, D.D. (1722–1775) was an English dissenting tutor.
Life
Ashworth was born at Cloughfold, Rossendale, Lancashire, in 1722. His father, Richard Ashworth, who died in 1751, aged eighty-four, was a lay preacher among the Particular ...
, Morell introduced courses on general history and the history of philosophy and science, as well as lectures on ''
belles lettres
is a category of writing, originally meaning beautiful or fine writing. In the modern narrow sense, it is a label for literary works that do not fall into the major categories such as fiction, poetry, or drama. The phrase is sometimes used pejora ...
''.
After closure
Following the closure of the college, Wymondley House became a boys' boarding school and later had numerous other uses.
The structure was
listed Grade II* in 1968.
Notable people
Over 130 students were enrolled while the college was based at Wymondley. Notable former students and teachers include:
*
Thomas Binney
Thomas Binney (1798–1874) was an English Congregationalist divine of the 19th century, popularly known as the "Archbishop of Nonconformity". He was noted for sermons and writings in defence of the principles of Nonconformity, for devotional ...
*
Henry Forster Burder
Henry Forster Burder, D.D. (1783–1864) was an English nonconformist minister.
Life
The eldest son of the Rev. George Burder, and brother of Thomas Harrison Burder, he was born 27 November 1783, at Coventry. He was articled in 1798 to a whole ...
*
John Curwen
John Curwen (14 November 1816 – 26 May 1880) was an English Congregationalist minister and diffuser of the tonic sol-fa system of music education created by Sarah Ann Glover. He was educated at Wymondley College in Hertfordshire, then Cowa ...
*
David Everard Ford
*
Edward Miall
Edward Miall (8 May 1809 – 30 April 1881) was an English journalist, apostle of disestablishment, founder of the Liberation Society, and Liberal Party politician.
Life
Miall was born at Portsmouth. He was Congregational minister at Ware, Her ...
*
William Harris Murch
*
William Parry
See also
*
List of dissenting academies (1660–1800)
This is a list of dissenting academies, English and Welsh educational institutions run by Dissenters to provide an education, and often a vocational training as a minister of religion, outside the Church of England. It runs from the English Res ...
References
Notes
Citations
Further reading
*
*
External links
Coward Trust official website
{{authority control
1799 establishments in England
1833 disestablishments in England
Dissenting academies
North Hertfordshire District
History of education in England
Nonconformism
Defunct schools in Hertfordshire
Educational institutions established in 1799
Educational institutions disestablished in 1833