Daventry Academy 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 ...

, that is, a school or college set up by English Dissenters. It moved to many locations, but was most associated with

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 ...

, where its most famous pupil was

Joseph Priestley Joseph Priestley (; 24 March 1733 – 6 February 1804) was an English chemist, natural philosopher, separatist theologian, grammarian, multi-subject educator, and liberal political theorist. He published over 150 works, and conducted exp ...

. It had a high reputation, and in time it was amalgamated into

New College London New College London (1850–1980) (sometimes known as New College, St John's Wood, or New College, Hampstead) was founded as a Congregationalist college in 1850. Predecessor institutions New College London came into being in 1850 by the amalgama ...

History

An academy was started in

Kibworth Kibworth is an area of the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England, that contains two civil parishes: the villages of Kibworth Beauchamp and Kibworth Harcourt . At the 2011 census, Kibworth Beauchamp had a population of 5,433 and Kibw ...

around 1715, and moved at some point to

Market Harborough Market Harborough is a market town in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England, in the far southeast of the county, forming part of the border with Northamptonshire. Market Harborough's population was 25,143 in 2020. It is the adm ...

, where

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 ...

was chosen as its principal. The academy moved to Northampton in 1729. The academy attracted the support of the Coward Trust, funded through the philanthropy of

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 ...

(died 1738), a London merchant who used his money to train ministers for the " protestant dissenters". After the death of Doddridge in 1751, the trustees took over the academy. In 1752 the academy was moved to

, back to Northampton, then to Wymondley, and finally in 1833 to London.

Northampton

While known as the Northampton Academy, several notable English Unitarian ministers were trained there, including

Hugh Farmer Hugh Farmer (20 January 1714, – 5 February 1787) was an English Dissenter and theologian. He was educated at the Dissenting Academy in Northampton under Philip Doddridge, and became pastor of a congregation at Walthamstow, Essex. In 1701 he b ...

and Lant Carpenter who studied there for a year in 1797, before the academy was closed by the trustees in 1798. When the school returned to Northampton in 1789, it was run by John Horsey with various assistant tutors. It had 38 or 39 students. The school, which was supposed to teach an Arian Christology, was probably closed due to growing

Socinian 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 ...

influence in the Northampton Academy. In the second quarter of the 18th century, it was "undoubtedly one of the best dissenting academies" according to Priestley's most recent biographers.''Joseph Priestley, scientist, philosopher, and theologian''. Ed. Isabel Rivers and David L. Wykes. OUP: 2008, p 26

Subsequently

The academy later moved to Little Wymondley in Hertfordshire, in 1799, where it was known as Wymondley College. In 1833, it relocated again, this time to London, and was re-named Coward College. That proved to be the last incarnation as in 1850 it merged with Highbury College and Homerton College to form

Principals and alumni

Two of its principals were the Rev.

Thomas Morell Thomas Morell (; 18 March 1703 – 19 February 1784) was an English librettist, classical scholar, and printer.Thomas William Jenkyn. Caleb Ashworth (died 1775) and Samuel Clark (died 1769) took over after Doddridge died in 1751.

studied theology there in the 1750s. Because he had already read widely, Priestley was allowed to skip the first two years of coursework. He continued his intense study; this, together with the liberal atmosphere of the school, shifted his theology further leftward and he became a

Rational Dissenter English Dissenters or English Separatists were Protestant Christians who separated from the Church of England in the 17th and 18th centuries. A dissenter (from the Latin ''dissentire'', "to disagree") is one who disagrees in opinion, belief and ...

. Abhorring dogma and religious mysticism, Rational Dissenters emphasized the rational analysis of the natural world and the Bible.McEvoy, John G., "Enlightenment and Dissent in Science: Joseph Priestley and the Limits of Theoretical Reasoning". Enlightenment and Dissent 2 (1983): 48–49.

References

{{authority control Dissenting academies Defunct schools in West Northamptonshire District Educational institutions disestablished in 1850 1850 disestablishments in England Educational institutions established in the 1710s 1710s establishments in England Nonconformism Daventry