New College London (1850–1980) (sometimes known as New College,

St John's Wood St John's Wood is a district in the London Borough of Camden, London Boroughs of Camden and the City of Westminster, London, England, about 2.5 miles (4 km) northwest of Charing Cross. Historically the northern part of the Civil Parish#An ...

, or New College,

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, England, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, located mainly in the London Borough of Camden, with a small part in the London Borough of Barnet. It borders Highgate and Golders Green to the north, Belsiz ...

) was founded as a Congregationalist college in 1850.

Predecessor institutions

New College London came into being in 1850 by the amalgamation of three

dissenting academies The dissenting academies were schools, colleges and seminaries (often institutions with aspects of all three) run by English Dissenters, that is, Protestants who did not conform to the Church of England. They formed a significant part of educatio ...

. The first was associated with

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 of England, Parliament condemned as blasphemous and ordered to be burned in hi ...

(died 1738), a London merchant who used his money to train ministers for the " protestant dissenters". The trustees of his will supported, among others, the academy started by

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 ...

, taking it over after Doddridge's death in 1751. This establishment, founded at

Market Harborough Market Harborough is a market town in the Harborough District, Harborough district of Leicestershire, England, close to the border with Northamptonshire. The population was 24,779 at the United Kingdom census, 2021, 2021 census. It is the ad ...

, moved to

Northampton Northampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and the administrative centre of the Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. The town is sit ...

, to

Daventry Daventry ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority area of Northamptonshire, England, close to the border with Warwickshire. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 Census, Daventry had a populati ...

, back to Northampton, then to Wymondley, and finally in 1833 to London. Its final home was built by

Thomas Cubitt Thomas Cubitt (25 February 1788 – 20 December 1855) was a British master builder, notable for his employment in developing many of the historic streets and squares of London, especially in Belgravia, Pimlico and Bloomsbury. Background The s ...

the year before, and was located in Byng Place,

Torrington Square __NOTOC__ Torrington Square is a square in Bloomsbury, owned by the University of London, located in central London, England. Today, the square is largely non-residential since most of the houses have been demolished by the university. The sout ...

, south of the

Catholic Apostolic Church The Catholic Apostolic Church (CAC), also known as the Irvingian Church or Irvingite Church, is a Christian denomination, denomination in the Restorationist branch of Christianity. It originated in Scotland around 1831 and later spread to Germa ...

in the heart of

Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London, part of the London Borough of Camden in England. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural institution, cultural, intellectual, and educational ...

, when it was known as Coward College. 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. Despite the financial support of Coward, the college is probably best known as 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, ...

. Its best-known student was the polymath

Joseph Priestley Joseph Priestley (; 24 March 1733 – 6 February 1804) was an English chemist, Unitarian, Natural philosophy, natural philosopher, English Separatist, separatist theologian, Linguist, grammarian, multi-subject educator and Classical libera ...

. The second dissenting academy, which ended up known as

Highbury College Highbury College is a further education college in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England. It offers vocational and academic education and training, including apprenticeships, A-levels and foundation degrees. The college is a member of the Collab G ...

, started out in

Mile End Mile End is an area in London, England and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in East London and part of the East End of London, East End. It is east of Charing Cross. Situated on the part of the London-to-Colchester road ...

in 1783, moved to

Hoxton Hoxton is an area in the London Borough of Hackney, England. It was Historic counties of England, historically in the county of Middlesex until 1889. Hoxton lies north-east of the City of London, is considered to be a part of London's East End ...

in 1791, and then to

Highbury Highbury is an area of North London, England, in the London Borough of Islington. Highbury Manor Highbury was once owned by Ranulf, brother of Ilger, and included all the areas north and east of Canonbury and Holloway Roads. The manor hou ...

in 1826. Its most famous student was

Christopher Newman Hall Christopher Newman Hall (22 May 1816 – 18 February 1902), born at Maidstone and known in later life as a 'Dissenter's Bishop', was one of the most celebrated nineteenth century English Nonconformist (Protestantism), Nonconformist divines. He w ...

. The third,

Homerton College Homerton College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Its first premises were acquired in Homerton, London in 1768, by an informal gathering of English Dissenters, Protestant dissente ...

, was split into two. Its theological function became part of New College, whereas the rest of it, refounded as a teacher training college, became

Homerton College, Cambridge Homerton College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Its first premises were acquired in Homerton, London in 1768, by an informal gathering of Protestant dissenters with origins in the seventeenth century. In 1894, the col ...

, part of the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

. These three (Daventry, Highbury, and Homerton) merged as New College London. Its initial programme is laid out in the final chapter of ''The introductory lectures delivered at the opening of the college: October, 1851''. Meanwhile, the Village Itinerancy Society (1796–1839) was transformed into the Hackney Theological Seminary (1839–1871), which was renamed as Hackney College in 1871. Later this was relocated from its origins in Hackney to a fine new building in

, and became associated with

Peter Taylor Forsyth Peter Taylor Forsyth, also known as P. T. Forsyth (1848–1921), was a Scottish theologian. Biography The son of a postman, Forsyth studied at the University of Aberdeen and then in University of Göttingen, Göttingen (under Albrecht Ritsc ...

Merger into the University

New College and Hackney College became constituents of the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

's Faculty of Theology when the faculty was created in 1900. They were united by Act of Parliament in 1924 as Hackney and New College, which was renamed New College, London in 1936. "New buildings were erected behind the Hackney College premises at Hampstead, and were opened in 1938." When, in 1972, most English Congregational churches joined the newly formed

United Reformed Church The United Reformed Church (URC) is a Protestant Christian church in the United Kingdom. As of 2024 it had approximately 44,000 members in around 1,250 congregations with 334 stipendiary ministers. The URC is a Trinitarian church whose theolog ...

(URC), and only a small number remained independent, the New College's work was reorganised. In 1976, its library was donated to

Dr Williams's Library Dr Williams's Library was a small English research library located in Gordon Square, Bloomsbury, London, the contents have now been relocated to Manchester. Historically, it has had a strong Unitarian focus. The library has also been known as ...

. Since 1981, the work of the college has been continued by the New College London Foundation, which trains ministers for the URC and Congregational churches. After closure in 1977 the New College buildings were leased to the

Open University The Open University (OU) is a Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate ...

, which assigned its rights to the

Paris Chamber of Commerce The Paris Chamber of Commerce ( or ''CCIP'') is a chamber of commerce of the Paris region. It defends the interests of companies of the city of Paris, and provides services to these companies. Since 2013 it has been a division of the Paris Île ...

in 2001, as the campus of

ESCP-EAP ESCP Business School (; ) is a French business school and ''grande école'' founded in Paris and based across Europe with campuses in Paris, Berlin, London, Madrid, Turin, and Warsaw. Established in 1819, it is considered the world's oldest busi ...

. The freehold of the buildings were sold to the Paris CofC in 2005 and the funds distributed to the four beneficiaries, the United Reformed Church, the

Congregational Federation The Congregational Federation is a small Christian denomination in Great Britain comprising 235 congregations, down from 294 in April 2014. The Federation brings together Congregational churches, and provides support and guidance to member churc ...

, The

Evangelical Fellowship of Congregational Churches The Evangelical Fellowship of Congregational Churches (EFCC) is an association of around 100 independent local churches in the United Kingdom, each practising congregationalist church governance. The EFCC was founded in 1967 by those evangelica ...

and the Unaffiliated Congregational Churches Charity. Despite the name the college was never associated with

Royal Holloway and Bedford New College Royal Holloway, University of London (RH), formally incorporated as Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, is a public research university and a member institution of the federal University of London. It has six schools, 21 academic departmen ...

, also a constituent college of the University of London.

People associated with it

New College has gathered many leading thinkers from the Congregationalist,

Calvinist Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Protestantism, Continenta ...

and United Reformed traditions. * Rev John Harris DD was its first Principal, succeeded by Rev Robert Halley DD *

Edwin Lankester Edwin Lankester FRS, FRMS, MRCS (23 April 1814 – 30 October 1874) was an English surgeon and naturalist who made a major contribution to the control of cholera in London: he was the first public analyst in England. Life Edwin Lankester ...

was appointed professor of natural sciences in 1850. He held this position until 1872. *

Robert Jermain Thomas Robert Jermain Thomas ( 17 September 1840disappeared 31 August 1866) was a Welsh people, Welsh Protestant Christians, Christian missionary who served with the London Missionary Society in late Qing Dynasty China and Korea. While serving as a miss ...

was educated at the college 1861–1863. * Walter Frederic Adeney was educated at the college and was lecturer in Biblical and systematic theology at New College in the 1880s. * Bertram Lee-Woolf, a leading authority on the work of

Martin Luther Martin Luther ( ; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, Theology, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and former Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. Luther was the seminal figure of the Reformation, Pr ...

held a professorship at the college. * Howard Scullard was a governor of the college from 1930 until 1980. * The Revd. John Huxtable, Principal of the college 1953–64, helped to found the URC and became its first Moderator. * The Revd. Dr

Geoffrey Nuttall Geoffrey Fillingham Nuttall (8 November 1911 – 24 July 2007) was a British Congregational minister and ecclesiastical historian. Nuttall was born in Colwyn Bay, North Wales, the son of the general practitioner. He was educated at Bootham S ...

, Lecturer in Church History at the college, was elected to membership of the

British Academy The British Academy for the Promotion of Historical, Philosophical and Philological Studies is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the sa ...

in 1991. * Ron Price, a New Testament scholar, studied at the college in the 1960s. * The Revd. Elizabeth Welch, Moderator of the URC in the West Midlands, studied at the college in the 1970s. * David Peel, the URC's Moderator of General Assembly for 2005–2006, came under the influence of the college while residing there as a student lodger ("hostelman").

References

External links

*Lists of New College London students {{Authority control Former colleges of the University of London Former theological colleges in England Defunct universities and colleges in London Educational institutions established in 1850