{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}} {{Use British English|date=February 2023}} '''Independent College''', later '''Homerton Academy''', was a [[dissenting academy]] in [[Homerton]] just outside London, England, in the 18th and early 19th centuries.
==Background== In 1695 the Congregational Fund was set up in London to provide for the education of [[Calvinism|Calvinist]] ministers, and to provide an alternative to the education offered by the Universities of [[Oxford University|Oxford]] and [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge]], which was barred by law to [[English Dissenters]]. Around 35 of these so-called [[dissenting academies]] arose during the 18th century, offering education without the requirement of conformity to the [[Church of England]].<ref name="IP">{{cite book |last1= Parker |first1= Irene |title= Dissenting academies in England: their rise and progress, and their place among the educational systems of the country |url= https://archive.org/details/dissentingacadem00parkiala/ |year=2009|publisher= Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-74864-3}}</ref> They promoted a more modern curriculum of science, philosophy and modern history than the [[ancient university|ancient universities]] who took a more traditionalist approach to learning. One of these was the Independent College, Homerton, which appointed [[John Conder|Dr John Conder]] as President in 1754. It was supported by the [[King's Head Society]].
In 1850 the union of the Homerton establishment with [[Daventry Academy]] and [[Highbury College, London|Highbury College]] resulted in the creation of [[New College London]].<ref name="DacaNCL">{{cite web| title = New College, London (1850-1977)| year = 2011| publisher = Dr Williams’s Centre for Dissenting Studies| url = http://dissacad.english.qmul.ac.uk/new_dissacad/phpfiles/sample1.php?detail=academies¶meter=&acadid=209&alpha=#tabs-1| access-date = 21 December 2013}}{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
==Foundation== Homerton College was known as King's Head Academy when it moved in 1768/69 from [[Worshipful Company of Plaisterers|Plaisterers']] Hall, London, to a large house on the north side of the high street of [[Homerton]], in the parish of [[Hackney (parish)|Hackney]], close to London, in which they sought to base all their teaching. The trustees were appointed by the King's Head Society and were strict Calvinists.<ref name="THS">{{cite book |last1= T. H. Simms |title= Homerton College 1695 - 1978 |year=1979|publisher= Trustees of Homerton College }}</ref> From 1817 the trustees were appointed by the Homerton Academy Society instead of by the King's Head Society. The name was changed to Homerton College in 1823.<ref name="THS"/>
==Teachers and students== [[John Conder|Dr John Conder]] was the theological tutor at Plaisterer's Hall Academy in 1754; and residential tutor and theological tutor at Mile End Academy (1754 to 1769) then the theological tutor at Homerton Academy (1769 to 1781).<ref name="DacaJC">{{cite web| title = Conder, John (1714-1781)| year = 2011| publisher = Dr Williams’s Centre for Dissenting Studies| url = http://dissacad.english.qmul.ac.uk/new_dissacad/phpfiles/sample1.php?detail=people&personid=913¶meter=&alpha=| access-date = 21 December 2013| archive-date = 22 December 2013| archive-url = https://archive.today/20131222040457/http://dissacad.english.qmul.ac.uk/new_dissacad/phpfiles/sample1.php?detail=people&personid=913¶meter=&alpha=| url-status = dead}}</ref> [[Daniel Fisher (minister)|Dr. Daniel Fisher]] was the resident tutor at Homerton Academy (1771 to 1781); then the theology tutor (1781 to 1803).<ref name="DacaSN">{{cite web| title = Fisher, Daniel (1731-1807)| year = 2011| publisher = Dr Williams’s Centre for Dissenting Studies| url = http://dissacad.english.qmul.ac.uk/new_dissacad/phpfiles/sample1.php?detail=people&personid=1007¶meter=&alpha=| archive-url = https://archive.today/20131222022643/http://dissacad.english.qmul.ac.uk/new_dissacad/phpfiles/sample1.php?detail=people&personid=1007¶meter=&alpha=| url-status = dead| archive-date = 22 December 2013| access-date = 21 December 2013}}</ref> From 1800 [[John Pye-Smith]] one of the best known non-conformist theologians of his day, was residential tutor and in effect principal at Homerton from 1805 to 1850.<ref>''The changing shape of English nonconformity, 1825-1925'', Dale A. Johnson</ref> The college boasted several members of distinction: one of its tutors, [[Henry Mayo (minister)|Henry Mayo]], was described by [[James Boswell]] as [[Samuel Johnson]]’s "literary anvil"; another was offered a [[Doctorate of Divinity]] by [[Yale College]].
The college only ever had between 12 and 20 students at any time. In 1819 the society supported 12 of the 18 students with the remain 6 supported by the Congregational Fund Board.<ref name="THS"/> This allowed the college to train ministers who came from the poorer non-conformist communities, such as [[Ezekiel Blomfield]],<ref name="BNB">{{cite DNB |wstitle=Blomfield, Ezekiel |volume=5 |page=231}}</ref> who led congregations in [[Wymondham]], [[Harleston, Norfolk|Harleston]] and [[Wortwell]] in [[Norfolk]].<ref name="SEK">{{cite book|last= Killick|first= Stanley E |title= The Congregational churches of Harleston Wortwell Denton and Alburgh: a short history |year=1967|publisher=The Church Publishers|location= Ramsgate, Kent}}</ref> Ministers trained at the college also chose to become missionaries, such as [[William Ellis (British missionary)|William Ellis]],<ref>{{cite book|title= Wisbech's Forgotten Hero|author= Jane Holloway| publisher=AuthorHouse|year=2019}}</ref> and [[Edward Stallybrass]], who became a [[Congregational church|Congregational]] [[missionary]] with the [[London Missionary Society]] to the [[Buryats|Buryat]] people of [[Siberia]].<ref name="mundus">{{Cite web | title = Stallybrass, Edward | work = Mundus: Gateway to Missionary Collections in the United Kingdom | publisher = [[School of Oriental and African Studies]] | date = March 2002 | url = http://www.mundus.ac.uk/cats/4/982.htm | access-date = 22 March 2010 | archive-date = 11 October 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131011231117/http://www.mundus.ac.uk/cats/4/982.htm | url-status = dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book | last = Anderson | first = Gerald H. | title = Biographical Dictionary of Christian missions | publisher = Wm. B. Eerdmans | year = 1999 | pages = 636ff | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=oQ8BFk9K0ToC&pg=PA636 | isbn = 978-0-8028-4680-8}}</ref>
==Evolution into Homerton College, Cambridge== In 1824, the building itself was added to and partially rebuilt. Not long afterwards, following the liberalisation of access to English universities, the work of the dissenting academies could become mainstream. [[University College London]] became the first English university to admit students without a need for conformity to the [[Established Church]]. In 1850, the College was re-founded by the [[Congregational Board of Education]], to concentrate on the [[pedagogy|study of education]] itself. It did so by transferring its theological courses to [[New College London]], of which the [[John Harris (college head)|Rev. John Harris DD]] was Congregationalist Principal. The Congregational Board purchased the buildings at Hackney, and the students and staff moved into the vacant college buildings at [[Cambridge]] in 1894. Initially taking the name of Homerton New College at Cavendish College, it shortly became just [[Homerton College, Cambridge]], with John Charles Horobin as the first principal.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/john-charles-horobin-18561902-principal-of-homerton-college-18941902-135054|title = John Charles Horobin (1856–1902), Principal of Homerton College (1894–1902) | Art UK}}</ref>
==Notes== {{reflist}}
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[[Category:Dissenting academies]] [[Category:Homerton]] [[Category:Defunct schools in the London Borough of Hackney]]