London International College

{{Short description|Former school in Isleworth, London, England}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Use British English|date=February 2023}} thumb|Lancaster House, the former premises of London International College {{Commons category|Lancaster House, Osterley}}

The '''London International College''' in London was an early attempt at international education, operating from 1867 to 1889. It enrolled secondary-school students from a number of countries in a programme aimed at fostering internationalist sentiments in its pupils. Its official name was the '''London College of the International Education Society''', and it was also known as the '''Spring Grove School''', from its location in the Spring Grove area of Isleworth, London.<ref name=international>{{cite book | author = Bob Sylvester | chapter = The 'first' international school | title = International Education in Practice | publisher = Routledge | year = 2002 | editor = Mary Hayden, Jeff Thompson & George Walker | isbn = 0-7494-3835-5 | pages = 3–17}}</ref>

==History== The International Education Society was organized in 1863, primarily by Liberal politician and industrialist Richard Cobden, who hoped international education could help eliminate war and promote free trade (an idea that had been discussed by a number of like-minded individuals at the 1855 Paris Exposition).<ref name=international /> Cobden died before the school opened, but William Ellis provided funding to complete the school's construction.<ref name=Roach>{{cite book | author = John Roach | title = Secondary Education in England 1870–1902 | url = https://archive.org/details/secondaryeducati00roac | url-access = limited | publisher = Routledge | year = 1991 | isbn = 0415035724 | pages = [https://archive.org/details/secondaryeducati00roac/page/n190 176]–177}}</ref> The college's buildings were completed in 1866, and it officially opened in 1867, with classicist Leonhard Schmitz as the first headmaster. It engaged in a number of other educational experiments besides the focus on internationalism: it eliminated corporal punishment, and instituted an unusually science-focused curriculum, developed with noted scientists Thomas Henry Huxley and John Tyndall on its board of directors.<ref name=international /> In addition, Latin and Greek instruction was delayed to a later age than was then common, and instead instruction in modern languages was emphasized.<ref name=Roach />

The college enrolled 10 day students and 58 boarders in its first year, rising to 100 students by the 1880s, many of whom came from other countries. The school operated until 1889, when it was closed for unclear reasons, and the premises sold to Borough Road College.<ref name=Roach /> The ornately decorated main building survives and is noted in architectural guides.<ref>{{cite book | author = Bridget Cherry & Nikolaus Pevsner | title = The Buildings of England — London 3: North West | publisher = Yale University Press | year = 2002 | isbn = 0-300-09652-6 | page = 59}}</ref> It was made a Grade II listed building in 2000.<ref>{{NHLE|num=1379963|desc=|accessdate=18 September 2012}}</ref>

==Notable alumni== * Maurice Hewlett, author and poet * Frank Dale Hudson, American architect<ref name=pcad_hudson>{{Cite web |title=Frank Dale Hudson (Architect) |url=https://pcad.lib.washington.edu/person/40/ |publisher=University of Washington Pacific Coast Architecture Database |accessdate=December 1, 2024 |first=Alan |last=Michelson |language=en-US}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist|30em}}

Category:Experimental schools Category:Educational institutions established in 1867 Category:Educational institutions disestablished in 1889 Category:School buildings completed in 1866 Category:Defunct schools in the London Borough of Hounslow Category:1867 establishments in England Category:1889 disestablishments in England Category:Grade II listed buildings in the London Borough of Hounslow