# 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 Restoration of 1660, which created a parallel educational system as a side-effect, to the end of the 18th century.

## East Anglia

| Institution | Dates | Tutors | Students |
| Ipswich | 1698-1734(?) | John Langton or Langston (d. 1704) | |
| Palgrave Academy, Suffolk | 1775-1785 under Anna Laetitia Barbauld and her husband Rochemont | Rochemont Barbauld | Arthur Aikin, Charles Rochemont Aikin, Thomas Denman, Basil William Douglas, Thomas Douglas, William Gell, Henri de La Fite, Frank Sayers, William Taylor, Isaac Weld |
| Saffron Walden | 1680-(?) | John or William Payne, assisted by the Fund Board when it was first started | John Guyse |
| Wickhambrook | 1670-1696 (?) (when tutor removed to Bishop's Stortford) | Samuel Cradock | Edmund Calamy, Timothy Goodwin |

## London area

| Institution | Dates | Tutors | Students |
| Bethnal Green, migratory (Highgate, Clerkenwell) | 1680(?)-1696(?) | Thomas Brand with John Kerr, M.D. | Charles Owen, Samuel Palmer, John Ward |
| Cheshunt, then Higham Hill, Walthamstow | 1790-1816 | Eliezer Cogan | Benjamin Disraeli, Russell Gurney, Samuel Sharpe |
| Cheshunt College, moved to Cheshunt from Trefeca | 1792-1906 (in 1906 moved to Cheshunt College, Cambridge) | William Hendry Stowell (president 1850), Henry Robert Reynolds (president 1860–94) | John Abbs, Henry Allon |
| New College at Hackney | 1786-1796 | Andrew Kippis | William Shepherd |
| Highbury College (not in Parker) | | | |
| Hoxton Square, moved to Hoxton Square from Coventry | 1700-1729 (?) | Joshua Oldfield, John Spademan, William Lorimer, Jean Cappel | Nathaniel Lardner |
| Islington (1) | 1672-1680 | Ralph Button | Joseph Jekyll, Samuel Pomfret |
| Islington (2) Migratory (Woodford Bridge, Essex (plague), Battersea, Wimbledon, etc.). | 1672-1707(?) | Thomas Doolittle, assisted by Thomas Vincent, Thomas Rowe (?) | Samuel Bury, Edmund Calamy, Thomas Emlyn, John Kerr, M.D. (later tutor, Highgate and Bethnal Green), Matthew Henry |
| Mill Hill | (?)-1701 (?) | Richard Swift (died 1701), active at Edgware | |
| Tenter Alley, Moorfields (not in Parker) | 1710 | John Ward, from 1734 Isaac Kimber and Edward Sandercock, but it closed quite soon after | Samuel Dyer, Isaac Kimber |
| Newington Green (1) Migratory (Little Britain, Clapham) | 1665 (?) to about 1706 | Theophilus Gale, M.A., Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford (d. 1678), Thomas Rowe (d. 1706) | Thomas and Benoni Rowe, John Ashford; Isaac Watts, John Evans, Daniel Neal, Henry Grove (later tutor at Taunton), John Hughes, Josiah Hort, Samuel Say |
| Newington Green (2) | 1667 (?) to about 1706 | Charles Morton, who in 1685 went to New England, and was succeeded by Stephen Lobb; William Wickens, Francis Glasscock. | William Hocker, Samuel Lawrence, Thomas Reynolds, John Shower, under Morton; Joseph Hussey under Morton; also Daniel Defoe, Samuel Wesley, Kitt, Butterby, William Jenkyn |
| The King's Head Society academies (1731-1769) included Samuel Parsons's Academy, Clerkenwell Green (1731–35); Abraham TaylorGib's Academy, Deptford (1735–40); Stepney Academy (1740–44); (tutors: John Hubbard (1740-1743)); Zephaniah Marryat (1743-1744); John Walker (1742-1744) Plaisterer's Hall Academy (1744–54) (Tutors: Walker, Marryatt, John Conder and Thomas Gibbons); Mile End Academy (1754–69) (Tutors: Condor, Gibbons & Walker); The King's Head Society purchase of the estate at Homerton in 1768, with the students in residence by the end of 1769. The name of the institution changed over time; known as Homerton Academy and Independent College, Homerton. In 1850 the union of Homerton, Coward and Highbury Colleges resulted in the creation of New College London. | 1730-1744-1850 | Abraham Taylor, Samuel Parsons, John Hubbard after 1744, Zephaniah Marryat (died 1754), Hubbard and Marryat were strict Calvinists; D.D., John Conder who became head at Homerton. | Thomas Williams at Plasterers' Hall, under Zephaniah Marryat; Robert Robinson under Marryat; Thomas Marryat; Conder under Parsons at Clerkenwell; Thomas Cogan under Conder; John Stafford and John Fell under Conder at Mile End; Samuel Pike under Hubbard at Stepney; Ezekiel Blomfield at Homerton Academy, under Daniel Fisher. |
| Wapping | 1675 (?) to 1680–1 | Edward Veal. The DNB states that his congregation was at Wapping, but the academy was at Stepney. | Joseph Boyse, Timothy Rogers, John Shower, Samuel Wesley |
| Wellclose Square (Coward Trust),largely supported by the bequest of William Coward who died 1738, moved to Hoxton Square in 1762. | 1744-1785 | Samuel Morton Savage, David Jennings, Andrew Kippis, Abraham Rees. | Thomas Cogan, Philip Furneaux, Thomas Jervis, Abraham Rees, Joshua Toulmin, William Wood |
| London (various parts), supported by Fund Board. Migratory (Pinner, Moorfields: see Newington Green). | 1696-1744 | Thomas Goodwin, Isaac Chauncy, Thomas Ridgley, D.D., John Eames, Joseph Densham. | John Conder under Ridgley and Eames at Moorfields; John Howard, David Jennings, Samuel Pike, David Williams, all under Eames. |
| London. 'A less literary seminary but it continued only for a few years.' | 1760-(?) | Samuel Pike | |

## Midlands

| Institution | Dates | Tutors | Students |
| Alcester | (?)-1720 (?) | Joseph Porter, on whose death (1721) students were moved to Stratford-on-Avon. | |
| Bedworth | 1690-(?) | Julius Saunders and John Kirkpatrick | |
| Bridgnorth | 1726-1735 (?) | John Fleming, who moved to Stratford-on-Avon when John Alexander went to Dublin. | Edward Pickard |
| Bromsgrove (or Stourbridge) | 1665-1692(?) | Henry Hickman, B.D., Fellow of Magdalen, Oxford (d. 1692). | Thomas Cotton |
| Coventry | 1663-1700 (moved 1700 to London by Joshua Oldfield) | John Bryan (d. 1675), Obadiah Grew (d. 1689), Thomas Shewell, M.A. (d. 1693), Joshua Oldfield, assisted by William Tong | Samuel Pomfret |
| Findern, afterwards at Derby | (?)-1754 | Thomas Hill (d. 1720), Ebenezer Latham (d. 1754) | |
| Lincoln | 1668-1680 | Edward Reyner, but died c.1660 | John Disney |
| Market Harborough, moved to Mile End | From 1758 to 1781, boarding pupils | Stephen Addington, after John Aikin left the area | |
| Nettlebed (Oxfordshire) | 1666-1697 | Thomas Cole, M.A. (Christ Church, Oxford) | John Locke was a student of Cole's, but before his ejectment. James Bonnell was at Nettlebed |
| Newport Pagnell, merged in Cheshunt (?) | 1783 | William Bull, J. Bull, M.A., J. Watson, W. Foggart | John Leach (judge). Samuel Greatheed |
| Northampton (see Daventry Academy for continuity). Migratory, it started at Kibworth under John Jennings, moved to Hinckley, Market Harborough under Philip Doddridge, and in 1729 to Northampton After 1752 to Daventry, back to Northampton, Wymondley, Byng Place, and 1850 merged into New College, London | 1715 (?) | John Jennings (d. 1723), Philip Doddridge, Caleb Ashworth, Thomas Robins, Thomas Belsham, John Horsey in Northampton, William Parry in Wymondley. | John Cope and John Mason under Jennings; Stephen Addington, Philip Holland (with brothers John and Henry) and Andrew Kippis under Doddridge; John Stafford under Doddridge at Northampton; Benjamin Fawcett under Doddridge; Samuel Dyer; Henry Moore under Doddridge and Ashworth; Samuel Palmer under Ashworth; John Alexander, Eliezer Cogan, who became a tutor; Timothy Kenrick under Ashworth and Robins, became a tutor under Belsham. William Stevenson from 1787. William Shepherd under Belsham. John Curwen, David Everard Ford, Edward Miall, John Deodatus Gregory Pike at Wymondley College |
| Nottingham | 1680-(?) | Edward Reynolds and John Whitlock. John Hardy (?Thomas; perhaps not the academy in Parker), about 1714 to 1727 | Caleb Fleming, John Brekell, John Johnson (Lambeth librarian) under Hardy. |
| Sheriffhales | 1663-1697 (closed before Woodhouse went to London) | John Woodhouse, assisted by Southwell | Robert Harley (?), Henry St John (?), Thomas Foley, Thomas Hunt, Benjamin Bennet. |
| Shrewsbury | 1663-1730 (?) | Francis Tallents (died 1708), John Bryan (?) (died 1699), James Owen (died 1706), Samuel Benion, M.A. (died 1708), John Reynolds (died 1727), Dr Gyles (died 1730?). | (Under Benion), Ebenezer Latham (tutor at Findern), etc. |
| Stratford-on-Avon | 1715 (?) at Gloucester (?) | John Alexander, who 1729 went to Dublin; John Fleming, who had begun an academy at Bridgnorth (1726–1727), then went to Stratford | |
| Sulby, near Welford, Northampton | 1680-1688 | John Shuttlewood | Matthew Clarke the younger, Thomas Emlyn, Joshua Oldfield, and John Sheffield. |
| Whitchurch | 1668-1680 (?) | J. Maulden (d. 1680) | |

## North

| Institution | Dates | Tutors | Students |
| Attercliffe Academy | 1691-1744 | Timothy Jollie (died 1714), John De la Rose, J. Wadsworth (?) | Nicholas Saunderson, John Jennings of Kibworth Academy, John Bowes and Thomas Secker, Samuel Price, John Barker, Thomas Bradbury, Samuel Wright, Benjamin Grosvenor, William Harris, Joseph Mottershead who then studied under Matthew Henry. |
| Bolton | 1723-1729 | John Barclay, M.A. | |
| Heckmondwyke, merged in Rotherham College | 1756 | James Scott (d. 1783), Samuel Walker, etc. Walker then taught at Northowram, to 1795. | Timothy Priestley under Scott; William Vint under Walker at Northowram. Benjamin Boothroyd at Northowram. |
| Kendal, set up after the death of Thomas Dixon (Whitehaven) | 1733-1752 | Caleb Rotherham | About 120 lay students in all; Jeremiah Dyson, George Walker; Thomas and Benjamin Dawson; Robert Andrews (translator), John Seddon. |
| Manchester | 1698-1710 (?) | John Chorlton (died 1705) transferred Rathmell Academy to Manchester after Frankland died, countenanced by and promised support from the Lancashire ministers; James Coningham, from 1700. | Samuel Bourn the younger, James Clegg, Thomas Dixon, Thomas Holland |
| Rathmell Academy. Migratory (Natland, Kendal, Attercliffe by 1686, etc.) | 1669-1698 | Richard Frankland, assisted by John Issot | John Ashe, Joshua Bayes, John Chorlton, James Clegg, John Owen, Timothy Jollie (tutor at Attercliffe), John Evans; Christopher Bassnett; Richard Chorley |
| Warrington | 1700-1746 | Charles Owen, D.D. (d. 1746) | |
| Warrington Academy | 1757-1783. Library moved to Manchester New College, 1783; other removals, York (1803), Manchester, London, now represented by Harris Manchester College, Oxford | John Taylor, John Aikin, John Holt, Joseph Priestley, William Enfield, Nicholas Clayton, etc.; at Manchester, Thomas Barnes, George Walker, John Dalton, Ralph Harrison, etc.; and at York, Charles Wellbeloved, Hugh Kerr, M.A., etc. | |
| Whitehaven, moved to Bolton 1723-1729 (?) | 1710-1723 | Thomas Dixon | John Taylor, George Benson, Caleb Rotherham, Henry Winder |

## South

| Institution | Dates | Tutors |
| Gosport | 1777–1826 | David Bogue. In 1800 the London Missionary Society placed their missionaries under Bogue for preparation. |
| Hungerford | 1696–1701 (?) | Benjamin Robinson, educated at Sheriffhales, first set up a school at Findern in 1693 but was opposed there (died 1724) |
| Tubney, Berkshire | 1668–1679 | Henry Langley (d. 1679) |

## South-West

| Institution | Dates | Tutors | Students |
| Bridgwater | (?)-1747 | John Moore, M. A. (d. 1747) | |
| Bristol. First Baptist Academy | 1720-(?) | Bernard Foskett, continued the work of Ed. Terril and Caleb Tope. He was succeeded by Hugh Evans and his son Caleb Evans. | John Ash |
| Bristol, St. Michael's Hill (not in Parker, became Unitarian and drew pupils of all kinds) | 1736, Estlin died 1817 | William Foot, John Prior Estlin | John Bishop Estlin, Richard Bright, John Cam Hobhouse, James Stephen |
| Dartmouth | 1668-1691 | John Flavel | Only four |
| Exeter | (About) 1700–1722 | Joseph Hallet II, perhaps started in 1690. Academy declined and was closed because of a subscription quarrel. | James Foster, John Fox, Peter King, Zachariah Mudge |
| Exeter | 1760-1786 | Samuel Merivale, Michaijah Towgood, John Turner, John Hogg, Thomas Jervis | |
| Exeter | 1799-1805 | Timothy Kenrick, Joseph Bretland | James Hews Bransby |
| Gloucester | 1696-(?) | James Forbes (d. 1712) | |
| Lyme Regis or Colyton, moved to Shepton Mallet and then to Poole | 1690 | John Short, Matthew Towgood (fl. 1710–1746) | |
| Newton Abbot (not in Parker) | 1699–1712 | Boarding school kept by Isaac Gilling | John Huxham |
| Ottery St Mary, started by Congregational Board, later represented by Bristol. Migratory (Bridport, Taunton, Exeter, Plymouth, Bristol) | 1752-(?) | John Lavington, James Rooker, Thomas Reader, James Small, etc. | |
| Taunton | 1672-1759 (when Amory went to London) | Matthew Warren, Robert Darch, Stephen James, Henry Grove, Thomas Amory | Henry Grove, John Shower under Warren; William Harris under Amory and Grove Thomas and John Wright of Bristol, etc. |
| Taunton (not in Parker) | c.1677 to Monmouth's Rebellion | George Hamond | Isaac Gilling |
| Tewkesbury Academy 1680 (Gloucester) to 1719, moved to Tewkesbury in 1712 | | Samuel Jones (d. 1719 or 1720), Jeremiah Jones his nephew | Thomas Secker, Samuel Chandler, Joseph Butler. Daniel Scott. Andrew Gifford. |
| Tiverton | (?)-(?) | John Moor (d. 1740) | |

## Wales

| Institution | Dates | Tutors | Students |
| Broad Oak, Flintshire | 1690-1706 | Philip Henry. After Henry's death, 1696, Benion continued teaching till in 1706, after death of James Owen, he moved to Shrewsbury. | Samuel Benion, who became a tutor. Ebenezer Latham studied under Benion, became a tutor at Caldwell, and later succeeded Hill at Findern. Samuel Lawrence studied under Henry. |
| Brynllywarch, Llangynwyd, near Bridgend, Glamorgan | 1668-1697 (?) | Samuel Jones | James Owen (tutor, Shrewsbury), Philip Pugh |
| Abergavenny. The Congregational Board withdrew their funding from Carmarthen Academy after an internal split, in 1756, and established one of their own. Migratory (Oswestry, Wrexham, Llanfyllin, Newton), Brecon College after 1839. The Baptist college founded 1807 is unconnected. | 1757-(?) | David Jardine (died 1766), Benjamin Davies, D.D. (died 1817), John Griffiths, Edward Williams merged in his own school and pressed for the 1782 move to Oswestry, Jenkin Lewis, George Lewis, D.D. (died 1822), etc. | Noah Simmons |
| Carmarthen (Presbyterian College, Carmarthen; Coleg Presbyteraidd Caerfyrddin). Migratory (Llwynllwyd, Haverford West, etc., Carmarthen, and probably continuation of Brynllwarch). Carmarthen absorbed other academies including Vavasor Griffiths's Academy (1735 to 1741) at Chancefield near Talgarth. in 1733/34 the Presbyterian board invited Griffiths to succeed Thomas Perrott at Carmarthen Academy. | 1700-after 1900 | William Evans (died 1718), Thomas Perrot (under whom were about 150 pupils) (died 1733), Vavasor Griffiths, Evans Davis, Robert Gentleman (1779-1784). George Vance Smith, principal 1876 to 1888, Walter Jenkin Evans principal 1888 to 1910. | Euros Bowen, David Davis, John Jenkins (Ifor Ceri), Thomas Rees, David Williams, David Williams (1709–1784) |
| Knill, Radnorshire | (?) 1675-(?) | John Weaver | Samuel Jones, later tutor at Tewkesbury Academy |