Editing Codrington College (section)

== History ==
=== Foundation and early history ===
Codrington College was founded with the profits from the bequest of [[Christopher Codrington]], who after his death in 1710 left portions of his sugar cane estates – the [[Codrington Plantations]] as well as land on Barbados and [[Barbuda]] to the [[Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts]] to establish a religious college in Barbados. As the sugar cane estates were still operating, the society and the college benefited directly from the [[Slavery in the British and French Caribbean|institution of slavery]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Bates |first1=Stephen |title=Church apologises for benefiting from slave trade |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2006/feb/09/religion.world |access-date=23 December 2018 |work=The Guardian |date=9 February 2006}}</ref> In addition to his bequest to the Society, Codrington provided £10,000 (the equivalent of approximately £1.2 million in modern terms<ref name="National Archives Currency Converter">{{cite web|publisher=The National Archives|title=National Archives Currency Converter|url=http://apps.nationalarchives.gov.uk/currency/|access-date=2014-09-16}}</ref>) and roughly 12,000 books to his alma mater, [[All Souls College, Oxford|All Souls College]], [[University of Oxford|Oxford]].<ref name=Simmons>{{cite journal |last1=Simmons |first1=George |title=West Indian Higher Education |journal=Caribbean Quarterly |date=1972 |volume=18 |issue=3 |page=52|doi=10.1080/00086495.1972.11829117 }}</ref>

In his will, Codrington wrote:

{{quote|"Paragraph 8, Item: I give the bequeath my two plantations in Barbados to the Society for Propagation of the Christian Religion in Foreign parts, Erected and established by my late good master, King William the Third, and my desire is to have the plantations continued Intire and three hundred negroes at least Kept thereon, and A convenient number of Professors and Scholars maintained there, all of them to be under the vows of Poverty, Chastity, and Obedience, who shall be obliged to Studdy and Practice Physick and Chyrurgery as well as Divinity, that by the apparent usefulness of the former to all mankind, they may both ender themselves to the people and have better opportunitys of doeing good to mens souls wilst they are taking care of their Bodys. But the Particulars of the Constitution I leave to the Society Comps'd of good and wise men."<ref name="Simmons" />}}

Codrington's bequest is unusual for the time in that it was intended to benefit the Afro-Caribbean population of Barbados, rather than colonial colleges which benefited the white [[planter class]].<ref name="Simmons" /> Wilder pointed out that while Codrington directed that a portion of his charitable bequest be used to educate the enslaved population of Barbados immediately or directly, this provision was effectively blocked by the objections of fellow planters.{{sfn|Wilder|2013|p=87}} Moreover, the Society, having taken over the [[Codrington Plantations]] continued to use slave labour, branding the word "Society" on the chests of slaves owned by them.<ref name="news_BBCN">{{Cite web | title = Church apologises for slave trade | work = [[BBC|BBC NEWS]] | date = 8 February 2006 | access-date = 2015-09-07 | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4694896.stm }}</ref> Slavery in Barbados ended when the [[Slavery Abolition Act 1833]] was enacted. At that time, in accordance with the [[Slave Compensation Act 1837]], the Society received £8,823 for 411 slaves as compensation for the loss of their labour.{{sfn|Bennett|Hitchcock|1958|p=131}}

Construction of the college was started in 1714, and it was eventually opened on 9 September 1745 with twelve<ref name="Parry" /> or 16<ref name="Holder">{{cite book|title=Codrington College: A Brief History |last=Holder |first=John |date=1988 |publisher=Codrington College |location=Barbados |url=https://issuu.com/codringtoncollege/docs/codrington_college_a_brief_history_ |access-date=24 December 2018}}</ref> male students. Some of the delay in completing the structure is attributed to disputes regarding the properties and related debts (and perhaps political opposition as noted by Wilder above). Later, on 10 October 1780, a [[hurricane]] severely damaged the building. That, plus a downturn in the economic climate led to the school being closed between 1780 and 1797. The Reverend Mark Nicholson was appointed the head of Codrington in 1797 and stayed on until 1821, providing stability for the college and preparing it for the next stage of its development.<ref name="Simmons" /><ref name="Parry" /> History would repeat itself in 1831 when the site was almost completely destroyed by a hurricane but was rebuilt. In 1926 fire gutted the college.<ref name="Simmons" /><ref name="Holder" />

[[File:Pg150 Codrington College.jpg|thumb|320px|Codrington College]]

The college initially provided a general education at secondary level. Its curriculum was similar to that found in English grammar schools of that time. There were no other schools in Barbados at the time, so there was a need to prepare students for a college level education.<ref name="Simmons" /> [[Thomas Moody (1779-1849)|Thomas Moody]], an advisor of the [[Colonial Office]], served as mathematics master,<ref name="Rupprecht">{{cite journal|last1=Rupprecht|first1=Anita|date=September 2012|title='When he gets among his countrymen,they tell him that he is free': Slave Trade Abolition, Indentured Africans and a Royal Commission|journal=Slavery & Abolition|volume=33 |issue=3 |pages= 435–455|doi=10.1080/0144039X.2012.668300 |s2cid=144301729 }}</ref> writing master,<ref name="History of Barbados"/> and Assistant Headmaster<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://codringtoncollege.edu.bb/history/|title=Over 275 Years of History - Codrington College|date=21 February 2021}}</ref> of Codrington College 
from 1797 to 1805.<ref name="History of Barbados">{{cite book|title=The History of Barbados|url=https://archive.org/details/historybarbados00schogoog|author=Schomburgk, Sir Robert H.|publisher=Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans|year=1848}}</ref><ref name="Parry">{{cite book|title=Codrington College in the Island of Barbados|author=Thomas Parry, Bishop of Barbados|publisher=Society for the Propagation of the Gospel|year=1847}}</ref><ref name="Rupprecht"/>

=== 1800s ===
Beginning around 1824 and influenced by the first Bishop of the new See of Barbados and the Leeward Islands, Bishop William Hart Coleridge, Codrington made substantial steps towards teaching at the college level.<ref name="Simmons" /> While some advanced studies had been offered as early as 1748, these were usually taken up by sons of the local gentry (who had tutors at home) before they went to an English university. The first graduate had been [[ordained]] in 1759. The grammar school was moved to the Chaplain's lodge so that the college could focus on higher studies and became known as [[The Lodge School]].

On 9 September 1830, Codrington College opened formally<ref name="Simmons" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Klingberg |first=Frank Joseph |url=https://archive.org/details/codringtonchroni0000klin/mode/2up?q=1830 |title=Codrington chronicle; an Experiment in Anglican altruism on a Barbados Plantation, 1710-1834 |date=1949 |publisher=Berkeley, Univ. of California Press |others= |pages=24, 108, 120 |quote=Finally, on September 9, 1830, with Bishop Coleridge presiding, the college was formally opened. (p. 120)}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Edghill |first=J. Y. |url=https://archive.org/details/aboutbarbados00edgh/mode/2up?q=1830 |title=About Barbados |publisher=London, England : C. Tallis & Co. |others=Boston Public Library |year=1890 |location=London, England |quote=Finally, on September 9, 1830, with Bishop Coleridge presiding, the college was formally opened.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Schomburgk |first=Robert Hermann |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofbarbado00schouoft/historyofbarbado00schouoft/page/118/mode/2up?q=1830 |title=The history of Barbados; comprising a geographical and statistical description of the island; a sketch of the historical events since the settlement; and an account of its geology and natural productions |date= |publisher=Longman |others=Robarts - University of Toronto |year=1848 |location=London, England |pages=119, 121 |quote=On Thursday, September 9th, 1830, the day appointed for the opening of the College (on which day, in 1745, the school was first opened), the students repaired to Codrington College, and all persons of official rank having been invited to attend, the ceremony began about noon.... From the opening of the College in December 1830, to December 1845, ninety-eight students matriculated; of these, forty have been ordained.}}</ref> focussing exclusively on training students for [[ordination]]. This marked it as one of the first [[theological colleges]] of the [[Anglican Church]]; only [[University of Wales Lampeter|St. David's College Lampeter]], [[St Bees Theological College]], the [[General Theological Seminary]] and [[Virginia Theological Seminary]] pre-date it.

In 1875, Codrington entered a new stage by entering into an affiliation with Durham University in England. Thus, graduates of Codrington received a Durham degree in classics or theology. Codrington was the first overseas institution to have the right to grant a degree from a British university. This affiliation in the classics lasted until 1958 by which 283 Codrington graduates had obtained Durham degrees.<ref name="Simmons" /> The terms of the affiliation read (in part):

{{quote|
1. Students of Codrington College, Barbados and [[Fourah Bay College]], [[Sierra Leone]], may have their names placed on the Register of the University as Matriculated Students of the same, provided that the Principal of their College, or other person authorized to act in his behalf, shall have certified to the Warden that they have passed an examination similar to that required for the admission of student, in the several faculties, in the University of Durham.

2. Students of the affiliated Colleges, having been so matriculated shall be admissible to the Exercises and Public Examinations required for proceeding to Degrees, Licenses, and Academical ranks in the several Faculties, provided that they have forwarded to the Warden certificates of having fulfilled the same conditions as to residence, attendance at lectures, and conformity to discipline, in their own Colleges, as are required from other Students of the University so admissible, terms of residence being counted from the time of passing the Admission Examination of their own College.<ref name="Simmons" />}}

=== 1900s ===
Around 1912, Codrington, under the direction of Principal Anstey, commenced delivering teacher training. The teacher training institution was called the Rawle Training Institute, 
named after a previous college principal. It initially enrolled men only, accepting women a year or two later. The Rawle provided teacher training not just to Barbadians but to individuals from other parts of the West Indies. Rawle was the forerunner of the [[Erdiston Teachers' Training College]], established in 1948, signalling the end of Codrington's involvement in teacher training and the closure of the Rawle Institute.<ref name="Holder" />

The late 1940s and early 1950s saw several factors lead to a discussion of the affiliation between Codrington College and Durham University. One was the establishment of the University College of the West Indies, the predecessor to the [[University of the West Indies]]. The university was founded in 1948, on the recommendation of the Asquith Commission<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bcn.cl/obtienearchivo?id=documentos/10221.1/29331/2/213787.pdf |title=Report of the Commission on Higher Education in the Colonies|website=www.bcn.cl |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304045338/http://www.bcn.cl/obtienearchivo?id=documentos%2F10221.1%2F29331%2F2%2F213787.pdf |archive-date=2016-03-04}}</ref> through its sub-committee on the West Indies chaired by Sir James Irvine.<ref>''Report of the West Indies Committee of the Commission on Higher Education in the Colonies'', Presented by the Secretary of State for the Colonies to Parliament by Command of His Majesty June 1945. London, His Majesty's Stationery Office</ref> The Asquith Commission had been established in 1943 to review the provision of higher education in the British colonies. Initially in a special relationship with the [[University of London]], the then University College of the West Indies (UCWI) was seated at [[Mona, Jamaica|Mona]], about five miles from [[Kingston, Jamaica|Kingston]], Jamaica. The university was based at the [[Gibraltar Camp]] used by [[Evacuation of the Gibraltarian civilian population during World War II|evacuated Gibraltarians during the war]].<ref name=brown>{{cite book|last=Brown|first=Suzanne Francis|title=Mona Past and Present: The History and Heritage of the Mona Campus, University of the West Indies|pages=10–11|year=2006|publisher=University of the West Indies Press|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EQ63yTgVkaEC|isbn=9789766401597}}</ref><ref name="Tortello">{{Cite news |url=http://old.jamaica-gleaner.com/pages/history/story0069.html |title=Pieces of the Past: Out Of Many Cultures: Gibraltar Camp a Refuge from war |last=Tortello |first=Rebecca |date=November 7, 2005 |work=Jamaica Gleaner  |access-date=May 31, 2018}}</ref>

The fact that the new institution was established in Jamaica and the final report of the commission made no mention of Codrington raised questions of its relevance. Moreover, Durham was concerned about the quality of the education offered at Codrington.<ref name="Simmons" /> One of the reasons for this was the minimal communication between the two institutions. Letters to Codrington were routinely left unanswered. In fact, the Society was still involved in managing and funding Codrington College. When the Society announced, in the press, that the college would be run by the brothers of the [[Community of the Resurrection]], officials at Durham had not been informed and took finding out about the arrangement in the press disconcerting.<ref name="Simmons" /> Eventually, it was decided to alter the affiliation agreement so that only degrees in theology would be granted by Durham, which then mirrored the focus of studies at Codrington. The establishment of the University College of the West Indies meant that non-religious studies in the Caribbean would be focused on the new institution. Codrington, therefore, focussed its studies on theology. It was assumed that Codrington would seek affiliation with the new University College.

Since 1965, Codrington has been affiliated to the [[University of the West Indies, Cave Hill]]. The Licentiate in Theology was first introduced that year, followed by the BA in Theology in 1971, in affiliation with Cave Hill.<ref name="Holder" /> Codrington began to offer a Diploma in Theology on a part-time basis in 1978. This course was designed for lay people who taught religion in day schools and who played important roles in churches. It began to offer post-graduate courses in 1989.<ref name="Student Handbook">{{cite web |title=Student Handbook |url=http://www.codrington.org/site/index.php/student-handbook |website=Codrington College |access-date=24 December 2018}}</ref>

The college currently maintains several archives relating to the churches of the [[West Indies]]. The microfilm collection includes records of the Society, The Church Missionary Society, the Baptist Missionary Society, and the Presbyterian Church of Trinidad and Grenada.<ref name="Student Handbook"/>

In 1976, changes were made to the governance of both Codrington College and the Codrington Estates. Two boards were established, one for the estates and another for the college. In this way, day-to-day running of both came under the Anglican Church of the West Indies.<ref name="Holder" /> Later, the Codrington Trust Act moved legal control from the Society (now called the [[United Society Partners in the Gospel]]) to a completely West Indian group. This was the outcome of the government having taken over the funding of the grammar school, referred to as the Lodge School, in 1879 and leasing the premises for 100 years. On its expiry, the government decided, with the support of the USPG, that it was time for the Codrington Trust to be fully in the control of local people.<ref name="Holder" />