Editing Codrington College (section)

=== 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"/>