Daventry Academy

Daventry Academy

Daventry Academy was a special school started by English Dissenters. These were people who did not agree with the official church. The school moved to many places, but it became most famous when it was in Daventry, a town in West Northamptonshire.

One of its best-known students was Joseph Priestley. He made important discoveries about gases. Because of its good reputation, Daventry Academy later joined with another school to become New College London.

History

An academy started in Kibworth around 1715 and later moved to Market Harborough. There, Philip Doddridge became its leader. The school then went to Northampton in 1729. While Doddridge was often away, his wife Mercy Doddridge helped manage the school.

The school grew and got support from the Coward Trust, thanks to William Coward, a kind man from London. He wanted to help train ministers for groups that did not agree with the main church. After Doddridge died in 1751, the school moved several times. It finally settled in Daventry in 1752. Later, it moved to Wymondley and then to London in 1833. There, it joined with other schools to become New College London.

Principals and alumni

Two important leaders of the school were the Rev. Thomas Morell and Dr. Thomas William Jenkyn. After another leader named Doddridge passed away in 1751, Caleb Ashworth and Samuel Clark took over.

Joseph Priestley, a famous student, studied theology at the school in the 1750s. He was allowed to skip the first two years of classes because he had already read a lot. His hard work and the school's open-minded environment helped shape his views. He became a Rational Dissenter, which means he used reason to understand the world and the Bible.