East India Company College

The East India Company College was from 1805 to 1858 the college of the British East India Company (EIC).

The College provided general and vocational education for youths of sixteen to eighteen nominated by EIC Directors to writerships in the EIC overseas civil service. Attendance was generally for four 6-month terms.

History

Charles Grant was the EIC director who was the driving force to its foundation. It first opened in Hertford Castle, then moved in 1809 to a purpose-built site at Hertford Heath, near Hertford, now used by Haileybury. Its architect, William Wilkins, later went on to design the National Gallery in London, which bears some similarities.

In 1856 an open competitive examination replaced the system of appointment by patronage. In the wake of the Indian Rebellion of 1857, in January 1858, the British government took over the administration of India, and the college closed. The buildings of the college were reopened for educational use as Haileybury in 1862.

Famous professors

Principals

The College had four principals; the first was Samuel Henley [ODNB article by G. P. Moriarty, ‘Henley, Samuel (1740–1815)’, rev. John D. Haigh, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2007 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/12933] , accessed 21 Sept 2007.] . From 1815, until his death in 1837, the Revd. Joseph Hallett Batten, D.D., of Penzance held the position [Our Public Schools: Their Influence on English History By JamesGeorge Cotton Minchin, S. Sonnenschein & co., ltd, 1901 [http://books.google.com/books?id=_5IWAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA263&lpg=PA263&dq=%22joseph+batten%22+%22east+india%22&source=web&ots=3oQ8O3bUhN&sig=BvR_0BL35wvgHaSFuyPw8aZXzHU] , accessed 9 Oct 2007.] . Batten was succeeded by Charles Webb Le Bas, who resigned in 1843 [Our Public Schools: Their Influence on English History By JamesGeorge Cotton Minchin, S. Sonnenschein & co., ltd, 1901 p121 [http://books.google.com/books?id=-AgghdjSxQEC&pg=PA121&lpg=PA121&dq=%22east+india%22+college+principal&source=web&ots=QIjuMoNzty&sig=bQBjWpw4raBZQL0r5p43rgvRf8I] ] .
The Revd. Henry Melvill, afterwards Canon of St. Paul's, was the final principal 1844 - 1858 [ODNB article by G. C. Boase, ‘Melvill, Henry (1798–1871)’, rev. H. C. G. Matthew, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/18540] , accessed 18 Sept 2007] .

Languages

*Francis Johnson taught Asian languages from 1824 to 1855. [ODNB article by Cecil Bendall, ‘Johnson, Francis (1795/6–1876)’, rev. Parvin Loloi, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/14878] , accessed 21 Sept 2007.]
*Mirza Muhammed Ibrahim, a Persian, held a permanent appointment as a professor of Persian 1826-1844
*Monier Monier-Williams - whose Sanskrit dictionary is still in print - taught Asian languages (1844-58).
*Edward Backhouse Eastwick was Professor of Urdu (Hindustani) from 1845. [ODNB article by Stanley Lane-Poole, ‘Eastwick, Edward Backhouse (1814–1883)’, rev. Parvin Loloi, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/8418] , accessed 20 Sept 2007.]

Other professors at the College in 1847 included [Men and Events of My Time in India by Sir Richard Temple, John Murray, London, 1882 p 18 [http://books.google.com/books?id=cHsBAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA18&lpg=PA18&dq=%22east+india%22+henry+melvill&source=web&ots=crhoOkBCus&sig=O0OKOZii2sTguqEl2gdliGr8sqU accessed 9 Oct 2007] ]
*Horace Hayman Wilson, Examiner in Sanskrit, and
*Major J.W.J.Ouseley, Professor of Persian and Arabic (previously Professor of the Arabic and Persian Languages in the College of Fort-William, Calcutta [The Mulfuzāt Timūry (Autobiographical Memoirs) of the Moghul Emperor Timūr p 16 [http://persian.packhum.org/persian/pf?file=21101050&ct=73 accessed 9 Oct 2007] ] ).

Law

*James Mackintosh was Professor of Law and General Politics 1818-24.
*William Empson, [ODNB article by Joanne Shattock, ‘Empson, William (1791–1852)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/8800] , accessed 20 Sept 2007] was Professor of Law (1824-52).

Political Economy

*Thomas Malthus taught from 1805. In 1809 he moved into the east side of a house, which he then bought (it remains today) in 1815.
*Richard Jones was Professor of History and Political Economy (1834-55).

Mathematics

*William Dealtry was Professor of Mathematics in 1805 [ODNB article by M. C. Curthoys, ‘Dealtry, William (1775–1847)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/7382] , accessed 20 Sept 2007.] .
*Bewick Bridge (1767-1833) was Professor of Mathematics at some time.
*Charles Babbage applied for a job in 1816.
*William Sturgeon lectured on science in 1824.

Classics

*James Amiraux Jeremie was Dean and Professor of Classics (1830-50)

Famous alumni

* Henry Bartle Frere
* John Muir %28indologist%29
* John Russell Colvin
* Sir William Muir
* Sir Richard Temple%2C 1st Baronet
* Ashley Eden

External links

* [http://users.synflux.com.au/~sylcec/dod37.htm#B Death record of Joseph Batten]
* [http://www.cssaame.ilstu.edu/issues/V21/fisher.pdf Persian Professor in Britain: Mirza Muhammed Ibrahim at the East India Company's College, 1826-1844 by Michael H. Fisher]

References