Working Men's College

Infobox University
name = Working Men's College


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established = 1854
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principal = Satnam Gill
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city = Camden
province = London
country = England
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website = http://www.wmcollege.ac.uk/

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Founded in 1854 the Working Men's College has been at the forefront of further education for 150 years, offering everyone a second chance to enrich their lives, enhance their skills and compete on equal terms in the workplace.

The college was founded to provide a "liberal arts" education for the Victorian skilled artisan class and was closely associated with the Co-operative and Labour movements. It was among the first adult education institutes in the country and is Europe's oldest further education centre.

Key early supporters were F. D. Maurice (the first principal), John Stuart Mill, Tom Hughes (the author of "Tom Brown's Schooldays"), Charles Kingsley, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and John Ruskin. Other later volunteers have included G.M. Trevelyan, E. M. Forster, C.E.M. Joad and Seamus Heaney.

In 1905 the college moved from its Red Lion Street home to the current Crowndale Road building in Camden which had been designed and built specially for the college - it is now a Grade II listed building.

In 1967, WMC merged with its sister College, the Frances Martin College, which had originally been founded in 1874 as the Working Women's College, also with the involvement of F. D. Maurice.

Until recently, the volunteer tradition predominated in the teaching and management of the College. The College is one of the smallest of the adult providers in the area but has been growing rapidly and has around 4000 students.

Notable alumni

*Frank Beswick, Baron Beswick

References