New College at Hackney

New College [Hackney House], Hackney: a large building in the Palladian style, with a bust in a niche above the entrance.
New College, Hackney. Engraving from 1786.

The New College at Hackney (more ambiguously known as Hackney College) was a dissenting academy set up in Hackney in April 1786 by the social and political reformer Richard Price and others; Hackney at that time was a village on the outskirts of London, by Unitarians.[1] It was in existence from 1786 to 1796. The writer William Hazlitt was among its pupils, sent aged 15 to prepare for the Unitarian ministry,[2] and some of the best-known Dissenting intellectuals spent time on its staff.[3]

  1. ^ Frame, Paul (2015). Liberty's Apostle. Wales: University of Wales Press. p. 198. ISBN 9781783162161. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
  2. ^ "Hazlitt, William" . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
  3. ^ Herbert J McLachlan, The Old Hackney College 1786-1796; Trans. Unitarian Historical Soc.; 3(1923-26) 185-205.