Codrington College

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 institution of slavery.[2] In addition to his bequest to the Society, Codrington provided £10,000 (the equivalent of approximately £1.2 million in modern terms[3]) and roughly 12,000 books to his alma mater, All Souls College, Oxford.[4]

In his will, Codrington wrote: "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."[4] 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.[4] 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.[5] 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.[6] Slavery in Barbados ended when the Slavery Abolition Act was enacted in 1833. 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.[7]

Construction of the College was started in 1714, and it was eventually opened on 9 September 1745 with twelve[8] or 16[9] 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.[4][8] 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.[4][9]

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.[4] Thomas Moody, a member of the Colonial Office, geopolitical strategist and merchant[10] served as mathematics master,[10] writing master,[11] and Assistant Headmaster[12] of Codrington College from 1797 to 1805.[11][8][10]

Beginning around 1824 and influenced by the first Bishop of the new See of Barbados and the Leeward Islands, Bishop William Hart Coleridge, Codrington made substantial steps towards teaching at the college level.[4] While some advanced studies had been offered as early as 1748, these were usually taken up by sons of the local gentry (who had tutors at home) before they went to an English university. The first graduate had been ordained in 1759. The grammar school was moved to the Chaplain's lodge so that the college could focus on higher studies and became known as The Lodge School.

On 9 September 1830, Codrington College achieved university status[4] focussing exclusively on training students for ordination. This marked it as one of the first theological colleges of the Anglican Church; only St. David's College Lampeter, St Bees Theological College, the General Theological Seminary and Virginia Theological Seminary pre-date it.

In 1875, Codrington entered a new stage by entering into an affiliation with Durham University in England. Thus, graduates of Codrington received a Durham degree in classics or theology. Codrington was the first overseas institution to have the right to grant a degree from a British university. This affiliation in the classics lasted until 1958 by which 283 Codrington graduates had obtained Durham degrees.[4] The terms of the affiliation read (in part):

1. Students of Codrington College, Barbados and Fourah Bay College, Sierra Leone, may have their names placed on the Register of the University as Matriculated Students of the same, provided that the Principal of their College, or other person authorized to act in his behalf, shall have certified to the Warden that they have passed an examination similar to that required for the admission of student, in the several faculties, in the University of Durham.

2. Students of the affiliated Colleges, having been so matriculated shall be admissible to the Exercises and Public Examinations required for proceeding to Degrees, Licenses, and Academical ranks in the several Faculties, provided that they have forwarded to the Warden certificates of having fulfilled the same conditions as to residence, attendance at lectures, and conformity to discipline, in their own Colleges, as are required from other Students of the University so admissible, terms of residence being counted from the time of passing the Admission Examination of their own College.[4]

Around 1912, Codrington, under the direction of Principal Anstey, commenced delivering teacher training. The teacher training institution was called the Rawle Training Institute, named after a previous college principal. It initially enrolled men only, accepting women a year or two later. The Rawle provided teacher training not just to Barbadians but to individuals from other parts of the West Indies. Rawle was the forerunner of the Erdiston Teachers' Training College, established in 1948, signalling the end of Codrington's involvement in teacher training and the closure of the Rawle Institute.[9]

The late 1940s and early 1950s saw several factors lead to a discussion of the affiliation between Codrington College and Durham University. One was the establishment of the University College of the West Indies, the predecessor to the University of the West Indies. The university was founded in 1948, on the recommendation of the Asquith Commission[13] through its sub-committee on the West Indies chaired by Sir James Irvine.[14] The Asquith Commission had been established in 1943 to review the provision of higher education in the British colonies. Initially in a special relationship with the University of London, the then University College of the West Indies (UCWI) was seated at Mona, about five miles from Kingston, Jamaica. The university was based at the Gibraltar Camp used by evacuated Gibraltarians during the war.[15][16]

The fact that the new institution was established in Jamaica and the final report of the commission made no mention of Codrington raised questions of its relevance. Moreover, Durham was concerned about the quality of the education offered at Codrington.[4] One of the reasons for this was the minimal communication between the two institutions. Letters to Codrington were routinely left unanswered. In fact, the Society was still involved in managing and funding Codrington College. When the Society announced, in the press, that the college would be run by the brothers of the Community of the Resurrection, officials at Durham had not been informed and took finding out about the arrangement in the press disconcerting.[4] Eventually, it was decided to alter the affiliation agreement so that only degrees in theology would be granted by Durham, which then mirrored the focus of studies at Codrington. The establishment of the University College of the West Indies meant that non-religious studies in the Caribbean would be focused on the new institution. Codrington, therefore, focussed its studies on theology. It was assumed that Codrington would seek affiliation with the new University College.

Since 1965, Codrington has been affiliated to the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill. The Licentiate in Theology was first introduced that year, followed by the BA in Theology in 1971, in affiliation with Cave Hill.[9] Codrington began to offer a Diploma in Theology on a part-time basis in 1978. This course was designed for lay people who taught religion in day schools and who played important roles in churches. It began to offer post-graduate courses in 1989.[17]

The college currently maintains several archives relating to the churches of the West Indies. The microfilm collection includes records of the Society, The Church Missionary Society, the Baptist Missionary Society, and the Presbyterian Church of Trinidad and Grenada.[17]

In 1976, changes were made to the governance of both Codrington College and the Codrington Estates. Two boards were established, one for the estates and another for the college. In this way, day-to-day running of both came under the Anglican Church of the West Indies.[9] Later, the Codrington Trust Act moved legal control from the Society (now called the United Society Partners in the Gospel) to a completely West Indian group. This was the outcome of the government having taken over the funding of the grammar school, referred to as the Lodge School, in 1879 and leasing the premises for 100 years. On its expiry, the government decided, with the support of the USPG, that it was time for the Codrington Trust to be fully in the control of local people.[9]

Diploma in Theological Studies. This two-year program is designed for lay people who are leaders in their church. The part-time programme includes six modules taken over two years. The courses are available in either a traditional face-to-face format or in an online format with asynchronous content and synchronous online sessions with the facilitator. Courses include systematic theology, the Old Testament, the New Testament, history of Christianity, Christian ethics and comparative religion. The subsequent certificate is awarded by Codrington.

Licentiate in Theology. The licentiate degree (L.Th) is designed to prepare individuals to become Anglican priests. Entrance requirements range from a high school diploma through to a previous university degree. A wide range of courses is offered in this programme. The degree is awarded by the University of the West Indies.

Bachelor of Arts in Theology. The BA (Theology) degree is also designed to prepare individuals to become Anglican ministers. Students may opt for a three-year program or a four-year programme and the entry requirements are the same as entry to the Faculty of Humanities and Education of the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, being basically high school graduation or community college/associate degree credentials. A wide range of courses is offered in this programme. The degree is awarded by the University of the West Indies.

Minors in Theology. It is also possible to take a minor in theology in one of three foci: Biblical Studies, Historical & Pastoral Studies, or Systematic & Religious. The degree is awarded by the University of the West Indies.

Diploma in Pastoral Studies. The Student Handbook mentions a Diploma in Pastoral Studies. It appears that the diploma provides the professional training not included in the BA Theology or Licentiate in Theology, though the handbook states that "candidates may offer some of the above [diploma] courses for the L.Th. or B.A. Theology". Courses in this diploma include homiletics, pastoral studies, spirituality, and stewardship.

Master of Philosophy (M.Phil.) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degrees in theology are also available. The main areas of study at this level are biblical studies, church history and theology, pastoral and liturgical studies, and systematic theology and philosophy. Entry into these programmes would require, inter alia, a bachelor's degree for the Master's programmes, and a master's degree for the doctoral programme, or equivalent preparation, usually in theology. These degrees are awarded by the UWI.