The history of King's College London, on its own, spans over 190 years since it was founded as a 'university college' by royal charter in 1829. However, its formation as a full 'university' would have to wait until 1836 as a part of the University of London. The full history, however, includes the medical schools that now constitute GKT School of Medical Education. This incorporates St Thomas's Hospital Medical School, one of the oldest medical schools in Britain, with a history of medical teaching that can be traced back to at least 1561. St Thomas' Hospital itself dates back to 1173, and has roots in the establishment of St Mary Overie Priory in 1106.
19th century
Foundation
King's College was founded as a 'university college' in 1829 in response to the theological controversy surrounding the founding of "London University" (which later became University College London) in 1826. London University was founded, with the backing of Utilitarians, Jews and non-Anglican Christians, as a secular institution, intended to educate "the youth of our middling rich people between the ages of 15 or 16 and 20 or later"Hearnshaw (1929), p. 38 giving its nickname, "the godless college in Gower Street".Hibbert, Weinreb, Keay, Keay (2008), p. 958
The seeds of the idea that would become King's College were planted in a sermon in October 1826 by Hugh James Rose – then Christian Advocate at the University of Cambridge, later the first Professor of Divinity at Durham University and the second Principal of King's. A year later, on 30 October 1827, a letter from 'Alpha' appeared in the Morning Post (a London newspaper of the time) which criticised London University strongly for its lack of religion and called for 'the establishment of a London University upon legitimate and constitutional principles'. This 'true and genuine "London University"' was to be established by royal charter and act of Parliament, it would have professors "attached to the natural religion of the State", and was 'to be called the "Academia Georgii Quarti quæ Londini est," the same as the University of Edinburgh is called the "Academia Jacobi Sexti"'. The next day another letter in the Morning Post from 'Omega' promised that 'whenever such a project may be attempted, my mite shall be forthcoming'. A leading article on 1 November said that the letter from 'Alpha' had 'been the predecessor of a host of others' agreeing with him in his criticism of London University. This brought forth a response from 'Alpha' starting that 'it will soon be seen whether which takes as the of its foundation, and the as its of , or the self-styled "University of London,"...will produce to this yet happy empire the most fertilising stream', adding that 'measures are in progress for forming a legitimate "London University"' (emphases in original).
The concept of the college was defined publicly in early 1828 by George D'Oyly, Rector of Lambeth, in an open letter to Sir Robert Peel, the then Home Secretary and Leader of the House of Commons. The letter advocated establishing a second university in London, which would be like London University in teaching modern subjects but would have a distinctly Christian ethos, and was decisive in winning the backing of the Prime Minister, the Duke of Wellington, for the scheme. The King's College project was officially launched at a public meeting at the Freemasons' Hall on 21 June 1828, chaired by the Prime Minister and attended by the archbishops of York, Canterbury and Armagh, Charles James Blomfield, the Bishop of London, and a number of other bishops (including, William Van Mildert, Bishop of Durham, who founded Durham University a few years later, and John Banks Jenkinson, Bishop of St David's and Dean of Durham, who had secured the royal charter for St David's College, Lampeter earlier that year) and two other members of the Cabinet (Peel and the Earl of Aberdeen). The meeting passed resolutions to found the college, to request permission from the King to name it 'King's College, London', to approve the general scheme that had been drawn up, to appoint a provisional committee of twenty-seven (chaired by Bishop Blomfield) to raise funds and to frame regulations and building plans, and to open books for donations and subscriptions at the major banks.
After the Duke had withdrawn, along with the Archbishops and the Bishops of London, Durham and Carlisle, the Bishop of Chester took the chair to deny reports that the college would be open only to Anglicans. While the college was to be Anglican, and its professors would have to belong to the established church, it would be open to students of any religion, although they would have to submit to the regulations of the college.
At the meeting, some £20,000 of the total of £100,000 needed (elsewhere said to be £150,000) was pledged. By the start of July, this had risen to over £50,000. However, disputes over Wellington and Peel's support for Catholic emancipation (see below) meant that many of the project's backers withdrew their pledges, leading to a shortfall in the sum raised by subscriptions and donations.
Several potential sites for King's were discussed by the provisional committee, including Buckingham Palace and Regent's Park.Thompson (1990), p. 5 In December 1828, Peel proposed to the Bishop of London that the college be granted a site between the Strand and the Thames, running parallel to the yet unfinished Somerset House at a peppercorn rent in perpetuity. This was accepted, despite concerns of the effect of the nearby slums and theatres on the Strand on students' health and morals, and the grant was made in June 1829, with the condition that the river-front be completed in five years, matching the design of Somerset House, and the rest of the college in ten.Thompson (1990), p. 6 Schedule of Grants in Perpetuity of Parts of the Land Revenue of the Crown: "A piece of Ground in the parish of St. Mary-le-Strand, on the East side of Somerset house bounded on the West side by the area next the Building on the East side of Somerset house occupied by the Audit, Tax, and other Offices, on the North side by houses in the Strand on the East side by Strand Lane, and on the South side by the River Thames, except such right of Carriageway and Footway as therein mentioned as a Site for a College to be erected thereon, and called 'King's College, London'". The architect Robert Smirke was selected to design the building, and plans were approved (scaled back from the original budget of £150,000) in July 1829.
With the site selected and construction ready to begin, a royal charter incorporating 'King's College, London' was granted by George IV on 14 August 1829, stating the intention of the new educational institution:
Now the college was established as a legal entity with a defined constitution, the provisional committee handed over the management of the project to the College Council. The charter vested the government of the college in this council, consisting of nine official governors, five of whom were clergy, eight life governors, a treasurer, and 24 other members of the corporation. King's College, as established by the royal charter, was a for-profit college with dividends payable to proprietors of up to four per cent of profits, similar (save for King's being incorporated) to the joint stock company of London University. Despite it not being a charity, the Archbishop of Canterbury was appointed Visitor to the college by the charter.
On 26 November 1829, the contract for the building work was let. Under this contract, the body of the building was to cost just under £64,000 and was to be completed by 1 December 1831. As it happened, work on the "carcass" of the building was completed by late 1830 and fitting out began. The main building, including the hall and the chapel, was finished for the opening of the college on 8 October 1831, although a lot of building and fitting remained to be completed elsewhere on the site. The cost so far had been £85,900 out of £113,600 raised.
1829 Duel in Battersea Fields
The Duke of Wellington's simultaneous support for an Anglican King's College London and the Roman Catholic Relief Act, which was to lead to the granting of almost full civil rights to Catholics, was challenged by George Finch-Hatton, 10th Earl of Winchilsea, in early 1829. Winchilsea and his supporters wished for King's to be subject to the Test Acts, like the universities of Oxford, where only members of the Church of England could matriculate, and Cambridge, where non-Anglicans could matriculate but not graduate, "Londoners who did study, for example in Oxford or Cambridge, had to be quite rich and also members of the Anglican Church." but this was not Wellington's intent.
Winchilsea and about 150 other contributors withdrew their support of King's College London in response to Wellington's support of Catholic emancipation. Accusations against Wellington were published in a letter to The Standard newspaper on 14 March where Winchilsea charged the Prime Minister with insincerity in his support for King's College London.Harte (1986), p. 73 In a letter to Wellington he wrote, "I have come to view the college as an instrument in a wider programme designed to promote the Roman Catholic faith and undermine the established church." Winchilsea also accused the Duke to have in mind "insidious designs for the infringement of our liberty and the introduction of Popery into every department of the State".Holmes (2002), p. 275
The letter provoked a furious exchange of correspondence and Wellington accused Winchilsea of imputing him with "disgraceful and criminal motives" in setting up King's College London. When Winchilsea refused to retract the remarks, Wellington – by his own admission, "no advocate of duelling" and a virgin duellist – demanded satisfaction in a contest of arms: "I now call upon your lordship to give me that satisfaction for your conduct which a gentleman has a right to require, and which a gentleman never refuses to give."
The result was a duel in Battersea Fields on 21 March 1829. Winchilsea did not fire, a plan he and his second almost certainly decided upon before the duel; Wellington took aim and fired wide to the right. Accounts differ as to whether Wellington missed on purpose. Wellington, noted for his poor aim, claimed he did, other reports more sympathetic to Winchilsea claimed he had aimed to kill. Honour was saved and Winchilsea wrote Wellington an apology. "Duel Day" is still celebrated on the first Thursday after 21 March every year, marked by various events throughout King's, including re-enactments.
Early years
King's opened in October 1831 with the cleric William Otter appointed as first principal and lecturer in divinity. In keeping with the intention stated back in 1828, and despite the chapel at the heart of its buildings, the initial prospectus permitted, "nonconformists of all sorts to enter the college freely".Hearnshaw (1929), p. 80 William Howley, the Archbishop of Canterbury, presided over the opening ceremony in which sermons was given in the chapel by the Archbishop on the importance of charity and by Charles James Blomfield, the Bishop of London, on the subject of combining religious instruction with intellectual culture. The governors and the professors, except the linguists, had to be members of the Church of England but the students did not,Hibbert, Weinreb, Keay, Keay (2008), p. 462 though attendance at Chapel was compulsory.Prospectus of King's College, London: academical year 1854-5, p. 7