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{{Short description|Former college in Hailey, Hertfordshire, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2023}}
{{Infobox school
| name = East India Company College
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| location = Hailey, Hertfordshire
| country = England
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| established =1806
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| closed =1858
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[[File:Haileybury College.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|The former East India Company College, now [[Haileybury and Imperial Service College]]]]
The '''East India Company College''', or '''East India College''', was an educational establishment situated at Hailey, [[Hertfordshire]], nineteen miles north of London, founded in 1806 to train "writers" (administrators) for the [[East India Company]]. It provided general and vocational education for young gentlemen of sixteen to eighteen years old, who were nominated by the Company's directors to writerships in its overseas civil service. The college's counterpart for the training of officers for the company's [[Presidency armies]] was [[Addiscombe Military Seminary]], [[Surrey]].

The East India Company was nationalised and the college closed in 1858, becoming a [[Public school (United Kingdom)|public school]] with continuing ties to the former college. The college buildings survive and are now occupied by the public school's successor, [[Haileybury and Imperial Service College]], a [[Private schools in the United Kingdom|private school]].

==History==
[[Charles Grant (British East India Company)|Charles Grant]], Chairman of the [[British East India Company]] and a [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] (MP), was closely involved in the foundation of the college. It was first located in [[Hertford Castle]] but it was evident that a purpose-built seat of learning would be more suitable and in October 1805 the company purchased an estate just outside [[Hertford Heath]] for the sum of £5,930 ({{inflation|UK|5930|1805|fmt=eq|cursign=£}}){{inflation/fn|UK}} for this objective. The foundation stone of the new buildings were laid on 12 May 1806. The buildings cost the East India Company £92,000 (equivalent to £{{formatprice|{{inflation|UK|92000|1806}}}} in {{inflation/year|UK}}){{inflation/fn|UK}} at the time of their erection to the designs of the architect [[William Wilkins (architect)|William Wilkins]] (who later designed the [[National Gallery, London|National Gallery]] in [[London]]). The grounds were landscaped by [[Humphry Repton]], his most notable work here being the terraced area to the front of Wilkins' main range and ponds to the west of this.<ref name="desmond">{{cite journal |first=R. G. C. |last=Desmond |title=A Repton Garden at Haileybury |journal=Garden History |volume=6 |issue=2 |year=1978 |pages=16–19 |doi=10.2307/1586693 |jstor=1586693}}</ref> Repton submitted his final account for work undertaken here just eight days before a carriage accident which left him crippled.<ref name="desmond"/> The new buildings were occupied by students in 1809.{{sfn|Danvers|Martineau|Monier-Williams|Bayley|1894|p=18}}

The East India Company had been incorporated in 1600 as a commercial entity. For two hundred years its administrators had been recruited, largely by patronage, to oversee commercial transactions in Asia. By 1800 they had become the ''de facto'' government for millions of people in those areas, but without much training for the role. The college was intended to address these shortcomings. In fifty years it trained over two thousand so-called "writers" to administer the Indian subcontinent.

The curriculum was wide, detailed, and targeted to the career responsibilities. It included political economy, history, mathematics, natural philosophy, classics, law and humanity and philology. Languages included [[Arabic]], [[Urdu]] ([[Hindustani language|Hindustani]]), [[Bengali language|Bengali]], [[Marathi language|Marathi]], [[Sanskrit]], [[Telugu language|Telugu]] and [[Persian language|Persian]]. Among the tutors were some of the finest minds of the day, many from Oxford and Cambridge, with lavish annual salaries as much as £500.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.haileybury.com/explore/haileybury/heritage-archives/story-haileybury/east-india-college|title=The East India College|website=Haileybury|access-date=26 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161222023519/https://www.haileybury.com/explore/haileybury/heritage-archives/story-haileybury/east-india-college|archive-date=22 December 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The college was customarily referred to as "Haileybury" in contemporary accounts, debates in the [[House of Lords]] and the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] and by the administrators of the East India Company and the Colonial Civil Service. From 1839 the college had a journal known as the ''Haileybury Observer''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xvkHAAAAQAAJ&q=foundation+of+haileybury&pg=PP1|title=The Haileybury Observer |author=East India College|date=1839–1843 |access-date=26 May 2018}}</ref>

The East India Company itself was seen as too powerful. There was pressure for meritocracy to replace recruitment by patronage. Figures such as [[Benjamin Jowett]] of Balliol College pressed government ministers to break Haileybury's monopoly on Indian Civil Service training and to privilege graduates of the universities instead. In 1855, Parliament passed an act "to relieve the East India Company from the obligation to maintain the College at Haileybury". [[King's College London|King's College, London]], hosted the first open competitive examinations for appointment to the [[British India Civil Service|Indian Civil Service]].

==Closure and later use of buildings==
In the aftermath of the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857|Indian Mutiny of 1857]], and in anticipation of the [[Government of India Act 1858|winding-up of the affairs]] of the East India Company itself, the college was closed in January 1858. This left the puzzle of what to do with the imposing buildings. For a brief period, they became a military depot for troops destined for India, and during this interregnum the college's Master, [[Henry Melvill]], and Registrar, the Reverend James William Lucas Heaviside, continued to live in their residences on the site and oversaw the maintenance of the buildings. In 1861, the estate was sold at public auction, when it was bought by the [[British Land Company]] for £15,000 (equivalent to £{{formatprice|{{inflation|UK|15000|1861}}}} in {{inflation/year|UK}}).{{inflation/fn|UK}}<ref>{{cite book |first=Richard Rhodes |last=James |title=The Road from Mandalay: A Journey in the Shadow of the East |year=2007 |page=191}}</ref>

A Hertford publisher, Stephen Austin,<ref>{{cite web |first=Jennifer |last=Ayto |title=Stephen Austin's Diary: extracts from 1850 to 1888 |work=Our Hertford and Ware |url=https://www.ourhertfordandware.org.uk/content/people/stephen-austins-diary |access-date=31 December 2020 }}</ref> who had been the official printer to the East India Company’s College and had thus become one of the leading printers of books in various Oriental languages, led a campaign to ensure the buildings were returned to some sort of academic purpose, and in 1862 the site reopened as the public school [[Haileybury and Imperial Service College|Haileybury College]]. This was formally constituted by a [[royal charter]] dated 30 August 1864. During the [[Victorian era]], the difference between the two periods of education on the site was referred to as "Old Haileybury" and "New Haileybury".

In its early years, the new Haileybury College retained close links to those involved in colonial administration, and in 1942 it merged with the struggling [[Imperial Service College]] to become [[Haileybury and Imperial Service College]].

==Administrators==
===Principals===
The college had four principals:
*1806–1815: [[Samuel Henley]]<ref>{{Cite odnb |first1=G. P. |last1=Moriarty |first2=John D. (revised) |last2=Haigh |title=Henley, Samuel (1740–1815) |orig-year=2004 |year=2007 |id=12933 }}</ref>
*1815–1837: [[Joseph Batten]]<ref name="minchin">{{cite book |title=Our Public Schools: their influence on English history |first=James George Cotton |last=Minchin |publisher=Swan Sonnenschein |place=London |year=1901 |url=https://archive.org/details/ourpublicschool00cottgoog |page=[https://archive.org/details/ourpublicschool00cottgoog/page/n284 263] |quote=joseph batten east india. }}</ref>
*1837–1843: [[Charles Webb Le Bas]]<ref name="minchin"/>
*1844–1858: [[Henry Melvill]], afterwards Canon of St. Paul's<ref>{{Cite odnb |first1=G. C. |last1=Boase |author1-link=George Clement Boase |first2=H. C. G. (revised) |last2=Matthew |author2-link=Colin Matthew |title=Melvill, Henry (1798–1871) |year=2004 |edition=online |id=18540 }}</ref>

===Deans===
The position of dean was filled by one of the professors:
*1813: [[William Dealtry]], MA
*1814–1838: [[Charles Webb Le Bas]], MA
*1838–1850: [[James Amiraux Jeremie]] (Professor of Classics)
*1850–1857: [[W. E. Buckley]]

===Registrars===
The position of registrar was filled by one of the professors:
*1813: [[William Dealtry]]
*1814–1816: [[Bewick Bridge]]
*1816–1830: Edward Lewton
*1831–1834: [[Henry George Keene (orientalist)|Henry George Keene]]
*1834–1837: James Michael
*1838–1857: Fred Smith

==Professors==

===Languages===
*[[Alexander Hamilton (linguist)|Alexander Hamilton]] taught Sanskrit and Bengali (1806–18).<ref>Rosane Rocher, ‘Sanskrit for Civil Servants 1806–1818’, ''Journal of the American Oriental Society'' 122, 2002, p. 381–390.</ref>
*Charles Stewart taught Hindustani (Urdu) and Persian (1806–).
*[[Graves Chamney Haughton]] (1817–27) FRS previously of [[Fort William College]], Calcutta, taught Hindustani, Persian, Arabic, Bengali and Sanskrit.
*[[Francis Johnson (linguist)|Francis Johnson]] taught Sanskrit, Bengali and Telugu (1824–55).<ref>{{cite odnb |first1=Cecil |last1=Bendall |author1-link=Cecil Bendall |first2=Parvin (revised) |last2=Loloi |title=Johnson, Francis (1795/6–1876) |year=2004 |id=14878 }}</ref>
*[[Mirza Muhammed Ibrahim]], a Persian, held a permanent appointment as a professor of Arabic and [[Persian language|Persian]] (1826–44)
*[[Monier Monier-Williams]] taught Sanskrit, Bengali and Telugu (1844–58).
*[[Edward Backhouse Eastwick]] was Professor of Hindustani, Hindi and Marathi (1845–57).<ref>{{cite odnb |first1=Stanley |last1=Lane-Poole |author1-link=Stanley Lane-Poole |first2=Parvin (revised) |last2=Loloi |title=Eastwick, Edward Backhouse (1814–1883) |orig-year=2004 |year=2008 |id=8418 }}</ref>
*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) (1844–57)<ref name=MEMTI/><ref name=MOHC/><ref>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] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120206011431/http://persian.packhum.org/persian/pf?file=21101050&ct=73 |date=6 February 2012 }}</ref>
*[[Sheth Ghoolam Hyder]], Professor of Persian and had the title of ''Oriental Writing Master''{{sfn|Danvers|Martineau|Monier-Williams|Bayley|1894|p=23}}

===Law===
*[[Edward Christian]] (1806–18)
*[[James Mackintosh]] was Professor of Law and General Politics 1818–24.
*[[William Empson (lawyer)|William Empson]],<ref>{{cite odnb |first=Joanne |last=Shattock |title=Empson, William (1791–1852) |orig-year=2004 |year=2016 |id=8800 }}</ref> was Professor of Law (1824–52).
*[[John Farley Leith]] QC (1872–80), later Member of Parliament for [[Aberdeen (UK Parliament constituency)|Aberdeen]]

===Political Economy===
*[[Thomas Malthus]] taught from 1805–34.
*[[Richard Jones (economist)|Richard Jones]] was Professor of History and Political Economy (1834–55).
*The [[James Stephen (undersecretary)|Rt Hon Sir James Stephen]] also taught political economy (1855–57)

===Mathematics and Natural Philosophy===
*[[William Dealtry]] was Professor of Mathematics 1806–13.<ref>{{cite odnb |first=M. C. |last=Curthoys |title=Dealtry, William (1775–1847) |year=2004 |id=7382 }}</ref> He had been [[List of Wranglers of the University of Cambridge|Second Wrangler]] in 1796.
*[[Bewick Bridge]] (1767–1833) was Professor of [[Mathematics]] 1806–16.
*Charles Webb Le Bas (1813–37)
*[[Charles Babbage]] applied unsuccessfully for a job in 1816.
*[[Henry Walter (antiquary)|Henry Walter]] (1816–30)
*[[William Sturgeon]] lectured on [[science]] in 1824.
*Frederick Smith (1831–50) of [[Peterhouse, Cambridge]]
*J. W. L. Heaviside (1838–57) previously of Trinity College, and then Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, where he graduated Second Wrangler and a [[Smith's Prize]] winner in 1830, and tutored until he moved to Haileybury.

===Classical and General Literature===
*Edward Lewton (1806–30)
*Joseph Hallett Batten (1806–15)
*[[James Amiraux Jeremie]] (also Dean) (1830–50), elected in 1850 Regius Professor of Divinity at Cambridge.
* W. E. Buckley (1850–57) previously tutor and fellow at [[Brasenose College, Oxford]] and Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford (1844–50), and a member and subsequently vice-president of the [[Roxburghe Club]].

===Other===
*[[Henry George Keene (orientalist)|Henry George Keene]], who served at the [[Battle of Seringapatam]] with the first [[Lord Harris]] (his uncle), and whose American wife, though she came of a [[New England]] family, was related to [[Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis|Lord Cornwallis]]. His [[s:Author:Henry George Keene|son]] became a Fellow of the [[University of Calcutta]] and a prolific writer.<ref name=MEMTI>{{Cite book|title=Men and Events of My Time in India|author=Sir Richard Temple|publisher=John Murray|location=London|year=1882|page=[https://archive.org/details/menandeventsmyt00tempgoog/page/n44 18]|url=https://archive.org/details/menandeventsmyt00tempgoog |access-date=9 Oct 2007}}</ref><ref name=MOHC>{{harvnb|Danvers|Martineau|Monier-Williams|Bayley|1894}}, quoted in ''A Dictionary of Public Administration'' by Shriram Maheshwari.{{full citation needed|date=June 2024}}</ref>
*[[Horace Hayman Wilson]], Examiner in Sanskrit (1837–57)

Assistants in the Oriental Department included Maulavi Abdal Aly (1809–12), Maulavi Mirza Khedel (1809–19), The Revd. Robert Anderson (1820–25), and [[David Shea (linguist)|David Shea]] (1826–36). [[Sheth Ghoolam Hyder|Moonshy Ghoolam Hyder]] and Thomas Medland taught oriental writing.<ref name=MEMTI/><ref name=MOHC/>

==Notable alumni==
* [[Sir Edward Colebrooke, 4th Baronet]]<ref name="Binns">{{cite book | title=Sir Edward Colebrooke of Abington and Ottershaw, Baronet and Member of Parliament: The Four Lives of an Extraordinary Victorian | publisher=Grosvenor House Publishing Ltd | author=Binns, Sheila | year=2014 | location=[[Guildford]], [[Surrey]] | pages=16 | isbn=978-17814-86948}}</ref>
* [[John Russell Colvin]]
* [[Ashley Eden]]
* [[Sir Henry Bartle Frere, 1st Baronet|Henry Bartle Frere]]
* [[John Peter Grant]]
* [[Brian Houghton Hodgson]]
* [[Allan Octavian Hume]]
* [[John Lawrence, 1st Baron Lawrence|Sir John Lawrence]]
* [[Charles Merivale]]
* [[Monier Monier-Williams]]
* [[John Muir (Indologist)|John Muir]]
* [[Sir William Muir]]
* [[Richard Paternoster]]
* [[Sir Richard Temple, 1st Baronet]]
* [[James Thomason]]
* [[Sir Charles Trevelyan, 1st Baronet|Charles Trevelyan]]
* [[Charles Pelham Villiers]]
* [[Charles John Wingfield]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
*{{cite book |first1=Frederick Charles |last1=Danvers |first2=Harriet |last2=Martineau |author2-link=Harriet Martineau |first3=Monier |last3=Monier-Williams |author3-link=Monier Monier-Williams |first4=Steuart Colvin |last4=Bayley |author4-link=Steuart Bayley |first5=Percy |last5=Wigram |first6=Brand |last6=Sapte |url=https://archive.org/details/memorialsoldhai00collgoog |title=Memorials of Old Haileybury College |place=Westminster |year=1894 |publisher=Archibald Constable }}

==Further reading==
*{{Cite book |editor-first=Anthony |editor-last=Farrington |title=The Records of the East India College, Haileybury, & other institutions |place=London |publisher=H.M.S.O. |year=1976 }}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050616120532/http://users.synflux.com.au/~sylcec/dod37.htm#B Death record of Joseph Batten]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20030723212601/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]
* {{Cite NIE|wstitle=Haileybury College|year=1905 |short=x}}
* {{Cite Americana|wstitle=Haileybury College|year=1920 |short=x}}

[[Category:1806 establishments in England]]
[[Category:Defunct schools in Hertfordshire]]
[[Category:History of Hertfordshire]]
[[Category:British East India Company buildings and structures]]
[[Category:Educational institutions established in 1806]]
[[Category:Educational institutions disestablished in 1858]]
[[Category:1850s disestablishments in England]]

East India Company College - Revision history

Vishal5555 at 06:48, 22 January 2026