Around 35 of these so-called dissenting academies arose during the 18th century, offering education without the requirement of conformity to the Church of England.
[2] Homerton College was known as King's Head Academy when it moved in 1768/69 from Plaisterers' Hall, London, to a large house on the north side of the high street of Homerton, in the parish of Hackney, close to London, in which they sought to base all their teaching.
[5] From 1800 John Pye-Smith one of the best known non-conformist theologians of his day, was residential tutor and in effect principal at Homerton from 1805 to 1850.
[3] This allowed the college to train ministers who came from the poorer non-conformist communities, such as Ezekiel Blomfield,[7] who led congregations in Wymondham, Harleston and Wortwell in Norfolk.
Not long afterwards, following the liberalisation of access to English universities, the work of the dissenting academies could become mainstream.