History of Gresham College

For over 400 years Gresham Professors have given free public lectures in the City of London. The College is named after Sir Thomas Gresham, son of Sir Richard Gresham who was Lord Mayor in 1537/38 and who conceived the idea of building an Exchange modelled on the Antwerp Bourse. This was brought to fruition by Sir Thomas, on land provided by the City of London Corporation, and was given the royal appellation by Queen Elizabeth I.

Sir Thomas was appointed Royal Agent in Antwerp by Edward VI, a position which he held throughout Mary’s reign and the first nine years of Elizabeth’s. His fine mansion in Bishopsgate was the first home of Gresham College. It was there that the Professors gave their lectures until 1768, their salaries being met from rental income from the shops around the Royal Exchange which Sir Thomas had bequeathed jointly to the City of London Corporation and the Mercers’ Company. This period saw the formation and early development at Gresham College of The Royal Society, and the tenure of chairs by a number of distinguished Professors, including Sir Christopher Wren.

In later years lectures were given in various places in the City until the construction of a new Gresham College, opened in 1842, in Gresham Street. The College has been based at Barnard’s Inn Hall since 1991. Barnard’s Inn was an Inn of Chancery associated with Gray’s Inn, and was described by Dickens in Great Expectations. In 1892 it was purchased by the Mercers’ Company to house the Mercers’ School, which remained there until it closed in 1959. In 1985 the Chair of Commerce, funded by the Mercers’ School Memorial Trust, was added to the seven ancient Professorships of Astronomy, Divinity, Geometry, Law, Music, Physic and Rhetoric. Professors generally have a three-year tenure.

Gresham College is an independent institution, governed by a Council and with the Lord Mayor of London as its President. Sir Thomas left his estate and control of his benefaction to the City of London Corporation and the Mercers’ Company, which operate through the Joint Grand Gresham Committee. In addition to the free public lectures, the College runs occasional seminars and conferences, and provides support to initiatives by the Gresham Professors and others which seek to reinterpret the ‘new learning’ of Sir Thomas Gresham’s time in contemporary terms.

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A Brief History of Gresham College 1597-1997

This survey of the history of the College in its quatercentenary year not only discharges a debt of piety but also concentrates the mind on the prospects for Gresham College in its fifth century.
Like some mythical island, the College has emerged from the engulfing waters and disappeared again on several occasions. Each time very similar questions have arisen. What were the Founder's intentions and how can they be honoured in vastly changed circumstances? What kind of educational constituency should the Professors of the College seek to address? Would it be wise for the College to associate itself with complementary institutions? Who should in the last analysis make decisions about these matters and how can a consistent policy be developed? 

This book is available to buy from the College. Please contact us for further details. You can click on the image to look through the pdf.