Missionary School of Islington, in Upper St. 1881

[Keith Sherwood]

Hi again, Everyone,
Does anyone know anything about the an institution calling itself the "Missionary School of Islington", in Upper Street, Islington in the 1881 Census.
There seems to be a C.of E. clergyman in charge, and there are 25 students, all in their early twenties.  Against each young man's name is the occupation: "Student Mythology".
Perhaps the enumerator misheard, or is there some significance in this term...?
Very best wishes, keith

[lochee]

Hi,
Could it be Student of Theology?

Bob

[JenB]

Against each young's man is the occupation: "Student Mythology".
Perhaps the enumerator misheard, or is there some significance in this term...?

I strongly suspect that whoever filled in the census form put 'student of theology', which has been misread by the enumerator and entered as what looks like 'student of meology' 

Jennifer

[Keith Sherwood]

Bob and Jennifer,
Thanks, that's pretty much what I imagined it to be...
I'm just wondering how prevalent these missionary colleges were (In London...in England, generally) at this time.  I know that the individual I'm looking at in the list of 25 men went out to India, and spent the rest of his life out there as a missionary.  Did the Church of England set up these colleges, or how were they financed?
keith

[Dazey999]

this website will probably be interesting for you to read, Keith

http://www.ampltd.co.uk/digital_guides/church_missionary_society_archive_general/editorial%20introduction%20by%20rosemary%20keen.aspx

[Keith Sherwood]

Dazey999,
Very, very interesting - it looks as though the College at Islington was at the forefront of affairs.  My individual was a manual worker on the railways as a young man, and so some of the teaching at the College may well have been quite challenging to him.  I imagine that he must have had some kind of patron or someone who believed that this was a life he might be suitable for, someone he must have met or heard about when working on the railways down on the south coast of Sussex,
Regards, keith
p.s. I don't suppose anybody who knows Upper Street well could tell me if the building(s) used as the College still exist today...?

[Dazey999]

I'm afraid it seems the building was demolished in 1915 and flats called "Sutton Dwellings" were built on the site.

[ElvisMole]

Hi

Could this be what was being studied?

"Meology has roots in humanism, secularism, and relativism. The manifestation of meology is revealed in pluralism and tolerance. Meology professes that any belief in any god is acceptable if the individual deems it truth. The danger of meology rests in the twin spineless creatures of compromise and convenience. Meologists will compromise for acceptance and yield to society for convenience. Meology is all about the person and preference and rejects biblical truth." (Green '04)

Ray

[charlotteCH]

Hi, the Church Missionary Society is alive and very well today and it is a direct desendant of the Clapham set and William Wilberforces initiative.

CMS archives are held at the University of Birmingham and can be viewed upon application.

those who would have been in such a college would have been students of theology.

In the matter of finance, this would have come from private citizens who were CMS supporters, as it does now.

charlotte