| Addiscombe Military Seminary | |
|---|---|
 East front of Addiscombe Place, the main building of Addiscombe Seminary, photographedc. 1859. Cadets pose in the foreground. The inscriptionNon faciam vitio culpave minorem can be seen on theentablature | |
| Active | 1809–1861 |
| Country |  United Kingdom |
| Branch |  British Army |
| Type | Training |
| Role | Army Officer Training |
| Garrison/HQ | Addiscombe, Surrey |
TheEast India Company Military Seminary was a Britishmilitary academy atAddiscombe, Surrey, in what is now theLondon Borough of Croydon. It opened in 1809 and closed in 1861. Its purpose was to train young officers to serve in theEast India Company'sown army inIndia.
The institution was formally known as theEast India Company Military Seminary (a name the cadets always disliked) until 1855, when the name was changed to theEast India Company Military College.[1][2] In 1858, when the college was taken over by the government, it was renamed theRoyal India Military College. Colloquially, it was known as Addiscombe Seminary, Addiscombe College, or Addiscombe Military Academy.
The Seminary was a sister institution to theEast India Company College in Hertfordshire, which trained civilian "writers" (clerks). In military terms it was a counterpart to theRoyal Military Academy atWoolwich and theRoyal Military College atSandhurst.
Addiscombe Place, the mansion house which formed the central building of the later Seminary, was erected in about 1702 by William Draper, on land which he had inherited in 1700 from his aunt, Dame Sarah Temple. Draper's father-in-law was the diaristJohn Evelyn, who in 1703 pronounced the house "in all points of good and solid architecture to be one of the very best gentleman's houses in Surrey, when finish'd". Its interior included many mural paintings of mythological subjects, supposed to be the work of SirJames Thornhill; while high up on the exterior east front was carved the Latin inscription,Non faciam vitio culpave minorem ("I will not lower myself by vice or fault"). By the late 18th century the house was in the ownership of Charles James Clarke, who leased it to the statesmanCharles Jenkinson, Lord Hawkesbury, later 1st Earl of Liverpool. Regular visitors during Liverpool's tenure included KingGeorge III andWilliam Pitt.[3]
Following the death of Lord Liverpool in December 1808, Addiscombe Place was put on the market by Emelius Delmé-Radcliffe (Clarke's brother-in-law). It was bought by the Court of Directors of theEast India Company for use as a military academy. Although the company was primarily a trading concern, it also maintained itsown army, the officers of which had previously been trained at theRoyal Military Academy, Woolwich, at theRoyal Military College Junior Department atGreat Marlow, or privately. They were now to be trained at Addiscombe. The Seminary opened on 21 January 1809, although the formal transfer of title of the property did not take place until a year later, on 26 January 1810.[4][1]
The initial purchase comprised the mansion house and 58 acres of land to the south of Lower Addiscombe Road, but a further 30 acres to the north were subsequently acquired.[5] New buildings were added, so that the mansion house, which originally housed the entire establishment, became a purely administrative block.[6] The additions included barracks, a chapel, a drawing and lecture hall, a hospital, a dining-hall, a sand-modelling hall, a gymnasium, and service facilities including a bakehouse, dairy, laundry, and brew-house.
In the early days cadets entered the Seminary between the ages of 131⁄2 and 16, and later between 15 and 18.[7] They normally remained for 2 years (4 terms), although it was possible to pass the final examination within a shorter period.[8] The initial intake comprised 60 cadets, but numbers rose to about 75 a year, meaning that there were around 150 cadets in residence at any one time.[9][1] Cadets or their families were required to pay fees (£30 a year when the Seminary first opened; £50 a term by 1835), but these were heavily subsidised and represented only a proportion of the true costs of their education.[10][11]
Initially, the main purpose of the Seminary was to train cadets for the Engineer or Artillery arms of the service, but as an experiment in 1816–17, and more permanently from 1827, "general service" cadets destined for the Infantry were admitted.[1] In all, some 3,600 cadets passed through Addiscombe during the years of its existence. Of these, over 500 entered the Engineers, nearly 1,100 the Artillery, and about 2,000 the Infantry, some of whom subsequently transferred to the Cavalry.[12]
The curriculum comprised instruction in the "sciences of Mathematics, Fortification, Natural Philosophy, and Chemistry; theHindustani, Latin, and French languages; in the art of Civil, Military, and Lithographic Drawing and Surveying; and in the construction of the several gun-carriages and mortar-beds used in the Artillery service, from the most approved models".[13] The Company paid well, and attracted some distinguished academic staff:John Shakespear published a standard Hindustani grammar, andJonathan Cape was a Fellow of theRoyal Society.[14] In practice, the emphasis was on mathematics, and the Seminary was criticised for not including more training in practical "military science".[15] In the 1850s photography was also studied.[16] J. M. Bourne concludes that the Seminary was "not a true military college at all, but a militarisedpublic school" – although he also judges that, by the standards of the age, its record as a military training school was not significantly worse than those of the establishments atWoolwich andSandhurst.[17]
Cadets were required to wear uniforms at all times, and were not permitted to go beyond the grounds or into Croydon without permission. However, they gained a reputation for indiscipline, and fights with the townspeople of Croydon were not infrequent.[18][19] There was no corporal punishment, but in the early years, cadets could be punished by being incarcerated in the so-called "Black Hole", and fed on bread and water.[20][21] Until 1829 they worshipped regularly atCroydon Parish Church (marching there each Sunday in uniform, accompanied by their band): after that date they began to worship at the newly consecrated St James's Church, Addiscombe.
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Examinations were held twice-yearly in June and December: they lasted about three weeks, and culminated in a Public Examination, a day-long affair of some ceremony before a distinguished invited audience, which included orchestrated demonstrations of book-learning and of military exercises such asswordsmanship andpontoon-building; an exhibition of drawings and models; a formal inspection; and the distribution of prizes.[22] The day's events are described in one account as "a performance carefully prepared and rehearsed beforehand. Its object was to make a favourable impression on a carefully selected audience".[23] The Public Examiner, who presided, was an eminent general (see list below); while the audience usually included some of the Directors of the East India Company, and often theArchbishop of Canterbury, who had a residence nearby atAddington Palace.
In 1848 the Seminary began awarding thePollock Medal to the best cadet of the training season. The award was named afterField Marshal SirGeorge Pollock. The Pollock Prize was transferred to theRoyal Military Academy, Woolwich after Addiscombe was closed.
Following theIndian Rebellion of 1857, the East India Company was wound up in 1858. The college passed into government hands, becoming known as the Royal Indian Military College, Addiscombe, but continued to perform much the same function. With the amalgamation of the Royal and Indian services in 1861, there was initially a proposal that Addiscombe should be retained as a military college. However, theWar Office decided that the establishments atWoolwich andSandhurst were sufficient for their needs, and the college closed in June the same year.
The site was sold on 30 August 1861 for £33,600 to theBritish Land Company, who demolished most of the buildings.[25] All that remain are two former professors' houses, "Ashleigh" and "India", on the corner of Clyde Road and Addiscombe Road; and the former gymnasium on Havelock Road, now private apartments. The Land Company laid out five parallel roads over the greater part of the grounds, and built them up with villas. The five roads – Outram, Havelock, Elgin, Clyde and Canning Roads – all took their names from soldiers and politicians prominent on the British side in the events of 1857–58, although none was in fact a college alumnus.[26]
Notable cadets include:[27]
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Staff at Addiscombe included:[36]
The Public Examiners were:[37]
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