Sion College

Sion College was a society of Anglican clergy rather than an educational establishment. It was established in 1624 out of the bequest of Dr Thomas White, rector of Saint Dunstan in the West, who left £3000 to found a college for City clergy and an almshouse. The charter was recieved in 1630, constituting all "Rectors, Vicars, Lecturers and Clergy in or close to the City" as Fellows of the College. Management of the College lay with a President, two Deans and their assistants. The addition of a library was the suggestion of John Simpson, rector of Saint Olave Hart Street and executor of White's bequest. The reason for the name of the College is unknown. The original site was at London Wall. The buildings and all the books were destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666, but rebuilding took place by 1678. The Library continued to expand and by 1850 was estimated to hold 40,000 volumes. In 1879 the College bought land on Victoria Embankment and constructed a new building, opened in 1886. The almshouses were separated and renamed Sion Hospital. By the 1980s the Library was thought to hold 100,000 volumes. The College was closed in 1996.

Information from The London Encyclopaedia, eds. Weinreb and Hibbert (LMA Library Reference 67.2 WEI).