Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Reynolds, John Stuckey
REYNOLDS, JOHN STUCKEY (1791–1874), founder of the Home and Colonial Training Colleges in London, born on 13 Sept. 1791, was the son of John and Ann Reynolds of Manchester. His father later held the office of comptrolling surveyor of the port of London. His mother belonged to the family of Stuckeys, her brother, Vincent Stuckey, being a banker at Langport in Somerset. Reynolds was educated at the Langport grammar school, but when fourteen years old secured an appointment in the audit office in London. In 1806 he was passed on to the treasury, where he was quickly promoted and received a series of special votes of thanks from the lords of the treasury, and in 1815 a grant of money. He became private secretary to three successive secretaries of the treasury. In 1822–3 he was secretary to the Irish revenue commission, and rendered great service in reconstituting the fiscal system. Later on he was one of the heads of the commissariat department. In 1834 his health broke down through over-work, and in March 1835 he retired from the public service. From 1835 to 1837 he was in the employment of the London Joint Stock Bank, which his uncle Stuckey had raised to a commanding position.
Throughout his career Reynolds studied political economy and the currency. On these subjects he wrote much, signed and anonymous, including ‘Practical Observations on Mr. Ricardo's Principles of Political Economy and Taxation,’ n.d.
After retiring from the bank in 1837 he began to interest himself in philanthropy, working in St. Giles's parish, and actively aiding in organising foreign missions. In 1823 he established an infant school in Fulham. He was one of the first supporters of the London City Mission and of the ‘Record’ newspaper. He established infant schools in various parts of London, and stimulated their formation in different parts of England. He thus came into contact with Charles Mayo (1792–1846) [q. v.], and his sister Elizabeth Mayo [q. v.], the earliest English advocates of Pestalozzi's system of education.
In May 1836 Reynolds, with John Bridges, founded in Southampton Street, Holborn, an institution to train teachers in Pestalozzian principles. It was called the Home and Colonial School Society, and opened with three students. But it quickly grew, and in 1837 it was removed to Gray's Inn Road, where one of the practising schools was called after him. Subsequently it was divided into two—a secondary and an elementary branch—the former being located at Highbury and the latter at Wood Green. Reynolds died in 1874. In 1819 he married Mary Anne, second daughter of Robert Bagehot of Langport.
A high-relief medallion of Reynolds was executed by Mr. J. Scarlett Potter. A copy is at the Home and Colonial Training College at Highbury; it was engraved in Cassell's ‘Household Guide’ in 1870.
[Home and Colonial Memorials, Christmas 1881; and information from J. H. Sawtell, esq., Reynolds's nephew.]