Uncaptioned portrait by Elliot & Fry, 1876. Believed to be John William Cunningham.
K/PH2/3/1, King’s College London Archives.

John William Cunningham was the Secretary of King’s College, London1 from 1845 to 1895.

Born on 1 May 1818 Cunningham was educated at Rugby and St John’s Cambridge. He married Elizabeth Anne.

He was the Founder of Cunningham’s Building Society and Spencer House in St Albans.

He joined the Lodge in 1863 and remained a member until 1887.

He died on 7 April 1901.


  1. The College Secretary is one of the senior administrative officers with responsibility for servicing College Council, its main standing and special subcommittees, and Academic Board. The College employed four Secretaries between 1828 and 1919: Henry Nelson Coleridge (1828); Henry William Smith (1829-1845); John William Cunningham (1845-1895), and Walter Smith (1895-1919).