charity schools

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charity schools. Although the practice of establishing charity schools for the poor by private donors had begun in Elizabethan times, a great increase in numbers occurred towards the end of the 17th cent. The Blue Coat School (Westminster), founded in 1688, educated, clothed, and apprenticed 50 boys. The main object was religious and moral, as well as enabling the poor to earn a livelihood. The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK), at its first meeting in 1699, considered how best to establish ‘Catechetical Schools’ in every parish in London. Children between the ages of 7 and 12 were admitted and wore distinctive uniforms. Teaching was from 7.00 to 11.00 in the morning and 1.00 to 5.00 in the afternoon. Queen Anne took a personal interest and during her reign the schools made rapid advances. However, by 1760 the charity school movement was faltering. This was due to a number of factors, particularly the narrow curriculum offered, incompetent teachers, and the loss of royal patronage, because of suspicions that the schools were breeding-grounds for Jacobite sympathizers.

Peter Gordon

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