St Margaret's School, Bushey
Encyclopedia
St Margaret's School is an independent boarding and day school for girls aged 4–18 in Bushey
, Hertfordshire
.
As well as day places for all age groups the school offers a range of flexible boarding options for both UK and international pupils from year 7 (age 11) and is situated in 74 acres (299,467.6 m²) of countryside close to London
.
. A school for 20 girls was set up in a house in Southwark
, London, and the boys were sent to an existing school in Thirsk
, North Yorkshire.
On 28 April 1809 the Society was Incorporated at the sole expense of the Bishop of Durham and it became the Clergy Orphan Corporation. The Clergy Orphan Corporation paid for a new school building to be erected on land bought in St John's Wood
next to Lord's Cricket Ground
, and both boys and girls moved there in 1812. In 1852 the boys moved to Canterbury
(now St Edmund's School
).
The St John's Wood site was sold in 1895 to the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincoln Railway and the school building demolished. Today the Lord's Indoor Cricket School stands on the exact site of the old Clergy Orphan Corporation School. The eminent architect Alfred Waterhouse
was commissioned to design and build a new school on land bought at Bushey
, Hertfordshire and, while this was being done, the girls moved to temporary premises at Windsor
. The new school was ready in 1897 and in September, 80 clergy orphans, their teachers and formidable Headmistress, Miss Emily Baylee, moved in. This Waterhouse building is Grade II listed. Miss Baylee renamed the school after Saint Margaret of Scotland
who was thought to be a good role model for the girls.
In 1902 the first fee-paying pupils were admitted and in 1940 the first day girls were admitted. In 1996 the two schools, St Margaret's at Bushey and St Edmunds's at Canterbury, ceased to be owned by the Clergy Orphan Corporation and became fully independent schools.
St Margaret's is now solely a fee paying school.
The Guild is very active and maintains contacts with old girls and produces an annual magazine is produced. An annual central London reunion is held along with various regional meetings; the current association membership is around 2,000.
Bushey
Bushey is a town in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire in the East of England. Bushey Heath is situated to the south east of Bushey on the boundary with the London Borough of Harrow.-History:...
, Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
.
As well as day places for all age groups the school offers a range of flexible boarding options for both UK and international pupils from year 7 (age 11) and is situated in 74 acres (299,467.6 m²) of countryside close to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
History
In 1749 'the Society of Stewards and Subscribers for Maintaining and Educating Poor Orphans of Clergymen' was set up in London and charitable donations made by wealthy people including the royal family and politicians. In 1760 Princess Amelia gave £100 and in 1791 George III donated £500, being part of the proceeds of one of Mr Handel's musical performances in Westminster AbbeyWestminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
. A school for 20 girls was set up in a house in Southwark
Southwark
Southwark is a district of south London, England, and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Southwark. Situated east of Charing Cross, it forms one of the oldest parts of London and fronts the River Thames to the north...
, London, and the boys were sent to an existing school in Thirsk
Thirsk
Thirsk is a small market town and civil parish in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England. The local travel links are located a mile from the town centre to Thirsk railway station and to Durham Tees Valley Airport...
, North Yorkshire.
On 28 April 1809 the Society was Incorporated at the sole expense of the Bishop of Durham and it became the Clergy Orphan Corporation. The Clergy Orphan Corporation paid for a new school building to be erected on land bought in St John's Wood
St John's Wood
St John's Wood is a district of north-west London, England, in the City of Westminster, and at the north-west end of Regent's Park. It is approximately 2.5 miles north-west of Charing Cross. Once part of the Great Middlesex Forest, it was later owned by the Knights of St John of Jerusalem...
next to Lord's Cricket Ground
Lord's Cricket Ground
Lord's Cricket Ground is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and Wales Cricket Board , the European Cricket Council and, until August 2005, the...
, and both boys and girls moved there in 1812. In 1852 the boys moved to Canterbury
Canterbury
Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....
(now St Edmund's School
St Edmund's School
St Edmund’s School is an independent school in Canterbury, Kent, England, U.K. with over 500 pupils, including both day pupils and boarders.-History:...
).
The St John's Wood site was sold in 1895 to the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincoln Railway and the school building demolished. Today the Lord's Indoor Cricket School stands on the exact site of the old Clergy Orphan Corporation School. The eminent architect Alfred Waterhouse
Alfred Waterhouse
Alfred Waterhouse was a British architect, particularly associated with the Victorian Gothic Revival architecture. He is perhaps best known for his design for the Natural History Museum in London, and Manchester Town Hall, although he also built a wide variety of other buildings throughout the...
was commissioned to design and build a new school on land bought at Bushey
Bushey
Bushey is a town in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire in the East of England. Bushey Heath is situated to the south east of Bushey on the boundary with the London Borough of Harrow.-History:...
, Hertfordshire and, while this was being done, the girls moved to temporary premises at Windsor
Windsor, Berkshire
Windsor is an affluent suburban town and unparished area in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England. It is widely known as the site of Windsor Castle, one of the official residences of the British Royal Family....
. The new school was ready in 1897 and in September, 80 clergy orphans, their teachers and formidable Headmistress, Miss Emily Baylee, moved in. This Waterhouse building is Grade II listed. Miss Baylee renamed the school after Saint Margaret of Scotland
Saint Margaret of Scotland
Saint Margaret of Scotland , also known as Margaret of Wessex and Queen Margaret of Scotland, was an English princess of the House of Wessex. Born in exile in Hungary, she was the sister of Edgar Ætheling, the short-ruling and uncrowned Anglo-Saxon King of England...
who was thought to be a good role model for the girls.
In 1902 the first fee-paying pupils were admitted and in 1940 the first day girls were admitted. In 1996 the two schools, St Margaret's at Bushey and St Edmunds's at Canterbury, ceased to be owned by the Clergy Orphan Corporation and became fully independent schools.
St Margaret's is now solely a fee paying school.
Notable former pupils
The Old Girls' Association of St Margaret's was established in 1897; in 1909 it assumed the name of "St Margaret's Guild".The Guild is very active and maintains contacts with old girls and produces an annual magazine is produced. An annual central London reunion is held along with various regional meetings; the current association membership is around 2,000.
- Christabel BielenbergChristabel BielenbergChristabel Bielenberg was a British writer who was married to a German lawyer, Peter Bielenberg. She described her experiences living in Germany during the Second World War in two books: The Past is Myself and The Road Ahead...
1909-2003 (nee Burton), author of best-selling novel 'The Past is Myself' 1968, made into a TV drama 'Christabel'1988.
- Penelope Chetwode 1910-86, author, traveller and wife of poet John BetjemanJohn BetjemanSir John Betjeman, CBE was an English poet, writer and broadcaster who described himself in Who's Who as a "poet and hack".He was a founding member of the Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architecture...
and the daughter of Field MarshalField MarshalField Marshal is a military rank. Traditionally, it is the highest military rank in an army.-Etymology:The origin of the rank of field marshal dates to the early Middle Ages, originally meaning the keeper of the king's horses , from the time of the early Frankish kings.-Usage and hierarchical...
Lord ChetwodePhilip Chetwode, 1st Baron ChetwodeField Marshal Philip Walhouse Chetwode, 1st Baron Chetwode, 7th Baronet of Oakley, GCB, OM, GCSI, KCMG, DSO was a British cavalry officer who became Commander in Chief in India.-Early life and education:...
. - Dame Jillian EllisonJill EllisonDame Jill Ellison, DBE is Director of Nursing, Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust. She was educated at St Margaret's School, Bushey and now heads the Nurse Directors Association ....
, head of Nurse Directors Association - Evelyn Emmet, Baroness Emmet of AmberleyEvelyn Emmet, Baroness Emmet of AmberleyEvelyn Violet Elizabeth Emmet, Baroness Emmet of Amberley was a British Conservative Party politician....
, Conservative MP for East GrinsteadEast Grinstead (UK Parliament constituency)East Grinstead was a parliamentary constituency in the Kingdom of England, the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the United Kingdom. It first existed as a Parliamentary borough from 1307, returning two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons elected by the bloc vote system...
from 1955–1964 - Frances Gibb, Legal Editor of The TimesThe TimesThe Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
- Unity MitfordUnity MitfordUnity Valkyrie Mitford was a member of the aristocratic Mitford family, tracing its origins in Northumberland back to the 11th century Norman settlement of England. Unity Mitford's sister Diana was married to Oswald Mosley, leader of British Union of Fascists...
1914-48, the only one of the Mitford sisters to be educated at school - Violet PakenhamLady Violet PowellLady Violet Powell , born Violet Georgiana Pakenham, third daughter of Thomas Pakenham, 5th Earl of Longford and Lady Mary Julia Child Villiers , was a writer and critic...
1912-2002, author of numerous books on literary subjects including a biography 'Five Out of Six'1960. Married to writer Anthony PowellAnthony PowellAnthony Dymoke Powell CH, CBE was an English novelist best known for his twelve-volume work A Dance to the Music of Time, published between 1951 and 1975....
. - Emma SammsEmma SammsEmma Samms is a British television actress best known for her role as Holly Sutton on the American daytime soap opera General Hospital and for replacing Pamela Sue Martin as Fallon Carrington Colby on the primetime soap opera Dynasty.-Early life:Samms was born in Willesden, London, England, the...
1960-, General HospitalGeneral HospitalGeneral Hospital is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest-running American soap opera currently in production and the third longest running drama in television in American history after Guiding Light and As the World Turns....
and DynastyDynastyA dynasty is a sequence of rulers considered members of the same family. Historians traditionally consider many sovereign states' history within a framework of successive dynasties, e.g., China, Ancient Egypt and the Persian Empire...
actress - Brigid Simmonds OBE, Chief Executive of Business in Sport and Leisure and Chair of the Central Council of Physical Recreation
- Ingrid TarrantIngrid TarrantIngrid Dupre Tarrant is an English broadcaster and former wife of Chris Tarrant. She was educated at St Margaret's School, Bushey and has presented such programmes as TV Mail, Wish You Were Here? and This Morning...
, estranged wife of gameshow host Chris TarrantChris TarrantChristopher John "Chris" Tarrant, OBE is an English radio and television broadcaster, now best known for hosting the first version of the television game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? in the United Kingdom and later Ireland, as the two national versions of the show merged in 2002.Chris...