History
The Bedford Charity was founded in 1566 by Sir William Harpur (1496-1573). Harpur was a merchant from Bedford who became Lord Mayor of London in 1561. He was knighted in the following year. In 1566 he and his wife Dame Alice gave an endowment which consisted of some property in Bedford and 13 acres (53,000 m2) of water-meadows which are now Holborn. It was to support free schooling, dowries for poor maidens and “nourishing and informing poor children”. The school which he had founded in Bedford eventually became Bedford School. It was not until 1882 that girls' education was introduced.
Read more about this topic: Harpur Trust
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