History
The school was founded by the Corporation of London and was originally located in London to educate orphans of the Freemen of the City. It is still possible for such orphan children to be educated as “Foundationers” at the school with the costs of their education borne by the Corporation of London.
The tradition of Freemen goes back many centuries, when the citizens of towns and cities would be granted valuable rights to trade, and other privileges conceded by royal charters.
The system was also shared by Livery Companies, associations of craftsmen developed to control the admission to the trade by apprenticeship, and founded on the triple bases of commerce, benevolence and religion.
From mediaeval times the City of London worked together with Livery Companies to control acceptance of Freemen. However in the nineteenth century it became possible for people to apply for the Freedom of the City of London without belonging to a Livery Company, and this created the need for an organisation to which all Freemen could belong to pursue the interests of the City.
This led to the foundation, in 1908, of the Guild of Freemen of the City of London, to bring together free men and women, for the purposes of charity, benevolence, education and social interaction.
City of London Freemen’s School is set in 57 acres (230,000 m2) of Ashtead Park in the heart of Surrey, having moved from London to Ashtead in 1926. The School celebrated its 150th Anniversary in 2004 with a year long series of events. The Anniversary started with a Service of Thanksgiving at St. Paul’s Cathedral attended by the whole School (now numbering over 800) and culminated in the School being represented with a float in the annual Lord Mayor’s Show.
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