At Bloomsbury and St. Giles's: past and present; with historical and antiquarian notices of the vicinity, 1890 we found: "BLOOMSBURY PAROCHIAL SCHOOLS. These schools, founded in the year 1705, were formerly situated in Museum Street, but in 1880 they were removed to No. 27, Little Russell Street, specially built for the purpose from designs of Mr. Peacock. By this charity twenty-five girls are boarded, clothed, educated, and trained to become useful servants, and eighty boys are clothed and educated. ....".
In 1730 the St George's, Bloomsbury parish was created out of the St Giles in the Fields parish. The joint name of these schools suggests that the two parishes continued to carry out some initiatives jointly, such as running schools. Indeed the National Archive holds "St Giles in the Fields and St George Bloomsbury Joint Vestry records, 1767-1900".
In The Courier, 06/07/1816, available at The Last Chance to Read we found: "Mr. T. COOKE, of Bloomsbury, one of the Trustees of the Parochial School of St. Giles and St. George, Bloomsbury, gave an account of that Institution. It is for the clothing and education and apprenticing of 101 boys, and the board, cloathing and education of 60. girls. The School was/ established in 1706... He thought there would be objections to apply any part of the funded property to the purpose of enlarging, the premises."
We've searched old maps but cannot find the original school marked on Museum Street, so perhaps it was small and occupied a normal domestic property.
Credit for this entry to: Alan Patient of www.plaquesoflondon.co.uk
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