Search

The origins of the charitable status of elite schools in England is a neglected topic. This article reconstructs the debate on the funding of schools which led to the establishment of the Charity Commission in 1853 and argues that it was the obdurate refusal of the Anglican Church to surrender its control of secondary education which first delayed reform and then forced the compromise which resulted in the major public schools remaining outside the direct control of the new Commission. In conclusion, it argues that decisions which were taken in the mid-nineteenth century continue to resonate today, allowing elite schools catering for some of the richest families in the land to continue to operate as registered charities and benefit from significant financial support from the State. The article carries the implicit suggestion that this is but one of several controversial contemporary issues which might benefit from more detailed historical contextualisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article will argue that the current historiography considers the 'public school experience' of the First World War too narrowly, and will emphasise that boys from a wide range of establishments experienced the war in a similar fashion to those at elite public schools. It will do this through a case study of the alumni of the Perse Grammar School, Cambridge. By approaching the experience of Perseans in a thematic fashion it will shed new light on how the alumni of schools just below and developing towards full public-school status were affected by the war, an area hitherto not fully explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]