Royal Masonic School for Boys
Encyclopedia
From 1798 charities were set up for clothing and educating sons of needy Freemason
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
s. They originally provided education by sending them to schools near to their homes. A specific masonic boys' school was set up at Wood Green
Wood Green
Wood Green is a district in north London, England, located in the London Borough of Haringey. It is situated north of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of the metropolitan centres in Greater London.-History:...
in North London in 1857 following amalgamation of the charities in 1852.
A new school was built in 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
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...
in 1903 and a Junior School was added on the other side of The Avenue in 1929.
By 1939 there were 800 boys at the school.
Following a decline in pupil numbers the junior school closed in 1970;
the site is now occupied by Bushey Academy.
Numbers continued to fall, and the senior school closed in 1977.
For a time, the buildings housed the United States International University (Europe). Both schools were commonly used for films (such as Monty Python
Monty Python
Monty Python was a British surreal comedy group who created their influential Monty Python's Flying Circus, a British television comedy sketch show that first aired on the BBC on 5 October 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series...
's The Meaning of Life, Lucky Jim
Lucky Jim
Lucky Jim is an academic satire written by Kingsley Amis, first published in 1954 by Victor Gollancz. It was Amis's first novel, and won the Somerset Maugham Award for fiction...
(twice), Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and numerous TV shows) from the 1950s until recently. They have now been redeveloped as luxury housing.
The Royal Masonic School for Girls at Rickmansworth
Rickmansworth
Rickmansworth is a town in the Three Rivers district of Hertfordshire, England, 4¼ miles west of Watford.The town has a population of around 15,000 people and lies on the Grand Union Canal and the River Colne, at the northern end of the Colne Valley regional park.Rickmansworth is a small town in...
, Hertfordshire still thrives today.
Notable alumni
- Anthony AndrewsAnthony Andrews-Life and career:Andrews was born in London, the son of Geraldine Agnes , a dancer, and Stanley Thomas Andrews, a musical arranger and musical conductor. He grew up in the North Finchley district of London...
– actor - Percy Jack ClaysonPercy Jack ClaysonPercy Jack Clayson MC, DFC was a British Flying Ace in World War I credited with twenty-nine victories.-Background:Clayson was born in Deptford, London on 7 June 1896...
- First World War fighter ace - Robin GibsonRobin Warwick GibsonRobin Warwick Gibson, OBE was a British gallery curator and art historian best known for his work at the National Portrait Gallery in London between 1968 and 2001, including eight years as Chief Curator...
- art historian - Richard EvansRichard Evans (businessman)Sir Richard Harry Evans, CBE, Hon FRAeS less formally known as Dick Evans, was formerly chairman of BAE Systems.In 2001 he became Chancellor of the University of Central Lancashire...
– businessman - Harvey PostlethwaiteHarvey PostlethwaiteHarvey Postlethwaite was a British engineer and Technical Director of several Formula One teams during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. He died of a heart attack in Spain while supervising the testing of the abortive Honda F1 project...
– Formula OneFormula OneFormula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
designer - D. R. ThorpeD. R. ThorpeD. R. Thorpe is an historian and biographer who has written biographies of three British Prime Ministers of the mid 20th century, Sir Anthony Eden, Sir Alec Douglas-Home and Harold Macmillan.-Education and academic career:...
– political biographer - Brent SadlerBrent SadlerBrent Sadler is a former CNN correspondent to the Middle East, lived in Beirut, Lebanon for the past decade, where he has been CNN's bureau chief since 1997....
- CNN News Reporter in the Middle East