Stephen Perse
Encyclopedia
Stephen Perse was an English academic and philanthropist.

He was probably educated at Norwich School
Norwich School (educational institution)
Norwich School is an independent school located in Norwich, United Kingdom. It is one of the oldest schools in the world, with a traceable history to 1096, and is a member of The Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference.It is a fee-paying, co-educational day school and has one of the best...

, and took his B.A. degree at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge
Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge
Gonville and Caius College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college is often referred to simply as "Caius" , after its second founder, John Keys, who fashionably latinised the spelling of his name after studying in Italy.- Outline :Gonville and...

 in 1569, where he was later elected to a fellowship. Ordained in 1573, he was subsequently permitted to change his fellowship to “physick” and took the degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1581.

Perse amassed a fortune of around £10 000, probably from profits on business loans. He gave money to the University library, for the establishment of the road now known as Maid’s Causeway, and for the public water supply from the springs at Nine Wells to Cambridge along the stream now known as Hobson’s Conduit.

In his will, Perse gave a significant sum of money for the establishment of “a Grammar Free Schoole”, and adjoining almhouses for six poor widows. The school was to teach five score scholars born in Cambridge, Barnwell
Barnwell, Cambridgeshire
Barnwell is a suburb of Cambridge in England.It lies northeast of the city, with Cambridge Airport located immediately to the east. It forms part of the ecclesiastical parish of St Andrew the Less and was the site of Barnwell Priory....

, Chesterton or Trumpington, with some of the boys able to proceed to scholarships and fellowships at Caius College.
The Perse School
The Perse School
The Perse Upper School is an independent secondary co-educational day school in Cambridge, England. The school was founded in 1615 by Dr Stephen Perse, a Fellow of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, and has existed on several different sites in the city before its present home on Hills...

 was founded in 1615 at its original site in Free School Lane
Free School Lane
Free School Lane is in the centre of the City of Cambridge, England. It is the location of the Whipple Museum of the History of Science, the Department of History and Philosophy of Science the University's faculty of Social and Political Sciences, and is the original site of the Cavendish...

, Cambridge. His foundation is commemorated by a blue plaque
Blue plaque
A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person or event, serving as a historical marker....

 on the site. In 1881, the Perse School for Girls
Perse School for Girls
The Stephen Perse Foundation is an independent, fee-paying day school situated near the centre of Cambridge, England. The Foundation is made up of four schools: The Stephen Perse Pre-Prep School, for boys and girls aged 3-7, Perse Girls Junior School,for girls aged 7-11, Perse Girls Senior School,...

 was established, now part of the Stephen Perse Foundation.

The grave
Grave (burial)
A grave is a location where a dead body is buried. Graves are usually located in special areas set aside for the purpose of burial, such as graveyards or cemeteries....

of Stephen Perse is commemorated by a memorial in the college chapel and he is remembered at the College's annual Perse Feast. His epitaph there reads:


Christian surnamde Stephan Perse I hight
Sole life with God alone, my crowne my light
With living God eternall life I live
This now my song: to sole God praise I give

This epitaph by me Perse was devizd
To none else my thoughts better were comprizd.
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