St Paul’s School

Famous Londoners – William Camden…

by exploringlondon

Famed 16th century historian and writer William Camden is celebrated not only for the influence he and his career had on writers including the likes of Ben Jonson and Edmund Spenser, but also for his work in helping to transform the idea of historical inquiry.

‘William Camden’ by or after Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger, oil on panel, 17th century, based on a work of 1609 NPG 528. PICTURE: © National Portrait Gallery, London

Camden was born in London on 2nd May, 1551, the son of Sampson, a painter-stainer originally from Lichfield, and his wife Elizabeth (Curwen).

He attended a school at Christ’s Hospital and then St Paul’s School before going on to study at the University of Oxford., graduating with a BA in 1573.

He had returned to London a couple of years earlier and in 1575 was appointed the second master of Westminster School (Jonson was one of his pupils; according to tradition, Camden sponsored his position).

It was during this period that, when not attending his duties at Westminster, he travelled the country, collecting material for what would be the first topographical survey of England. Titled Britannia and written in Latin, it was published in 1586.

Camden was made head master in 1593 and in 1595 published a Greek grammar which became seen as standard work.

In 1597, he was made Clarenceux king-of-arms (one of the three principal heralds at the College of Arms) which allowed him more time for writing (in 1589, he had been granted the prebend of Ilfracombe at Salisbury Cathedral).

Camden, who had established the Society of Antiquities with friends in about 1585 (it helped lay the foundations for the school of 17th century historians), published several history-related works between 1600 and 1607 including the first guide to Westminster Abbey’s monuments.

He was, from the end of that period, also working on his Annales Rerum Anglicarum et Hibernicarum Regnante Elizabetha (Annals of the Affairs of England and Ireland During the Reign of Elizabeth), the first volume of which was published in 1615 (a second volume was completed in 1617 but not published until after Camden’s death).

In 1618, in poor health, Camden retired two Chislehurst in Kent and while there founded the first chair of history at the University of Oxford (in fact the first such chair at any English university). He died, having never married, at Chislehurst on 9th November, 1623.,

Camden was buried in Poet’s Corner, in the south transept, of Westminster Abbey and has a monument which features his bust.

Where’s London’s oldest…school?

by exploringlondon

One of the key contenders for the oldest school in London must be St Paul’s Cathedral School, originally established in the 12th century to cater for the education of choristers attending St Paul’s Cathedral (although there had apparently been a school associated with the cathedral since the 7th century).

The school, which has been described as one of the oldest educational institutions in the Western world, dates its establishment to about 1123 and started with just eight boys who were given a home and education in exchange for singing in the cathedral.

The school gradually became two separate institutions – a choir school and a grammar school – with the choristers graduating from the choir school to finish their education at the grammar school.

But in 1511, the grammar school was refounded by Dean John Colet as Saint Paul’s School. It’s now located in Barnes.

The former choristers school, now known as the St Paul’s Cathedral School, became known more for its acting in the 16th and early 17th centuries when the children performed regularly for Queen Elizabeth I at Greenwich Palace.

The original school building, which stood in St Paul’s Churchyard, was destroyed in the fire of 1666.

In 1874, the school was re-established in Carter Lane. It moved to its present location in New Change in the 1960s.

While now independent of the cathedral, the establishment now offers a preparatory school for boys and girls aged four to 13 and a residential choir school for the boy choristers of St Paul’s Cathedral. New boarding accommodation is expected to open on the site next year.

PICTURE: The concrete buildings of St Paul’s Cathedral School on the right with the surviving tower of St Augustine’s Church, Watling Street, and St Paul’s Cathedral behind (Google Maps)