Gordon's School, West End, Woking: Records
The following describes the contents of this collection in the Surrey History Centre archives. Find out more about how to see the original documents.
- Ref No: 8201
- Repository: Surrey History Centre, Woking
- Date: 1885-2004
- Format: Archives
- Description: The records include minutes of the committees responsible for the running of the Home, annual reports, financial records and admission records and files relating to individual boys.
- Admin History: The Gordon Boys' Home was founded as the national memorial to General Charles Gordon (1833-1885) who was killed at Khartoum, Sudan, in January 1885. A committee including Lieutenant General Sir George Higginson and the Hon. Hallam Tennyson was formed with the plan of establishing a home for poor boys and royal patronage was secured. Initially the Home was based at Fort Wallington near Fareham, Hampshire, moving to the present site at West End near Woking in December 1887. In 1887 the conditions of admission were that the candidate should be aged from 14 to 16, be in the opinion of the Committee poor and unprovided for, and not have been convicted of crime. Payment, in full or part, of 22 per year was required for each boy's maintenance, but free admission was given in a number of deserving cases which could be paid for from the Home's general income. Boys were to be trained to the age of 18 for civil life in Britain or the colonies, or service in the Army, Navy or Mercantile Marine.
The name was changed from Gordon Boys' Home to Gordon Boys' School by a resolution of a general meeting on 10 May 1943. The instrument of government in 1952 established a committee of 6 governors 4 Foundation governors to be appointed by the Executive Committee of the Gordon Boys' School and 2 representative governors to be appointed by the local education authority (Surrey County Council). In practice most of the day to day work was done by the Finance and General Purposes Committee of the Foundation Executive Committee, which contained no Surrey County Council representatives. After May 1970 there was a further re-arrangement of the governance, with the establishment of a Management Sub-Committee with Surrey County Council representatives, responsible to the governors for the day to day running of the school. Today Gordon's School is a Voluntary Aided co-educational state school catering for full and weekly boarders and day pupils. It is supported by the Gordon Foundation, an independent charitable trust established in 1888. - Level: Collection
- Related Material: For videos relating to Gordon's School, 1995-2005, see 8033.
- Access Status: Open
- For more information contact: Surrey History Centre Collections Catalogue
- Catalogue
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