Figure 1.--This CDV portrait shows a Bristol boy in a blue coat uniforms. A HBC contributor knowledgeable about Blue Coat schools has colorised the CDV. As the photo was taken in Bristol, it is highly probable that he was a student of Queen Elizabeth's Hospital School, Bristol. The portrait was undated, but was probably taken in the 1880s. Note the cap he is holding. It looks to be a peaked cap. The students at the School still wear the blue coat uniform, but not these caps.

The School was founded over 400 years ago. Britol at the time was a booming port city with a prosperous merchant class. City mercent John Carr died in and provided in his will for the establishment in Bristol of a bluecoat school (1586). He wanted a school along the lines of Christ's Hospital School, already flourishing in London. The School's charter was granted by Queen Elizabeth I in 1590 and specifically charged it with "the education of poor children and orphans". This special and continuing responsibility is still maintained by the School's emphasis on pastoral care and by the use of its endowment income to provide a large number of day and boarding assisted places for those whose parents' means are limited. The School opened in 1590 and for years was know locally as the City school. It continued through various vicissitudes as a boarding school. The school retained its traditions over te centuries. Here we see a boy in the 19th century wearing the same blue coat uniform worn by the boys in the 16th century. The directors decided to admit day boys (1920). After World War II, England began major educatiional reforms to expand secondary education. The School became a two-form entry grammar school on the direct grant list of the then Ministry of Education (1945). The Government decided to end the Direct Grant Program (1975). The School thus became fully independent, with 470 day boys and 70 boarders. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II graciously agreed to become the School's Patron (1984). This was accirding to the School, "a fitting prelude to the commemoration in 1990 of its 400th anniversary."

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Created: 10:15 PM 7/18/2009
Last updated: 10:15 PM 7/18/2009