Royal Caledonian Asylum
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The Royal Caledonian School was a residential home and school for
Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...
orphans, initially in London and subsequently in Bushey,
Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...
.


History

The Caledonian Asylum was launched by members of the Highland Society of London in 1815 to provide a home and education for Scottish children in London who had been orphaned in the Napoleonic Wars. John Galt, the novelist, became secretary to the Asylum in 1815. The first Asylum was at 16 Cross Street, Hatton Garden, London from December 1819 until 1828 when it relocated to
Copenhagen Fields The Metropolitan Cattle Market (later Caledonian Market), just off the Caledonian Road in the parish of Islington (now the London Borough of Islington) was built by the City of London Corporation and was opened in June 1855 by Prince Albert ...
,
Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ar ...
. Its long residence in Islington resulted in the naming of Caledonian Market and the Caledonian Road. In 1852 Queen Victoria became Patron and the Asylum was renamed the Royal Caledonian Schools, although legally it was and still is the "Caledonian Asylum". At that time it catered for about 70 boys and 50 girls. The Asylum's band occasionally played at charitable and other events. By the late 19th century the Islington site, near to Pentonville Prison, was recognised as unsuitable, and a new boarding school was built in Bushey,
Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...
, from 1902. The
Caledonian Estate The Caledonian Estate is a Grade II listed, early Edwardian estate towards the northern end of the Caledonian Road in Islington, London. It is situated next to Pentonville Prison. The Estate was built on the site of the classical Caledon ...
was built on the school's site in Caledonian Road. Bricks from the old Caledonian Asylum were used to build two blocks of flats in Widdenham Road, London N7, known collectively as Loraine Mansions. The Royal Caledonian offered education until 1948, after which resident children received their education at local schools, in later years Queens' School which lies adjacent on Aldenham Road. In 1996 the premises were sold to the Purcell School. The proceeds of the sale were used for the charity to operate as the Royal Caledonian Education Trust, which continues to provide support to "children (no age limit) of Scots who have served in the Armed Forces, or the children of poor Scots living in the London area". Another objective is to allow the children of Scots serving in the armed forces a level of continuity in their education despite the frequent re-posting of their parents.


Notable alumni (Old Caleys)

* Charles Mackay, author *
Malcolm McEacharn Sir Malcolm Donald McEacharn (8 February 1852 – 10 March 1910) was Mayor of Melbourne from 1897 to 1900. He was a well-known Australian shipping magnate in the early part of the twentieth century and successfully stood for the Division of ...
, Australian shipping magnate, mayor of Melbourne and politician. *
James Thomson (B.V.) James Thomson (23 November 1834 – 3 June 1882), who wrote under the pen name Bysshe Vanolis, was a Scottish journalist, poet, and translator. He is most often remembered for ''The City of Dreadful Night'' (1874; 1880), a poetic allegory of ur ...
, poet


References


External links


Royal Caledonian Education Trust
{{Schools in Hertfordshire, former Defunct schools in Hertfordshire Relocated schools 1815 establishments in England