Royal Naval Asylum

The Royal Naval Asylum was an educational institution, founded under the name The British National Endeavour in 1798, by a Mr Andrew Thompson who strongly excited the charity of the British population by his ideas for a small "industrial school" for the orphans of military and naval personnel killed in action whilst defending Britain's interests. The school was begun in Clarence House, Paddington Green, but Thompson was rapidly overtaken by scandal insinuating fraud on his part. The school was taken under the leadership of a committee led by the

Duke of Sussex Duke of Sussex is a substantive title, one of several royal dukedoms, that has been created twice in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It is a hereditary title of a specific rank of nobility in the British royal family. It takes its name fr ...

, and then the

Duke of Cumberland Duke of Cumberland is a peerage title that was conferred upon junior members of the British Royal Family, named after the historic county of Cumberland. History The Earldom of Cumberland, created in 1525, became extinct in 1643. The dukedo ...

, and Mr Thompson was eventually acquitted of the charges and released, but by then the

Duke of York Duke of York is a title of nobility in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Since the 15th century, it has, when granted, usually been given to the second son of English (later British) monarchs. The equivalent title in the Scottish peerage was Du ...

conceived the idea of a "Military Asylum" and made plans, so it was decided to continue the "British National Endeavour" school as a "Naval Asylum" with ambitious and progressive plans, but without Thompson.

King George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

gave it the title Royal Naval Asylum following the defeat of the combined French and Spanish Fleets by the British at the

Battle of Trafalgar The Battle of Trafalgar (21 October 1805) was a naval engagement between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French and Spanish Navies during the War of the Third Coalition (August–December 1805) of the Napoleonic Wars (180 ...

. After acquiring the

Queen's House Queen's House is a former royal residence built between 1616 and 1635 near Greenwich Palace, a few miles down-river from the City of London and now in the London Borough of Greenwich. It presently forms a central focus of what is now the Old Ro ...

Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...

, and making substantial alterations, the school moved from

Paddington Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Paddi ...

to Greenwich in October 1807. This move, and the subsequent expansion were assisted by a large grant of over £61,000 by

Lloyd's Patriotic Fund Lloyd's Patriotic Fund was founded on 28 July 1803 at Lloyd's Coffee House, and continues to the present day. Lloyd’s Patriotic Fund now works closely with armed forces charities to identify the individuals and their families who are in urgent ne ...

. Horatio, Lord Nelson, was, amongst very many others, a supporter. The school was expanded to take 1000 pupils, both boys and girls, and in 1818 it was placed under the control of the

Board of Admiralty The Board of Admiralty (1628–1964) was established in 1628 when Charles I put the office of Lord High Admiral into commission. As that position was not always occupied, the purpose was to enable management of the day-to-day operational requi ...

. In April 1821 the school was placed under the administration of Greenwich Hospital, and in 1825 it became the "Lower School" of the Royal Hospital Greenwich. After a series of reorganizations it has become an ancestor of the

Royal Hospital School ) , established = 1694 Royal Charter1712 Greenwich1933 Holbrook, Suffolk, Holbrook , type = Public school (UK), Public School Independent school (UK), Independent day and boarding School Royal Foundation , founders = William ...

. {{coord missing, London Defunct schools in the Royal Borough of Greenwich 1798 establishments in England Educational institutions established in 1798