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Stephen Perse (1548 – 30 September 1615) was an English academic and philanthropist, who founded schools that still carry his name.
Cambridge Blue Plaques
In 1881, the
Stephen Perse (1548 – 30 September 1615) was an English academic and philanthropist, who founded schools that still carry his name.
Biography
He was probably educated atNorwich School
Norwich School (formally King Edward VI Grammar School, Norwich) is a selective English independent day school in the close of Norwich Cathedral, Norwich. Among the oldest schools in the United Kingdom, it has a traceable history to 1096 as a ...
, and took his B.A. degree at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge
Gonville and Caius College, often referred to simply as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and one of th ...
in 1569, where he was elected to a fellowship. Ordained in May 1573, as an Anglican
Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...
priest and deacon, he was subsequently permitted to change his fellowship to "physick" and took the degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1581.
Perse amassed a fortune of around £10,000, probably from profits on business loans. He gave money to the University library, for the establishment of the road now known as Maid’s Causeway, and for the public water supply from the springs at Nine Wells to Cambridge along the stream now known as Hobson’s Conduit.
The grave
A grave is a location where a dead body (typically that of a human, although sometimes that of an animal) is buried or interred after a funeral. Graves are usually located in special areas set aside for the purpose of burial, such as grave ...
of Stephen Perse is commemorated by a memorial in the college chapel and he is remembered at the College's annual Perse Feast. His epitaph there reads:
Educational foundation
In his will, Perse gave a significant sum of money for the establishment of "a Grammar Free Schoole", and adjoiningalmhouses
An almshouse (also known as a bede-house, poorhouse, or hospital) was charitable organization, charitable public housing, housing provided to people in a particular community, especially during the medieval era. They were often targeted at the p ...
for six poor widows. The school was to teach five score scholars born in Cambridge, Barnwell, Chesterton or Trumpington
Trumpington is a village and parish to the south of Cambridge, England. The village is an electoral ward of the City of Cambridge and a ward of South Cambridgeshire District Council. The 2011 Census recorded the ward's population as 8,034.
Th ...
, with some of the boys able to proceed to scholarships at Gonville & Caius College."Perse: A History of the Perse School 1615-1976", S.J.D. Mitchell, Oleander Press, Cambridge 1976.
"A History of the Perse School, Cambridge", J.M. Gray, Bowes and Bowes, Cambridge 1921.
The Perse School
(He who does things for others does them for himself)
, established =
, closed =
, type = Public schoolIndependent day school
, religion = Nondenominational Christian
, president =
, head_label = Head
, he ...
was founded in 1615 at its original site in Free School Lane
Free School Lane is a historic street in central Cambridge, England which includes important buildings of University of Cambridge. It is the location of the Whipple Museum of the History of Science, the Department of History and Philosophy of ...
, Cambridge. His foundation is commemorated by a blue plaque
A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term i ...
on the site.In 1881, the
Perse School for Girls
The Stephen Perse Foundation is a family of independent schools in Cambridge and Saffron Walden for students aged 1 to 18.
The Foundation is made up of 3 nurseries (2 in Cambridge and 1 in Saffron Walden, Essex) for ages 1–5, 2 Junior Schoo ...
was established, now part of the Stephen Perse Foundation.
References
1548 births 1615 deaths People educated at Norwich School Fellows of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Founders of English schools and colleges Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge 16th-century English writers 16th-century male writers 17th-century English writers 17th-century English male writers English philanthropists {{England-academic-bio-stub