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- The History Of Reed's School
- A Timeline of Reed's School
1813
London Orphan Asylum
The London Orphan Asylum (LOA) was founded as a charity by Rev. Dr Andrew Reed with sites in Shoreditch for boys and Bethnal Green for girls.
1815
First Annual Foundation Appeal Dinner
HRH Prince Edward, Duke of Kent presides over the first Annual Foundation Appeal dinner.
1823
School moves to Clapton
The LOA moved to Clapton. In 1826 there were 206 Foundation pupils, rising to 453 by 1860.
1871
School moves to Watford
The LOA moves to a new site in Watford after a serious outbreak of typhus in London.
1915
School Renamed
The School is renamed the London Orphan School.
1939
School Evacuated
At the outbreak of World War II pupils and staff are evacuated. The boys go to Totnes in Devon and the girls to Towcester in Northamptonshire.
1946
Boys relocate to Cobham
After the end of the war, the boys relocated to the present site in Cobham with the School having been renamed Reed’s in 1939.
1946
HRH Princess Elizabeth visits Dogmersfield
HRH Princess Elizabeth visits the girls’ school at Dogmersfield, Hampshire
to attend Sports Day.
1955
The girls' school closes
The girls’ school at Dogmersfield closes and a fond farewell is bid to Kathleen Mills, much loved Headmistress.
1958
The first fee-paying pupils start
The first fee-paying and day pupils started, easing the financial burden of
running an entirely Foundation School with no fees.
1959
The Queen Mother visits Cobham
HRH Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, visits Cobham to open the new
boarding houses.
2000
Girls in the Sixth Form
By 2000 there are over 40 girls in the Sixth Form for the first time ever.
2014
HM Queen Elizabeth II visits Cobham
HM Queen Elizabeth II, the School's Patron at the time, visits Cobham as part of the School’s bicentenary celebrations.