Royal Caledonian Schools Trust - The Caley, as it's affectionately known, was established in 1815 to help educate the sons and daughters of Scots who were serving, or who had served, in the armed forces, and the children of poor Scots in London. This article detais our long history. More details can be found below or via our website - www.rcst.org.uk .

Today, almost two hundred years later, the work continues in a way, which, we believe still meets our founders' intentions.

We help with educational grants for school clothing, school trips, school fees and help with living expenses for those in further or higher education.

Our founders set no age limit so the Caley can also help with those who need a second educational chance.

The Caley also sponsors projects that benefit groups or qualifying students, and awards scholarships to help those who decide to use a gap year to help less fortunate communities.

Here is our history... 

The Highland Society of London launched an appeal in 1808 to raise money for an Asylum to house and educate the many young Scots who were roaming the streets of London, having been orphaned by the Napoleonic wars. It took seven years to raise sufficient funds and to prepare the necessary Act of Parliament needed to create the Asylum.

Caley kids enjoying scones

Finally, on 14 June 1815, The Caledonian Asylum was launched by Act of Parliament. The original Life Guardians included their Royal Highnesses Frederick, Duke of York and Albany, Edward Duke of Kent and Strathearn, Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex and Earl of Inverness.

Others included the Dukes of Marlborough, Buccleuch and Queensbury, Gordon, Argyll, Montrose, Roxburgh, and Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington.

Following its incorporation the Guardians started the long process of finding a site for the Asylum. In March 1819 the first six boys were elected and six good London women were paid a shilling (5p in today's currency) a week to care for them.

The first Asylum was opened in December 1819 in Hatton Garden and was replaced in 1826 by a newly built Asylum in Copenhagen Fields, Islington. It remained there for 77 years and lent it's name to the "Caledonian Road".

Children in a Caley school room

Initially the scholars were all boys but in 1844, following some alterations, a space was found in the Asylum for a new school for girls.

In 1852 Her Majesty Queen Victoria became Patron and the Asylum was renamed the Royal Caledonian Schools, although legally it was and still is the "Caledonian Asylum". Royal patronage has continued since then.

When the Asylum was built in 1826 Islington was a quiet little village but by the end of the century things had changed. On 12 December 1901 the London Correspondent of the Aberdeen Daily Chronicle wrote:

"The Immediate neighbourhood is not pleasant. Cheek by jowl with the Asylum sits Pentonville Prison whose precincts have been darkened by the worse criminals the nation affords, and around it gathers the scum of all the nation on earth. Indeed one might walk the whole length of the Caledonian Road from Kings Cross to Holloway and Holloway again for a day and see nothing that his eye could rest on with pleasure except perhaps the "weel-faured" faces of the boys and girls of the Asylum in their dainty highland dresses."

Topping out ceremony at Bushey

Concerns like this had already lead to the Directors deciding to find a new site. By the end of 1897 they had decided to move to Bushey in Hertfordshire. Eventually after various appeals £37,400 was raised and the new schools project was up and moving. Part of the money came from the London County Council who purchased the old Asylum for £16,000, demolished it and built flats. These flats still remain and our history is remembered on the gates which are adorned with thistles.

The School in Bushey, which still stands in Aldenham Road, cost £40,000 and was built by Kerridge & Shaw of Cambridge. The architect was William Emerson, the then President of the Royal Institute of British Architects.

The Memorial Stone for the new Building was laid on 10 May 1902 by Her Royal Highness the Princess Beatrice, Princess Henry of Battenberg, a glittering occasion with great ceremony.

Later that month Bushey saw another procession when the children arrived from London by train and marched from Bushey Station led, of course, by the Schools' pipes and drums.

The Schools, with the Chapel which was
destroyed during the Second World War.

It was through the pipes and drums that the Schools left their permanent impression in Bushey with regular church parades and at local ceremonies. For many years the Caley Pipes and Drums played their part in Armistice Day commemorations at the Bushey war memorial.

With many Caley scholars joining the armed forces it is believed that ex-Caleys will have played their part in virtually every armed conflict since 1835. Caley lives were lost in both the First and Second World Wars. During the Second World War the dining room was damaged due to enemy action and the school chapel was destroyed due to an electrical fault.

From 1903 to 1948 education was provided at the Schools. The regime was strict but the children received a good Scottish education. After 1948 the children attended local state schools.

Many royal visits to the Schools took place. In 1925 the Prince of Wales who later became King Edward VIII visited the Schools, and the following year the Duke & Duchess of York (who later became King George VI and Queen Elizabeth) came to present prizes. This was the beginning of a long association with the Schools for Queen Elizabeth who as Queen Mother made two further visits and always took a real interest in the work of the schools.

In 1986 our present Patron Her Majesty the Queen opened Coltart House, the then new 6 th Form accommodation.

Pipe majors of the future

By 1995 the Directors, having given consideration both to the future of the Schools and the wishes of the original founders, decided that the best way to continue their work into the 21st century would be to close the Bushey premises, sell them and invest the proceeds of sale to provide an income for a new Educational Trust.

The buildings were purchased by the Purcell School, one of the four principle music schools in the UK, so music continues to grace these important buildings - only now the pipes and drums have been exchanged for other classical instruments.

Since the educational trust was formed we have helped hundreds of young Scots and awarded over one million pounds in grants. A whole new generation of Caley Scholars is emerging.

Her Majesty The Queen, our patron, opens
"The Hub" in Inverness, we co-ordinated the
fundraising for this project.

Our links with the Armed Forces remain strong and we have recently launched an educational project which continues our work in helping to alleviate the effects on service children caused by the moves required of their parents.

Children enjoying the Adventure Welfare
Services 2004 Summer Camp

> Royal Caledonian Schools Trust . 

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