Godolphin School

Godolphin School is an independent boarding and day school for girls in Salisbury, England, which was founded in 1726 and opened in 1784. The school educates girls between the ages of three and eighteen. History Godolphin was founded by Elizabeth Godolphin using her own money and some from the estate of her husband, Charles. She created the school originally for the education of eight young orphaned gentlewomen. According to the terms of the will, the beneficiaries were to be daughters of members of the Church of England, between eight and twelve years of age, born in Salisbury or some other Wiltshire town, and to have had "some portion left to them but not exceeding £400". The girls were to be taught to "dance, work, read, write, cast accounts and the business of housewifery". This was a fairly advanced curriculum for its time, since girls of this class were expected to be able to read but not necessarily to be able to write. The new charity was initially to be administered by her nephew William Godolphin and his heirs, The dean and chapter declined to take on the task on the grounds that the idea of educating women was "mere foolery and dreaming". Every year, in November, the school commemorates its founder Elizabeth Godolphin when the head girl, accompanied by members of the upper sixth and the Old Girls Association (OGA), lay a wreath on her tomb in the cloister of Westminster Abbey. This ceremony is known to girls past and present as "Commem." The school did not open its doors until 9 August 1784, when it was set up in Rosemary Lane, in the Cathedral Close, Salisbury. It later occupied various houses in the vicinity, including Arundells, more recently the home of Sir Edward Heath, and finally the King's House. A prospectus of 1789, written by the headmistress, Mrs Voysey, promised a regime of early rising, "agreeable exercise" and a diet of wholesome books "such as enlarge the heart to Virtue and excellency of Sentiment".