The plaque, attached to the rails surrounding
the memorial, reads:
"St George's Gardens
Henry Raine Memorial
Henry Raine was born in 1679 into a wealthy
family. As the owner of the Star Brewhouse at New Crane Wharf, he made his
fortune from brewing.
In 1719 Henry built Raine House in Wapping, a charity school that provided
education for 50 girls and 50 boys which he supported at his own expense. At the
end of their school careers the boys were apprenticed to local tradesmen and the
girls went into domestic service. This school went on to become the Raine's
Foundation School, now situated in Bethnal Green.
A devout churchman, Henry Raine was a key figure in the creation of the parish
of St George-in-the-East in 1729 and ensured that his charitable foundation was
established in order to link the schools he founded with the parish.
Henry married Sarah Petrie from Mile End New Town on 13 August 1724.
Unfortunately, Sarah died soon after on 26 February 1725 and Henry never
re-married. Henry died in 1738 and both he and Sarah are interred in the Raine
family tomb."
The Old Raineians' Association's website (visit
link) tells of the memorials restoration in 2008. It also includes
photographs of the work as it progressed:
"Through the application of various grants,
The Henry Raine Memorial at St Georges in The East has been faithfully and
painstakingly restored. The following pages of photographs and text explain some
of the procedures involved. The restored railings, part funded by the ORA are
painted dark green. In Victorian times, contrary to expectation, black paint was
yet to be manufactured, as it would not dry!
Because of extensive movement caused by the rusting of ferrous fixings the
monument was reluctantly dismantled and all fixings replaced with stainless
steel.
No time capsule was found but one has been installed containing a copy of The
Guardian and Daily Star, business cards, images of the team involved and a
bottle of beer ! Hopefully this impressive monument will once again become the
focal point of the gardens and the school may again hold their commemorative
services there for years to come."
The website (visit
link) also gives some history of the Raine legacy:
"Henry Raine (1679 to 1738) was a wealthy
brewer who owned a well-established family business in the semi-rural area of
Wapping-Stepney, just to the east of the Tower of London. He initially lived
close to what was a substantial group of buildings, which he either owned or
rented, before following the example of many of his wealthy contemporaries,
having a mansion built for himself and his family in Woodford, Essex.
For several years prior to the foundation of his own school, Henry Raine had
been a trustee of the Wapping Charity School, which was founded as part of the
movement to bring some education and training to poorer children, thereby
enabling them to be permanently employed after leaving school. Prior to 1719,
Henry Raine had maintained the charity school financially but in that year he
started fund the school totally. His financial support meant that he was able to
appoint both the schoolmaster and mistress; he was involved in setting the
curriculum and ensured that the school was run on Christian principles based on
his High Church principles which were also followed by many of his
contemporaries.
The children had to live in parishes close to the school and had to come from
families who were practicing Anglicans - non-conformists and Roman Catholics
were strictly excluded. The 1719 school building still stands and is now the
oldest non-ecclesiastical building in Tower Hamlets.
The school, which was in Charles Street, Wapping, educated fifty boys and fifty
girls, who joined aged eight or nine and stayed for four years. At the end of
their school careers the boys were apprenticed to local tradesmen and the girls
went into domestic service.
On 13 August 1724, Henry married Sarah Petrie, whose family lived in Mile End
Old Town, at St Dunstan’s Church, Stepney, Sarah was a member of one of the most
important Roman Catholic families in the country. Sarah died on 26 February 1725
after which, uncommonly for that time, Henry never remarried. Sarah and other
members of Henry’s family, were buried in the Raine’s family tomb which still
stands in the grounds of St George’s in the East, Stepney.
In 1736, Henry built an additional residential school or asylum for girls, who
were given a further four years education, to ensure that they would then go on
to domestic service. When Henry died in 1738, the provisions of his will ensured
that the schools, which would be managed by a large group of local worthies and
members of Henry’s immediate family, would be able to continue by utilising the
income from his property and the stocks which he left to finance the project.
The asylum building, which was demolished in the 1920s, was used as a school
until the 1890s after which and despite being condemned, it became part of the
Stepney Workhouse complex.
Henry Raine was one of the most important people in the foundation of the parish
of St George’s in the East in 1729 and he established his charitable foundation
in such a way as to link the school and parish for many years to come. A
portrait of the first Rector of St George’s, Dr William Simpson, still hangs in
the Headmasters study in the school.
The schools continued virtually unchanged until the middle of the 19th century
when it became clear that the buildings were in need of serious restoration and
that the schools, rather than the asylum, had outgrown their purpose. In
addition, the changes in legislation relating to education were such as to make
change inevitable. The school had always been operated on charitable grounds but
now a new system, where paying pupils and foundation pupils would both be taken
into the school and educated together. The changes coincided with the
appointment of Robert Strange Taylor as first Assistant Master and then Master
and subsequently Headmaster of the schools, who was responsible for
restructuring the whole of Raine’s Foundation and the Schools.
Taylor ensured that the schools were moved to better premises in Cannon Street
Road, just a few hundred yards from St George’s in the East.
The boys and girls had separate schools with the education was being geared more
towards science, technology and teaching than the traditional subjects and
aspirations. The school also dropped its insistence that only practicing
Anglicans be admitted and increasingly the school population reflected the mix
of people and religions in the East End.
However, the school quickly outgrew the new buildings and Taylor was instructed
to find a new site for the school. After several years of work on the project,
the Foundation’s trustees bought a plot of land on the east side of Arbour
Square, Stepney where, at a cost of some £30,000 they built a school for two
hundred and fifty boys and a similar number of girls, where the school remained
until 1985.
The school was and still is, an imposing building (use current stuff about the
hall, insert hall picture). However the school went through serious trials and
tribulations during both world wars. Over 300 ex-pupils and teachers fought in
the First World War, of whom some 35 were killed.
In the Second World War, the schools were evacuated to parts of the south coast
and Kent, leading to a myriad of stories from pupils about their experiences
during their evacuation. After the last war, the school continued to develop its
educational standards, sending a good proportion of its senior pupils of both
genders on to university and an enviable record of sporting achievement.
In 1964, the school ceased to be divided into boys and girls departments and
became a co-education school.
In 1985, the school moved, for only the third time in what was then its almost
270 years history to two sites in Bethnal Green, the Upper School, which
occupies what many east-enders will remember as Parmenters School in Approach
Road and the Lower School The Arbour Square building is now part of Tower
Hamlets College.
The School’s achievements, based on the legacy of Henry Raine are impressive. It
still maintains its mix of foundations and non-foundation pupils. The Foundation
itself is the oldest charitable foundation in Tower Hamlets and it still
provides financial support for pupils to attend university. The original
building is the oldest non-ecclesiastical building in Tower Hamlets and the
Arbour Square site is still as imposing as ever and, in many ways, it
demonstrates the stability of Henry Raine’s vision."