Robert Aske (merchant)
Robert Aske (24 February 1619 – 27 January 1689) was a merchant and haberdasher in the City of London. He is remembered primarily for the charitable foundation created from his estate, which nowadays operates two schools in Hertfordshire, Haberdashers' Boys' School and Haberdashers' School for Girls, and others elsewhere.
Robert Aske | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 24 February 1619 |
| Died | 27 January 1689 (aged 69) |
Life
Aske was the son of an affluent draper. Aske was apprenticed to John Trott, a haberdasher (dealer in raw silk) and East India Company merchant. Aske became a freeman of the Worshipful Company of Haberdashers in 1643 and was elected an alderman of the City of London in 1666.
Slave trade
From 1671 Aske held £500 of original stock in the slave-trading Royal African Company,[1] where he was one of 198 stockholders, entitling him to a single vote.[2] He became Master of the Haberdashers' Company, but was removed from that position by James II in 1687 when the Catholic King lost faith in Aske, a Protestant.
Aske made an investment of £500 (c. £89K as of 2021[3]) in the Royal African Company (RAC) in 1672. This was made under the provisions of the original RAC charter of 1672 which stipulated that individual investors were entitled to one vote for each £100 share. To be elected an assistant, or director, of the RAC, a shareholder had to hold at least £400 of shares. This regulation required those who wished to be entitled to vote as a shareholder in the RAC to show some financial commitment. Aske may have voted and participated in discussion about policy decisions, but there is no evidence that he was elected as an assistant, or director, of the company. At the time of his death, his estate included £650 (c. £125K as of 2021[3]) of RAC stock. This represents 1.3% of the total value of his estate.[4] As a result of discussion of Aske's legacy in 2021, his name was dropped from the two Haberdashers' Schools in Elstree, although it was retained by their governing body.[5]
Charity
| Act of Parliament | |
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| Long title | An Act for settling a Charity given by Robert Aske Esquire to the Company of Haberdashers of London. |
|---|---|
| Citation | 2 Will. & Mar. Sess. 2. c. 18 |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 20 December 1690 |
Status: Current legislation | |
Despite marrying twice, Aske had no children and left the bulk of his sizable estate, £32,000 (equivalent to £6.2m as of 2021,[3]), to his livery company for charitable purposes. He directed that £20,000 was to be used to buy a piece of land within one mile of The City upon which was to be built a "hospital" (almshouses) for 20 poor members of the Worshipful Company of Haberdashers and a school for 20 sons of poor freemen of the company. The remaining £12,000 was left to form the Haberdashers' Aske's Foundation, of which the livery company is trustee. The charity was incorporated by a private Act of Parliament in 1690.[4]
Legacy
An almshouse and school, Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School, were built on 21 acres in Hoxton by 1692 to a design by Robert Hooke. A further 1,500 acres (6 km²) in Kent were acquired to provide an annual income of over £700. The buildings were demolished in 1824 and reconstructed in 1825 to a design by the architect, David Riddell Roper.[6] The almshouses were closed to enable the school to expand in 1874 to take 300 boys and 300 girls, and a second and third school were opened in Hatcham, Surrey in 1875. Haberdashers' Aske's School, Hoxton was relocated (Hampstead for the boys and Acton for the girls) in 1898. The boys' school moved to Elstree, opening there in 1961, and both schools were reunited in 1974 when the girls' school opened on an adjoining site. The Hatcham schools are now merged as a single state school, an academy known as Haberdashers' Hatcham College.
References
- Woodhead, J. R. (1966). "Abrahall - Ayray". The Rulers of London 1660-1689 A Biographical Record of the Aldermen and Common Councilment of the City of London. London. pp. 14–21. Retrieved 1 February 2021 – via British History Online.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Scott, W. R. (1903). "The Constitution And Finance Of The Royal African Company Of England From Its Foundation Till I720" (PDF). American Historical Review. VIII (2): 245. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
- UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
- "Robert Aske". The Haberdashers' Company.
- Woolcock, Nicola (4 September 2021). "Haberdashers' Aske's schools change name over link to slave trade". The Times. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
- "www.british-history.ac.uk". www.british-history.ac.uk. 22 June 2003. Retrieved 21 July 2013.