Epsom College

Epsom College is a co-educational public school, on the slopes of Epsom Downs in Surrey, in Southern England, for pupils aged 11 to 18. Founded in 1853 as a boys' school to provide support for poor members of the medical profession such as pensioners and orphans ("Foundationers"), Epsom's long-standing association with medicine was estimated in 1980 as having helped almost a third of its 10,000 alumni enter that profession. The college caters for both boarding and day pupils. The headmaster is a member of the Headmasters' Conference. The college's patron is HM The Queen.FoundationThe school was founded in 1853 by Dr. John Propert as The Royal Medical Benevolent College, the aims of which were to provide accommodation for pensioned medical doctors or their widows in the first instance, and to provide a "liberal education" to 100 sons of "duly qualified medical men" for £25 each year.The establishment of the College was the culmination of a campaign begun in 1844 by the Provincial Medical and Surgical Association, the forerunner of the British Medical Association. The scheme saw the medical profession was "in regard to charitable institutions for the aged and infirm, the widow and the orphan, the worst provided of all professions and callings" and took as its aim the alleviating of poverty and debt. Discussions were chaired by Sir John Forbes, Physician to Prince Albert and the Royal Household, and followed similar plans establishing schools for the Clergy and the Royal Navy in desiring to raise money to found "schools for the sons of medical men", providing an education which would otherwise be "beyond the means of many parents".