| Individual or organisational biography | The School was founded in 1894 as the Guild and Technical School, Clerkenwell Road and re-named Bolt Court Technical School in 1895, when the School moved to Bolt Court. Jurisidiction then passed to London County Council c1896 and the name changed again to London County Council School of Photoengraving and Lithography, Bolt Court in 1900. However, despite the official change the School was referred to as Bolt Court until 1949 when Bolt Court and the College of Printing and Kindred Trades merged to form the London School of Printing and Graphic Arts. The School was re-built in 1911 and re-opened in 1912, to allow for growth and modernisation of teaching and learning spaces. The School had a number of early Principals who crafted the School's subject areas and teaching methods: 1894-1900 Charles W Gamble; 1900-1903 AJ Newton; 1903-1912 AJ Bull.
After the merger in 1949 the Bolt Court section moved to the Old Daily Mirror building at Back Hill, Clerkenwell, 1953.
On 10 Aug 1878 a Royal Commission was established to investigate parochial charities. It reported on 12 Mar 1880 and resulted in a new emphasis on enhancing the technical workforce, in the face of new technologies and foreign competition, as well as a greater understanding of how parochial charities could be better administed to help the poor. The resultant legislation was the City of London Parochial Charities Act, 1883. This provided that the five largest parishes should continue to administer their own charitable endowments, but that the charities of the remaining 107 parishes [about 1,400 separate charitable gifts and bequests stretching back over 400 years] should be administered by a new corporate body the Trustees of the London Parochial Charities [now named City Parochial Foundation]. This in turn led to a number of educational foundations in deprived areas of London, where people needed to retain relevant practicle skills to remain in, or gain employment. Bolt Court was one of the establishments.
A Central Governing Body was established for the Trustees, nominated by local London government bodies and educational establishments. It was this body which placed the School under the direct guardianship of London County Council, prior to this the School was under the control of the Trustees. The School became independent from Council control in 1949 when in merged with the College of Printing and Kindred Trades. |