Haberdashers' Adams

Haberdashers' Adams Grammar School is a selective grammar school for high-achieving boys aged 11-18 and girls aged 16-18, located in Newport, Shropshire, offering day and boarding education. Current (2021) boarding fees are £12,144 per year and £13,644 per year for overseas students It was founded in 1656 by William Adams, a wealthy member of the Worshipful Company of Haberdashers (one of the Great Twelve Livery Companies of the City of London). In January 2018, the school changed its name to Haberdashers’ Adams, replacing the previous name, Adams' Grammar School (AGS). From 2024, the school will go fully co-ed admitting girls into Year 7. History Adams was founded in 1656 by Alderman William Adams, a wealthy City of London merchant and haberdasher, who was born in Newport. Adams had no children and never married, so therefore decided to leave a bequest for the foundation of the school, which was first opened on 25 March 1656, during the politically unstable and volatile period of the English Interregnum. Having received permission from Oliver Cromwell to found the school, Adams sought to further ensure the school's continued existence by appointing the Master and Wardens of the Haberdashers' Company as governors in perpetuity. As one of the few schools founded during the Interregnum period, the school's articles of foundation were reconfirmed by Act of Parliament in 1660 (12 Cha. 2. c. 12), upon the Restoration of the Monarchy; a copy of which is held in the school archives. Adams endowed the school with a large agricultural estate at Knighton in Staffordshire, providing income for future generations; as a result of this, Knighton was exempt from all land taxes until 1990. The school was endowed with 1,400 books soon after its foundation, which at the time represented one of the largest school libraries in England. A typical Oxford or Cambridge college then only had about 1,000 books. Only seven of these 1,400 books are still in the school's ownership, with the rest having been sold at various times when the school has suffered financial hardship.