The William Palmer Trust

Welcome to the William Palmer College Educational Trust Website

William Palmer was born in 1633, the same year as Samuel Pepys, and described himself as a Merchant.

He inherited the Manor of Grays in 1638 and, after his marriage, lived in the area whilst carrying on business in the City of London.

In 1706 William Palmer established a Trust ‘to teach ten poor children of the Parish to read and write and cast accounts and instruct them in the Latin tongue’.

William Palmer’s Deed instructed the Trustees to build a good substantial Brick Building in the Church Yard.

So the first regulations and syllabus for the school were laid down.