Descendants Of Our Founder, Bartholomew Ruspini Visits RMS

Published by The Royal Masonic School for Girls on Monday 3rd of April 2023

This Term we were honoured to host some of Bartholomew Ruspini’s family all the way from the US.

Ruspini founded our School back in 1788, and amazingly, the group of ten family members included his great, great, great, great, great grandchildren.

They were proud to visit the school he helped found all those years ago, and see for themselves his modern-day legacy.

As part of their day, we gave them a tour of the School, including our prep school, senior school and nursery, Ruspini House, who proudly bear our founder’s name. They were impressed by all that they saw, particularly our beautiful grounds, and the statue of Ruspini that stands proudly as part of our Chapel building.

Bartholomew Ruspini was a forward thinking Freemason, who developed the idea of a charity to educate the daughters of his fellow masons who were unable to support their families through death, illness or disability. This was very progressive for its time since girls were often unable to access an education in those days, even more so once the main breadwinner had died.

After securing funds and royal patronage, the life of what we now know as the Royal Masonic School for Girls began.

In 1978, the School ceased to be one funded entirely by the Freemasons and became an independent fee-paying school open to all girls. However, Ruspini’s vision for the School remains at the heart of RMS life today: we want to make sure that an exceptional and well-rounded education is available to all pupils, regardless of their financial background.

Just as Bartholomew Ruspini sought to achieve all those years ago, we too strive to ensure our pupils get the best start in life. We’re proud of our Scholarship and Bursary programme.