4 Legacies: fundamental The earliest document relating to the existence of what became Abingdon School dates from 1256 when John de Blosneville, Abbot of Abingdon Abbey, left a bequest for the support of thirteen poor scholars. Just over 300 years later, in 1563, John Roysse re-endowed the school as a new foundation following the dissolution of the Abbey under Henry VIII. Roysse’s endowment included property in the City of London, the income from which helped finance the school for the next 300 years. Sold in 1868, the proceeds underpinned the funding and construction of the present school. However, our benefactors are by no means only historic: Richard Cox (1934), Hugh Leach (1953), Nigel Hammond (1957) and Peter Kandiah (1959) have all left substantial bequests to the school in recent years. Like many others before and since, they wanted to acknowledge the benefit they received from an Abingdon education and by doing so contribute to its future. Our community of benefactors also extends beyond those who attended the school. Mathematician, businessman and Abingdon parent Professor Michael Walker OBE, (Martin (2001) Alan (1995)), was married to Veronica, Abingdon’s Head of Modern Languages, who sadly died in 2009. When Michael passed away in 2018, a legacy from his estate provided for the support of a future Abingdon pupil in the name of the Walker family. Veronica and the boys had loved their time at Abingdon; through Michael’s generosity, another family’s son was able to experience the life opportunities offered by an Abingdon education.
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