Christ’s Hospital School Band made its 38th appearance at the Lord Mayor’s Show in London earlier this month (Saturday November 9), reaffirming the School’s historic connections with the City of London.
The musicians were 111th in the running order of 143 participants. They played their signature piece and School march, ‘Sussex by the Sea’ while marching past the Cenotaph. Three pupils also took part in the procession organised by the City of London to represent its Family of Schools.
For Band Captain Murray, a Year 13 pupil, this was his fourth year marching in the Lord Mayor’s Show: “My parents have been marching in bands at the Lord Mayor’s for many years; between the three of us we notch up 70 years! In fact, it was when my mum spoke to the Christ’s Hospital Band at the Lord Mayor’s Show in the ’80s that she decided she would like any future children she had to go to CH!”
The Band first attended the Lord Mayor’s Show in 1981 and so impressed the Lord Mayor that it has been invited to participate every year since! Four former CH pupils have, to date, been Lord Mayor of London, the most recent being Sir Richard Nichols in 1997.
Founded in the City in 1552 by the young King Edward VI, Christ’s Hospital School was established through the generosity of Sir Richard Dobbs, the Lord Mayor of the day, who was instrumental in forming a Committee of thirty to raise funds to educate London’s poorest children. The School moved to Horsham in 1902 and today three-quarters of its pupils receive bursaries and/or scholarships.