charity school

an elementary school, usually funded by charitable persons or organizations, for those unable to pay: a forerunner of the public-school system.

Nearby words

First recorded in 1675–85

Eleanor is no more fitted to be trusted with such an amount of money in her own hands than is a charity-school girl.
Barchester Towers|Anthony Trollope
No charity-school children sang over his grave when the former lord of Borreby was laid in the cold earth!
The Sand-Hills of Jutland|Hans Christian Andersen
The chorus-singers sang like charity-school girls at church.
Narrative of a Mission to Central Africa Performed in the Years 1850-51, Volume 2|James Richardson
It is now a charity-school, a lighthouse, and a life-saving station.
England, Picturesque and Descriptive|Joel Cook

This mystery was apparently written in the eighteenth century, for representation by a charity-school.
The English and Scottish popular ballads (Volume II of 5)|Various