Anthony Ashley Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury

In Britain today, all boys and girls have to attend primary and secondary schools. It was not always like that. When Ashley (as the future seventh earl was always known by his friends and family, or Lord Ashley to the general public) was a boy, only the rich could send their children to schools like Eton and Harrow. Ashley went to Harrow. The children of ordinary people did not go to school at all, but if you think that sounds great, think a little about what they did instead! You will find out more as you read this story of Lord Ashley

.Lord Ashley was born on 28 April 1801, in London, in the house of his uncle, the fifth Earl of Shaftesbury. His uncle died in 1811, so Ashley's father became the sixth earl. From the age of seven, Ashley was sent to boarding school, but holidays were spent on the family estate at Wimborne St Giles in Dorset, a property which Ashley inherited when he became seventh Earl of Shaftesbury on his father's death in 1851, and at which he himself died and was buried in 1885.