Royal School for Daughters of Officers of the Army The Royal School for Daughters of Officers of the Army was a girls ' boarding school situated in Bath , England . In 1998 it was incorporated into the Royal High School . Early history . The Royal School for Daughters of Officers of the Army grew out of the Officers ' Widows and Orphans Fund , initiated by philanthropist Alfred Douglas Hamilton as a result of the Crimean War . The school was founded in 1864 , and opened on 24 August 1865 under lady superintendent ( headmistress ) Emmeline Maria Kingdon , who may have been recommended by Florence Nightingale and who retired in 1882 . The school ' s mission was to provide practical and religious education for the daughters of army officers who might otherwise be unable to afford it . The Royal Patriotic Fund was already providing for needy families of soldiers and non - commissioned officers . The Royal Naval Female School , founded in 1840 , provided assistance for the daughters of naval officers . It formed the model on which the new school was based . Other schools existed for officers ' sons . The Royal School was privately funded , relying on a mixture of subscriptions , legacies and other gifts , and fees . Subscribers were eligible to vote on which girls would receive admission at reduced fees ( initially twelve pounds ) . Greater contributors received more votes . The school ' s building was originally intended to be a boys ' day school . This school failed and the building , in Lansdown on the outskirts of Bath , was purchased in September 1863 . A London office was maintained , initially on Cockspur Street , until a bursar was appointed at Bath after World War II . In 1870 a junior school was opened in Clarence House at Roehampton , for girls aged ten to fourteen . However , this branch of the school struggled to achieve the standards of the parent institution . In 1885 the junior school closed and the girls transferred to Bath . War years . In September 1939 , after war was declared , the school moved to Longleat and the Admiralty ' s Hydrographic Department took over the Lansdown premises . Significant improvisation and some construction were required to make the situation workable . Lack of space , and difficulty in retaining domestic and teaching staff , were among many problems . However , the school remained at Longleat until the end of summer term in 1947 . During this time the system of voting for foundationers was suspended , never to be reinstated . This period also saw the deaths of their host Lord Bath , a president The Duke of Connaught , and two chairmen . Pupils . The basic admission requirements , at the outset , were reflected in the school ' s name . A motion to include the word " necessitous " was defeated , but the school ' s aims were nevertheless charitable . Daughters of needy officers were admitted at £12 per annum , significantly below cost . Other families paid more . In about 1889 , for financial reasons , the committee decided to admit granddaughters of officers and , and the highest fees , daughters of civilian gentlemen . Most fathers were commissioned officers , but a few rose from the ranks . The normal age for admission was ten to fifteen . Girls were expected to be able to read and write , and be in good health . Parents were encouraged to send their girls young . It was considered difficult to help them , if they had received only a haphazard education , as they grew older . Pupils were required to leave at age eighteen , except under special circumstances . The leaving age was relaxed as academic achievement and admission to university became more important , but the rule was not formally abolished until 1949 . The school was initially only open only to Protestant families . This restriction prevented the school from obtaining a grant from the Royal Patriotic Fund to assist with its foundation , but was not lifted until 1920 . A significant number of places were taken by girls who had lost their fathers . In 1901 , during the Boer War , 54 out of 120 pupils were fatherless . During the early decades of the school , girls came from all over the empire . A particularly large group was those born in India , whether to officers of the Indian Army or British Army units stationed there . When the Indian Army was disbanded in 1947 , the school lost an important source of financial support . After the return from Longleat , the school agreed in principle to accept some pupils sponsored by local education authorities ; very few came . In 1949 , a few day girls were admitted for the first time . A ratio of 20 day girls to 250 boarders was thought appropriate to maintain the character of the school . Notable former pupils include traveller and writer Ella Constance Sykes ( 1863 - 1939 ) , biographer and historian Cecil Woodham - Smith , civil servant Jean Josephine Nunn ( 1916 – 1982 ) , painter and illustrator Nina Hamnett and actress Sheila Gish .