Harrow School

Independent boarding school for boys in Harrow, Greater London, England. Its founder, John Lyon (d. 1592), was a yeoman of neighboring Preston who yearly set aside funds for the education of poor children of Harrow. Elizabeth I granted the school's charter in 1571, and the first building was opened in 1611. It has long been renowned as one of the two or three greatest English public (i.e., independent) schools; its graduates include Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Lord Byron, Sir Robert Peel, and Winston Churchill.