Mrs Elizabeth Carter donated land for the school and an annual income of £10, while William Lee donated £100 for the building of a school house and a further annual £10. The building in St John Street (now Grimsby Street) was completed in 1722. Over the years the Trustees of Thomas Parmiter's Estate looked after its investments carefully. A notably prescient move was the purchase in 1723 of property in Cambridge Heath in Bethnal Green, London, using money lent by Edward Mayhew.