Quakers in general, and Tottenham Quakers in particular, had a long interest in education. When George Fox visited Tottenham in 1689 he held Meetings in a school for women at High Cross, run by Bridge Austell.

When negotiations were in progress for the possible building of the first meeting house, the presence of two well-established Quaker schools was presented as additional reason for the Meeting to continue. These schools belonged to Richard Claridge and Alice Hays and were situated in Old Ship Yard at High Cross.