By Letters Patent of November 1574. Queen Elizabeth I granted that there should be a college or hospital of poor persons at East Greenwich to be called Collegium Pauperum Reginae Elizabeth. These Letters Patent were granted on the petition of William Lambarde, who endowed the College; further funds were received from time to time under the bequests of Ralph Rookby in 1594, Edward Walrond in 1720, Joseph Macey in 1791 and Sarah Elizabeth Giles in 1908. Until 1999, when the governing Charters were surrendered and a new Charity Commission Scheme sealed, the Master of the Rolls was President of the College and the Master and Wardens of the Company were Governors. Since 1999 the Drapers’ Company has acted as Trustee.

The original buildings were demolished and some of the present almshouses were constructed in 1818. Under a Scheme of 1884, a major extension was built, increasing the number of cottages to 40. In 1967 the Drapers’ Company constructed a block of 34 flats on land adjacent to the almshouses with a view to providing low cost, rented accommodation for deserving people. The flats, known as Lambard House, are administered under the auspices of the Charity.