Endowed in 1913 by Miss Alice Margaret Dalrymple Prendergast in memory of her Brother Arthur, who had been an Honorary Freeman of the Company. The Prendergast Apprenticeship Fund was originally set up to obtain apprenticeships for Choir Boys of the Parish Churches of the City of London. It was set up at a difficult time as there were limited apprenticeship opportunities during the War years that followed and fully paid work in munitions factories was financially favoured by the boys at this time. Only one recipient is noted during the early years as having been awarded the proposed assistance, Richard John Tarrant in 1918.

Consequently, the fund was invested and effectively left to one side in the expectation that once it had grown sufficiently, it could be put more efficiently to its intended purpose. It was felt the fund had achieved a sufficient size just before the Second World War, but again it was put on hold due to situation and of course after the War there were very few Choir Boys available.