The school's origins were with "The Educational Home for the Daughters of Wesleyan Ministers" founded in Clapton, London in 1869.

Waller left to marry in 1897 and Trew was persuaded to give up her own ambitions to lead the school.

The original school and the head's house was burnt down in 1936 and was replaced with a nearly identical building.

[2] She was superseded by Enid "Emma" Essame who had many hours planning the school's future with Baron Stamp, the chair of governors.

Essame had been identified as the head designate in the early 1930s and she had turned down other offers in the long wait for Trew to retire.

[6] The name "Queenswood" along with the school's motto "in hortis reginæ" (In Queens’ Gardens) pays tribute to John Ruskin (1819–1900) who was a champion of female education and women's place in society.