Beale, Dorothea, 1831-1906; Cheltenham Ladies' College -- History; Teachers -- England -- Biography
‘I feel a sorrowful pride as I remember some of the Heads of
the great Schools, who have passed out of sight, but whose
works follow them. We were happy in our founder:[97] with such
a leader one felt ashamed of any evil spirit of competition:
she always wanted to impart any good gift and introduce
improved methods of teaching: to recommend new books, and to
propose arrangements for the better organisation of schools,
for the training of teachers, for extending the sphere of
women’s work, for relieving them of the pressure of anxiety
about old age: these things occupied her thoughts while she was
still herself bearing the burden of financial responsibility,
and generously caring for those bound to her by strong ties of
family affection.... It was the celestial light which shone
inwardly that irradiated her outward life. Of external work
she undertook perhaps more than she ought to have done. She
was on the Governing Body of the Church Schools Company, a
member of our Governing Body, and of that of several other
schools. She spared no pains in labouring for others, always
sympathising and sustaining, fighting for the best good. Above
all, actuating her, and enabling her to go on bravely, was that
optimism which came from the belief that God had given her
this work to do, and that His Spirit would sustain her. Most
gracefully did she descend from her throne when the end came. I
shall not forget our last interview, when she playfully alluded
to the fact that she had now to become again as a little child,
to obey where she had ruled, and she was content to pass on the
work into the hands of one so able, so beloved, so trusted as
Mrs. Bryant.
‘Another early member was Miss Benson, the first Head-mistress
of the Girls’ Public Day Schools Company’s School at Oxford,
and afterwards, for a few months, at Bedford; she was a burning
and a shining light, unsparing in her demands upon herself and
others;—she might have been called Zelotes.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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