Beale, Dorothea, 1831-1906; Cheltenham Ladies' College -- History; Teachers -- England -- Biography
This act of extravagance was followed almost immediately by an
enlargement of the schoolroom, making it seventy feet long. Mr. Brancker
proved that this additional space was really a financial economy; for
with it all the pupils could be contained in one room, and the necessity
of increasing the staff was deferred. As an alternative to the extension
he breathed the suggestion, for the first time probably in the history of
the College, of a new building, a building of its own, should a suitable
site be obtained. In his letter on this subject to Mr. Hartland, the
‘young ladies’ for the first time appear as ‘children.’ Mr. Brancker’s
dream was destined to be deferred for ten years; but was borne in mind
by those whom it most concerned. It may be thought he was premature even
in the enlargement, in spending at once the small profit made out of the
increasing number of pupils. But he did not aim at making a fortune for
the College. From the first it was proposed that the shareholders should
reap no financial profit, and Mr. Brancker wished it to be evident that
every penny was needed for the improvement of the work: hence, it was no
part of his plan to have a balance in hand. His effort was to keep up the
prestige of the College in every way, and in order to do this he limited
the number of shares issued to the actual number of pupils, in order that
they might not be advertised for sale at a lower price than that at which
they were purchased.
In three years from the time at which Mr. Brancker became auditor, he
was able to write: ‘February 1863. We promised assets over £1000, they
are £1076. We promised a money balance of over £200, and it is £356.
So I think the shareholders may have confidence in their Chancellor of
the Exchequer. We may well be proud of the result, but we are _deeply_
indebted to Miss Beale’s exertions for it, and I am glad her remuneration
(by capitation fees) is so much increased.’
By 1864 all pressing anxiety for the existence of the College was over.
With its one hundred and thirty pupils it was practically full. A
regularly constituted boarding-house was opened. Here the day-pupils,
whose parents were leaving Cheltenham, could be taken, and thus another
cause of diminution in the number of pupils was put an end to. Undivided
attention and care could now be given to the work.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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