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  1. #1
    A fountain of knowledge
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    Oct 2004
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    Essendon, Victoria, Australia
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    Default Women graduates, Cambridge

    Hello folks,

    I'm doing a bit of history on some local girls' schools down my way (Melbourne, Australia) which were fairly ephemeral and left little in the way of records behind. I have to rely on newspaper advertisements and prize night reports to find out what they taught, who they taught and what their qualifications were.

    In this case I'm working on a Miss Johns who ran the Ascotvale Ladies' School. First name not known, but I do have one reference with an M as an initial. I'm not too worried about that at the moment, more her qualifications. I "think" I have found her teaching at someone else's school in 1881, where she is described as "Resident Governess: Miss Johns (Alderly House, High School, Manchester.)"

    In 1884 at her own school, after a few years as plain old "Principal, Miss Johns", she describes herself as "Principal Miss Johns, Cambridge University" and in 1885 she has become!-- @page { margin: 2cm } P { margin-bottom: 0.21cm } --> "Principal Miss JOHNS Cambridge Honours".


    I haven't yet worked out what "Alderly House" is (small private ladies' school?) but I thought High School, Manchester was probably the Girls High School Manchester. Looking at their website, which has an unwieldy search engine, I did see in their magazine in Oct 1885:
    School News
    The following were successful in the Cambridge Local Exams [details given]: [various names]

    Caroline Coignou was the only candidate in England to achieve First Class in Natural Science.




    Is it possible that Miss Johns could have sat some music exams (I'd be guessing) externally in Melbourne? She taught music, French and 'higher branches of English'.

    I've looked at the Wikipedia Cambridge webpage, and see that women were accepted for study, but not awarded degrees, in this period. She wasn't claiming a degree, I suppose, except for the claim of Honours. (Maybe she was there buying a tie.)

    I'd be very grateful for any thoughts on what all this means. (And if you've heard of Alderly House, plizz.)

    Oh, and in 1888 she sold off her two pianos and other household goods and departed for England. I'm very hopeful of finding her in a census when I can find out what her first name is, but that will take a bit more time.

    Best wishes,

    Lenore

  2. #2
    Name well known on Brit-Gen
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    Jul 2008
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    North London
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    5,147

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Lenore View Post
    I'm working on a Miss Johns who ran the Ascotvale Ladies' School. First name not known, but I do have one reference with an M as an initial. I'm not too worried about that at the moment, more her qualifications.
    If she attended the University of Cambridge as a residential student, she would have been at either Girton College or Newnham College, since no other university colleges accepted women at that period. Each college has its own archives. Google for details.

    If she was an external student she may have qualified through the Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate. Try contacting Cambridge Assessment, which is the successor to the syndicate and has extensive archives.

    archives AT cambridgeassessment DOT org DOT uk

    Kerrywood

  3. #3
    A fountain of knowledge
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    Essendon, Victoria, Australia
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Kerrywood View Post
    If she was an external student she may have qualified through the Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate. Try contacting Cambridge Assessment, which is the successor to the syndicate and has extensive archives.
    Kerrywood
    Bang on the money! Thank you very much. I can see now how she might have studied as an external student (I'm doubtful of internal - these quals seem to have arisen while she was the principal of a school in Melbourne.) Now that I have the right terminology, I have picked up references to these Cambridge Local Examinations in the Melbourne Argus newspaper. They were being discussed by 1874, though I have to say I haven't yet managed to spot examinations being run in Melbourne - but I need to do some more work on that. The newspaper website is all thingy this morning, so I'll try again later.

    It's an interesting aspect of teacher education I wasn't aware of before, so I'll have to keep my eye out for any others who've done it. Thank you for drawing my attention to it.

    Best wishes,

    Lenore

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