Do you know any schools named after women?

[noblegiraffe]

Schools are far more likely to be named after men than women.
https://schoolsweek.co.uk/multi-academy-trusts-6-times-more-likely-to-be-named-after-men-than-women/

I'm wondering which women schools are named after. Is it vast majority Notre Dames and Our Ladys? I can think of a few schools that are named after famous men who weren't saints or bishops or kings.

Any female historical gems near you?

Not a school but Scotlands temporary covid hospital was called the Louisa Jordan who was a nurse back in the day.

And a whore, as she referred to herself.

She's not exactly a cutesy nursery historical figure, is she?

I think if viewed through a modern lense that's a very uncharitable description. She came from nowhere, became famous on her talent at a young teenager in the face of desperate, dirty Restoration London, was respected and admired through out London, had two sons publicly acknowledged by the King of England, and died with a large house....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nell_Gwyn

I'm sure she forged her way admirably, but not necessarily what you would want to be explaining to 3 year olds.

If you try really hard, you may also be the King's mistress? But don't google her, kids, because half the pictures on her Wikipedia page have her boobs out?

Elizabeth Woodville , Deanshanger.

I think it's probably less likely to be specifically after Ada when it's schools (like our local Lovelace primary) that is named after surrounding roads/suburbs that grew up in the 19th and early 20th centuries - more likely to be the wider family who had their family seat in Surrey.

Ada was married to William King who was created Earl of Lovelace (the extinct baronetcy of Lovelace was on her side of the family, interestingly), but she wasn't really celebrated until computer science started to really develop as a field.

Dame Alice Harpur School in Bedford.

I look forward to the Alice Keppel Academy being opened nearby as the kids go through their schooling.

There's a Grace Darling primary school on the coast in the North East of England, that's a nice one.

Eleanor Palmer primary school in Islington.

Queen Ethelburga's

Aylward. North London.
After Gladys Aylward.

I think it's an Academy now.

Alice Ottley School in Worcester, named after the founder and first Headmistress.

Lasted for over 100 years until it was merged with the boys school next door.

"Aylward became a national of the Republic of China in 1936 and was a revered figure among the people, taking in orphans and adopting several herself, intervening in a volatile prison riot and advocating prison reform, risking her life many times to help those in need.[8] In 1938, the region was invaded by Japanese forces, and Aylward led more than 100 orphans to safety over the mountains, despite being wounded and sick, personally caring for them (and converting many to Christianity)."

Wow, that's an interesting one!

Elizabeth Woodville
Queen Eleanor
Caroline Haslett

I think I wanted to be a missionary as a child because of her. There was a film always showing on TV with Ingrid Bergman, I think, called Inn of the Seventh Happiness and a book.

I am not sure colonial missionary work is seen in quite such an uncomplicated way now.

Marjorie McClure School in Chislehurst was named after the woman who worked to get it built in 1974. https://www.marjoriemcclure.co.uk/a-history-of-marjorie-mcclure/

Margaret Wix primary school in St Albans, named after the eponymous JP and Mayor of St Albans.

Queen’s College in Taunton, Somerset named after Queen Victoria.

Queen Edith’s School in Cambridge, mentioned above, has a younger sister school 5 minutes away called Queen Emma.

If this is the same Queen Emma, Wikipedia has quite a lot about her but much of the first section is about the Kings she was married or gave birth to. Two of her husbands were called Cnut.

According to that Wikipedia article

Until 1043, … Emma "was the richest woman in England ... and held extensive lands in the East Midlands and Wessex."[18] Emma's authority was not simply tied to landholdings[18]—which fluctuated greatly from 1036 to 1043—she also wielded significant sway over the ecclesiastical offices of England.

Betty Layward primary school in Stoke Newington in London https://www.bettylayward.hackney.sch.u/

Marjory Kinnon Feltham

Beat me to it, @CaptainMyCaptain! I was going to mention the SE London connections. I believe the teacher training college was absorbed into Goldsmiths College.

There's at least one fictional school mentioned here, so I'll add the Marcia Blaine School for Girls, modelled on Muriel Spark's own alma mater, James Gillespie's, which I briefly attended as a 5-year-old.

In our borough we have Elfrida Primary School, which is named for the street it stands on, but that was named after Queen Elfrida (blatant copy and paste from Wikipedia coming up):

Ælfthryth (c. 945 – 1000 or 1001, also Alfrida, Elfrida or Elfthryth) was Queen of the English from her marriage to King Edgar in 964 or 965 until Edgar's death in 975. She was a leading figure in the regency during the minority of her son King Æthelred the Unready between 978 and 984.

Ælfthryth was the first wife of an English king known to have been crowned and anointed as queen. She had two sons with Edgar, the ætheling Edmund (who died young) and King Æthelred the Unready. Ælfthryth was a powerful political figure and possibly orchestrated the murder of her stepson, King Edward the Martyr, in order to place her son Æthelred on the throne. She appeared as a stereotypical bad queen and evil stepmother in many medieval histories.

Not sure she's a great role model, tbh!

Sylvia Young theatre school

Also Italia Conti