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DOROTHEA BEALE
OF CHELTENHAM
Photo. J. C. Hughes
Dorothea Beale
from the portrait by J. J. Shannon.
DOROTHEA BEALE
OF CHELTENHAM
BY
ELIZABETH RAIKES
ILLUSTRATED
LONDON
ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE
AND COMPANY LTD.
1908
Edinburgh: T. and A. Constable, Printers to His Majesty
TO
‘HER CHILDREN’
PREFACE
Miss Beale left ample materials for the history of herwork. Not only were all business documents, such asminutes of council meetings, nomination papers, examinationquestions carefully preserved, she kept alsoall letters which could be of any interest. She wentfurther than merely arranging materials for a futurebook. In 1900 she compiled a very complete Historyof the Ladies’ College. Here she traced its origin,growth, and expansion; here, too, she named mostcarefully all who by earnest work and self-denial, byindustry, talent, or generous gift, had in any way contributedto its wellbeing and influence. She was anxiousthat all faithful work should be known.
But Miss Beale recognised that after her death therewould be a demand for something more. She wasearnestly desirous that in any account which mightappear of herself, the work for which she lived should havethe first place. With her innate sensitiveness, she shrankfrom the thought of a Life. It would not indeed bepossible to write a life of Dorothea Beale which was notalso, fully and intimately, a Life of the Ladies’ College,Cheltenham. Yet Miss Beale left some materials for themore personal side of the book—many letters, diaries,and autobiographical fragments. One paper opens thus:
‘In these days we all live in glass houses, and it seems uselessto say, Let nothing appear in print. The life of the College,[viii]for which I have lived forty years, some reminiscences of thestate of things as regards education, and some traces of the wayin which the Potter has formed the vessel for th