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Philippa Fawcett
Times obituary
A PIONEER IN EDUCATION
Miss Philippa Garrett Fawcett, for many years Principal Assistant of the Education Officers' Department of the London County Council, died at her home in London on Thursday at the age of 80.
The only child of the Right Hon. Henry Fawcett, the blind Postmaster-General under Mr. Gladstone, and Dame Millicent Fawcett, G.B.E., who was a prominent leader of the women's suffrage movement, she had a distinguished shed career at Newnham. When the 1890 Tripos lists were read out, she was classed "above Senior Wrangler," and her name has been something of a legend at Cambridge ever since. She began her work in education in South Africa. She accompanied her mother on her visit to the South African concentration camps, and after she came back to England, she went out again in 1902 to take part in establishing public elementary education in the Transvaal.
In 1905 she was appointed principal assistant in the old executive officers' department of the L.C.C. At the beginning of her service with the Council, the L.C.C. was just starting to institute its own secondary schools, and it is fair to say that the reputation they have since enjoyed was largely due to her wise guidance. Named Assistant Education Officer for Higher Education in 1920, two training colleges were established during her tenure of office, Avery Hill and Furzedown, and at a time of difficulty she acted as principal of the former. But her best and most rewarding work was to establish cordial relations between the L.C.C. and London University and the governing bodies of the already established secondary schools. She retired from her long and fruitful service in 1934.
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Sir Fabian Ware writes:
May I add a short tribute to that which you have paid to the memory of Philippa Fawcett? When she returned to South Africa in 1902, she was appointed private secretary to the acting Director of Education. In that capacity, she was mainly concerned with the development of a system of farm schools that would meet the demands of the Boer population scattered throughout the veld. In order to command the confidence of those with whom we had very recently been at war, it was necessary that all British officials employed in this work should be actuated by a true spirit of conciliation, and their personal records should be carefully scrutinized. There is no doubt that Philippa Fawcett's dazzling academic honours assured her a large measure of confidence from British sections of the population. Her political ancestry gave her points of contact with the Boers, whose sympathy her very distinguished mother had won. Philippa Fawcett was an ardent worker pursuing her ends along no devious routes, and she may be truly regarded as one of the founders of the wide-spread educational system that continues to afford sure hope of common international
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Mrs. C. L. Marson writes:
As a friend of Philippa Fawcett for 65 years. I long to say that though she has always been extolled for her exceptional cleverness, it was her rare humility and loving-kindness which enabled her to be such a fine judge of character in her work for the London County Council. Her whole life suggests the thought: "Character is Destiny."
A PIONEER IN EDUCATION
Miss Philippa Garrett Fawcett, for many years Principal Assistant of the Education Officers' Department of the London County Council, died at her home in London on Thursday at the age of 80.
The only child of the Right Hon. Henry Fawcett, the blind Postmaster-General under Mr. Gladstone, and Dame Millicent Fawcett, G.B.E., who was a prominent leader of the women's suffrage movement, she had a distinguished shed career at Newnham. When the 1890 Tripos lists were read out, she was classed "above Senior Wrangler," and her name has been something of a legend at Cambridge ever since. She began her work in education in South Africa. She accompanied her mother on her visit to the South African concentration camps, and after she came back to England, she went out again in 1902 to take part in establishing public elementary education in the Transvaal.
In 1905 she was appointed principal assistant in the old executive officers' department of the L.C.C. At the beginning of her service with the Council, the L.C.C. was just starting to institute its own secondary schools, and it is fair to say that the reputation they have since enjoyed was largely due to her wise guidance. Named Assistant Education Officer for Higher Education in 1920, two training colleges were established during her tenure of office, Avery Hill and Furzedown, and at a time of difficulty she acted as principal of the former. But her best and most rewarding work was to establish cordial relations between the L.C.C. and London University and the governing bodies of the already established secondary schools. She retired from her long and fruitful service in 1934.
______________________________________________________________
Sir Fabian Ware writes:
May I add a short tribute to that which you have paid to the memory of Philippa Fawcett? When she returned to South Africa in 1902, she was appointed private secretary to the acting Director of Education. In that capacity, she was mainly concerned with the development of a system of farm schools that would meet the demands of the Boer population scattered throughout the veld. In order to command the confidence of those with whom we had very recently been at war, it was necessary that all British officials employed in this work should be actuated by a true spirit of conciliation, and their personal records should be carefully scrutinized. There is no doubt that Philippa Fawcett's dazzling academic honours assured her a large measure of confidence from British sections of the population. Her political ancestry gave her points of contact with the Boers, whose sympathy her very distinguished mother had won. Philippa Fawcett was an ardent worker pursuing her ends along no devious routes, and she may be truly regarded as one of the founders of the wide-spread educational system that continues to afford sure hope of common international
________________________________________________________
Mrs. C. L. Marson writes:
As a friend of Philippa Fawcett for 65 years. I long to say that though she has always been extolled for her exceptional cleverness, it was her rare humility and loving-kindness which enabled her to be such a fine judge of character in her work for the London County Council. Her whole life suggests the thought: "Character is Destiny."
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