Mary Alice Douglas

English headmistress

Mary Douglas and her colleagues at Godolphin School in 1901

Mary Alice Douglas (1860 – 1941) was an English headmistress at Godolphin School.[1]

## Early life and education[edit]

She was born 29 November 1860 at Salwarpe, Worcestershire, the eighth of sixteen children of rector William Douglas and his wife Frances, née How.[2] Educated at home, she taught at Worcester Girls’ High School at the age of 22 before attending Westfield College, London, in 1884–5.[3]

## Headmistress of Godolphin[edit]

Douglas was appointed headmistress of Godolphin School, Salisbury, in 1890. Her 28-year headship saw the student body expand from 22 to 230 and the opening of several new purpose-built buildings to accommodate the larger numbers of girls.[1] Douglas’ stated aim was 'to teach the girls to think for themselves, to desire what is good and true and to overcome difficulties by perseverance'.[4]

In 1911, she and Sarah Burstall edited and published Public Schools for Girls: a Series of Papers on their History, Aims and Schemes of Study, arguing for greater specialisation in the curriculum of girls who intended to go on to college.[5] Godolphin School sent several pupils to the women's colleges at Oxford and Cambridge under her headship.[2]

She chaired the Association of Headmistresses from 1911 to 1913, and helmed the school through World War I, when the pupils contributed to local farming.[2]

She retired in 1919 and died on 7 November 1941 at the home she shared with a brother and sister in Wantage, Berkshire.[2]

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b "Godolphin History". Godolphin School. Retrieved 2023-12-27.
2. ^ a b c d "Douglas, Mary Alice (1860–1941), headmistress". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/52738. Retrieved 2023-12-27. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
3. ^ "Women at Queen Mary Exhibition Online - Education for Women: 1850-1901 -London College for Ladies (continued)". www.women.qmul.ac.uk. Retrieved 2023-12-27.
4. ^ Godolphin School Magazine, spring 1900, 27
5. ^ M. A. Douglas (1911). Public Schools for Girls: A Series of Papers on Their History, Aims, and Schemes of Study. Harvard University. Longmans, Green.