Beatrice Mary Irene White (6 July 1902 – 30 March 1986) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

literary scholar. She had a long association with

Westfield College Westfield College was a small college situated in Hampstead, London, from 1882 to 1989. It was the first college to aim to educate women for University of London degrees from its opening. The college originally admitted only women as students and ...

and the

English Association The English Association is a subject association for English dedicated to furthering the study and enjoyment of English language and literature in schools, higher education institutes and amongst the public in general. It was founded in 1906 by ...

Life

White was born in Ely in 1902. In 1919 she started her studies at

King's College, London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

and four years later she graduated with a first class honours degree in English. Three years after that she obtained her master's degree at King's with a thesis about the life and works of the English poet Alexander Barclay. White went on for an extra two years to create an edition of Barclay's "Eclogues" in 1928. She dedicated this book to Professor A. W. Reed who had supervised her master's degree. She had spent nine years at King's, but she left when she was awarded a fellowship that enabled her to study in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. She visited both

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

and the Henry E. Huntington Library returning to England in 1931. In 1936 she joined

Queen Mary College Queen Mary University of London (QMUL, or informally QM, and formerly Queen Mary and Westfield College) is a public research university in Mile End, East London, England. It is a member institution of the federal University of London. Today, ...

where she was employed as a lecturer until 1939 teaching English. She spent the war lecturing at Queen Mary College and at the end in 1944-46 was leading the English Department as the acting head. In 1952 she began a long association with "The Year's Work in English Studies", a bibliography published by the English Association. For four years she co-edited the annual work with Frederick S. Boas and then for the next ten years she was the sole editor until 1963. In 1956 she went to

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

where she became the first woman to lecture the Medieval Academic of America. Two years before she retired from Westfield in 1969 she was promoted to be a professor. Seven years later she was made an Honorary Fellow in 1976. She had become a trustee if the English Association in 1970.

Death and legacy

White died at her home in

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. It is also a non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, bor ...

in 1986. The English Association awards an annual Beatrice White award, because she was loved and respected. The prize is give for the best work relating to the study of English Literature before 1590.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:White, Beatrice 1902 births 1986 deaths People from Ely, Cambridgeshire Alumni of King's College London British literary scholars