Ethel Trew (24 April 1869 – 7 December 1948) was a British headmistress.

Life

Trew was born in

Oystermouth Oystermouth ( Welsh: ''Ystumllwynarth'') is a village (and former electoral ward) in the district of Mumbles, Swansea, Wales. It is part of the Mumbles community (civil parish). Etymology Samuel Lewis and Nicholas Carlisle both state that the ...

in the Mumbles. Her parents were Ellen Mary (born Bradford). Her father was a merchant of different goods including at one time being a grocer. She became a teacher after leaving

Manchester High School for Girls Manchester High School for Girls is an English Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school for girls and a member of the Girls School Association. It is situated in Fallowfield, Manchester. The head mistress is Helen Jeys who took ...

where she had lived in lodgings. In 1894 she was teaching maths at the West Cornwall College where Marion Waller was the head. She was appointed to lead

Queenswood School Queenswood School is a girls-only private school located near Hatfield, Hertfordshire, twenty miles from London. It offers admission at ages 11, 13 or 16 (for sixth form). The '' Good Schools Guide'' 2013 described Queenswood as "a girls' scho ...

at its new location of

Clapham Park Clapham Park is an area in the Borough of Lambeth in London, to the south of central Clapham and west of Brixton. History The original Clapham Park Estate was a speculative development by Thomas Cubitt, who bought of Bleak Hall Farm in 182 ...

in 1894. It was a Methodist school that had originally been "The Educational Home for the Daughters of Wesleyan Ministers" when it started in 1869. It had been founded by Marion's father David Waller and there was then 20 pupils. Trew decided to follow Waller becoming the Assistant Headmistress. Waller left to marry in 1897 and Trew reluctantly took her place. She knew that she gave up her own ambitions of a family to lead the school. She emphasised the work of

John Ruskin John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English polymath a writer, lecturer, art historian, art critic, draughtsman and philanthropist of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as art, architecture, Critique of politic ...

and self control. The latter was said to be inspired by her own temper which she usually kept in check and she demonstrated its power and her hold over the school by successfully banning coughing in chapel. Queenswood school library c

Under her leadership the school moved to Sheepwell House in

Hatfield, Hertfordshire Hatfield is a town and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England, in the borough of Welwyn Hatfield. It had a population of 29,616 in 2001, 39,201 at the 2011 census, and 41,265 at the 2021 census. The settlement is of Saxon origin. Hatfield House ...

in 1925 and a preparatory school was established. The oversaw the building of the new school and she took a string interest in the chapel. The school planned for the future and Enid Essame was identified as her replacement and Essame was sent on a fact-finding sabbatical to the US in 1934. The original school and the head's house was burnt down in 1936 and was replaced with a nearly identical building. Trew had many successes and school roll grew to 300 but she became out of touch and was said to be a "benevolent despot". She was devoted to the school and expected the staff to be devoted to her. In return she could be very supportive but she would also embarrass her staff by admonishing them in front of the pupils. She began to give up some of her control in 1944. That year the ceilings collapsed in her rooms when a German bomb was dropped. She was superseded by Enid "Emma" Essame when

Baron Stamp Baron Stamp, of Shortlands in the County of Kent, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1938 for the civil servant, industrialist, economist, statistician and banker, Sir Josiah Stamp. The second Baron, Wilfred Carl ...

was the chair of governors, but she refused to give up complete control. Essame, who had been a Queenswood teacher, served until 1971. Trew had built herself a home to retire to, but it was very close and on the school's estate. She oversaw the appointment of a new estate manager as she retained responsibly for the estate. The manager swindled the school. Trew had to finally retire in September 1948 and died in Hatfield that year.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trew, Ethel 1869 births 1948 deaths Heads of schools in England 19th-century Welsh educators 20th-century Welsh educators People from Swansea 19th-century Welsh women educators 20th-century Welsh women educators