Flora Macrae Forster (1896–1981) was a Welsh educator and writer. Forster was born in

St Thomas, Swansea St Thomas is a suburban district and community (Wales), community in Swansea, Wales. It is a mainly residential area which lies east of Swansea city centre across the River Tawe and falls within the St. Thomas (electoral ward), St Thomas ward. ...

in 1896, the daughter of Joseph and Alice Forster. Joseph Forster was a railway engineer, and was a descendant from Jonathan Forster from

Wylam Wylam is a village and civil parish in the county of Northumberland, England. It is located about west of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is famous for the being the birthplace of George Stephenson, one of the early railway pioneers. George Stephen ...

, one of the inventors of the early locomotive '' Puffing Billy''. By 1911 the family were living in Swansea.

Education

Forster attended Dynevor School and was awarded the Mary Ewart Scholarship for English in 1915, enabling her to study at

Somerville College, Oxford Somerville College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. It began admitting men in 1994. The colle ...

for three years. One of her contemporaries, and a friend for the rest of her life, was Margaret Kennedy, author of the 1924 novel '' The Constant Nymph'', who died at Forster's house in

Adderbury Adderbury is a winding linear village and rural Civil parishes in England, civil parish about south of Banbury in northern Oxfordshire, England. The settlement has five sections: the new Milton Road housing Development and West Adderbury, towar ...

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

, in 1967. She also came across an older student from Rhydcymerau,

Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire (; or informally ') is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. ...

David John Williams David John Williams (26 June 1885 – 4 January 1970) was one of the foremost Welsh-language writers of the twentieth century and a prominent Welsh nationalist. Life Williams was born at Pen-rhiw, a farmhouse near Llansawel, Carmarthenshire, ...

and there was friendship and correspondence between the two until 1925. The correspondence is held in the DJ Williams Collection at the

National Library of Wales The National Library of Wales (, ) in Aberystwyth is the national legal deposit library of Wales and is one of the Welsh Government sponsored bodies. It is the biggest library in Wales, holding over 6.5 million books and periodicals, and the l ...

. In her correspondence with DJ Williams they discuss the literature of the day and school syllabi. She declined offers from DJ Williams to marry her. She donated a portrait of Henry Griswold Lewis by

John Constable John Constable (; 11 June 1776 – 31 March 1837) was an English landscape painter in the Romanticism, Romantic tradition. Born in Suffolk, he is known principally for revolutionising the genre of landscape painting with his pictures of Dedha ...

to Somerville College.

Career

After graduating in 1918 she got a job teaching English and Latin at Newport High School in

Newport, Wales Newport ( ) is a city and Principal areas of Wales, county borough in Wales, situated on the River Usk close to its confluence with the Severn Estuary, northeast of Cardiff. The population grew considerably between the 2011 and the 2021 Unit ...

. In 1920 she was appointed lecturer at Barry College. She then went to a job at

Homerton College, Cambridge Homerton College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Its first premises were acquired in Homerton, London in 1768, by an informal gathering of Protestant dissenters with origins in the seventeenth century. In 1894, the col ...

in 1922 and the following year she was appointed another post at a college in

Dudley Dudley ( , ) is a market town in the West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically part of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley. In the ...

. When in 1931 a new girls' secondary school was established in Malvern Hall,

Solihull Solihull ( ) is a market town and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Solihull is situated on the River Blythe in the Arden, Warwickshire, Forest of Arden ar ...

, she was appointed headmistress and held the position of Solihull High School for Girls until her retirement in 1961. She was highly regarded in the area and as of 2018 there is still a scholarship offered in her name for students in the Solihull district. Forster died in 1981.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Forster, Flora 1896 births 1981 deaths 20th-century Welsh writers 20th-century Welsh women writers 20th-century Welsh educators Alumni of Somerville College, Oxford People from Swansea 20th-century Welsh women educators People educated at Dynevor School, Swansea British letter writers 20th-century British letter writers Women letter writers