Frances Mary Buss (16 August 1827 – 24 December 1894) was a British headmistress and a pioneer of girls' education.

Life

The daughter of

Robert William Buss Robert William Buss (4 August 1804 – 26 February 1875) was a Victorian artist, etcher and illustrator perhaps best known for his painting ''Dickens' Dream''. He was the father of Frances Buss, a pioneer of girls' education. Early career Bor ...

, a painter and etcher, and his wife, Frances Fleetwood, Buss was one of six of their ten children to survive into adulthood. Her grandparents, whom she was visiting in

Aldersgate Aldersgate is a Ward of the City of London, named after one of the northern gates in the London Wall which once enclosed the City. The Ward of Aldersgate is traditionally divided into Aldersgate Within and Aldersgate Without, the suffix den ...

, sent her to a private school housed in the most basic accommodation "...to get me out of the way". Next she was sent to a similar school in

Kentish Town Kentish Town is an area of northwest London, England in the London Borough of Camden, immediately north of Camden Town. Less than four miles north of central London, Kentish Town has good transport connections and is situated close to the open ...

which she remembered as simply consisting of children learning Murray's ''

Grammar In linguistics, the grammar of a natural language is its set of structure, structural constraints on speakers' or writers' composition of clause (linguistics), clauses, phrases, and words. The term can also refer to the study of such constraint ...

''. Aged 10 she attended a more advanced school in Hampstead; by the age of fourteen she herself was teaching there and by sixteen she was occasionally left in charge of the school.Elizabeth Coutts, 'Buss, Frances Mary (1827–1894)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004 Her father's career as an artist being at times unsuccessful, to help the family finances her mother set up a private school in Clarence Road, Kentish Town, in 1845, at which Frances assisted, and which was based on the ideas of

Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi (, ; 12 January 1746 – 17 February 1827) was a Swiss pedagogue and educational reformer who exemplified Romanticism in his approach. He founded several educational institutions both in German- and French-speaking r ...

. During 1848–9, she attended evening lectures at the newly opened Queen's College in

Harley Street Harley Street is a street in Marylebone, Central London, which has, since the 19th century housed a large number of private specialists in medicine and surgery. It was named after Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer.< ...

, London. She was taught by F. D. Maurice,

Charles Kingsley Charles Kingsley (12 June 1819 – 23 January 1875) was a broad church priest of the Church of England, a university professor, social reformer, historian, novelist and poet. He is particularly associated with Christian socialism, the workin ...

, and

R. C. Trench Richard Chenevix Trench (Richard Trench until 1873; 9 September 1807 – 28 March 1886) was an Anglican archbishop and poet. Life He was born in Dublin, Ireland, the son of Richard Trench (1774–1860), barrister-at-law, and the Dublin writ ...

, and gained certificates in French, German and Geography. To Dorothea Beale, a contemporary at Queen's, she described the education she had gained there as opening 'a new life to me, I mean intellectually'.

Career

The school was renamed the

North London Collegiate School North London Collegiate School (NLCS) is an independent school with a day school for girls in England. Founded in Camden Town, it is now located in Edgware, in the London Borough of Harrow. Associate schools are located in South Korea, Jeju ...

for Ladies and moved to larger premises in Camden Street on 4 April 1850. Buss was its first Headmistress and remained so for the rest of her life. Under her headship, and with the help of family members, the school became a model for girls' education. By 1865 the school had 200-day girls, with a few boarders, but was still run as a private, family concern, with her father

and her brother Septimus Buss teaching Art and

Scripture Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They differ from literature by being a compilation or discussion of beliefs, mythologies, ritual pract ...

respectively. In July 1870 Frances Mary Buss handed over the school to trustees, and in the following year she founded the Camden School for Girls with the aim of offering more affordable education for girls. She was the first person ever to use the title Headmistress. Buss was at the forefront of campaigns for the endowment of girls' schools (see

Endowed Schools Act 1869 The Endowed Schools Act 1869 (32 & 33 Vict c 56) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was one of the Endowed Schools Acts 1869 to 1948. It was passed during William Ewart Gladstone’s first ministry, to restructure endowed gra ...

), and for girls to be allowed to sit public examinations and to enter universities. She became the founding president of the Association of Head Mistresses in 1874, a position she held until 1894, and was also involved in establishing the Teachers' Guild in 1883 and the Cambridge Training College (later

Hughes Hall Hughes Hall is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England. It is the oldest of the University of Cambridge's postgraduate colleges. The college also admits undergraduates, though undergraduates admitted by the college must b ...

) for training teachers in 1885. In 1869 she became the first woman

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

of the

College of Preceptors The Chartered College of Teaching is a learned society for the teaching profession in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1846, the college was incorporated by Queen Victoria into a royal charter as the College of Preceptors in 1849. A supplemental cha ...

, helping to establish the College's professorship of the science and art of education in 1872. Her election to a Fellowship of the College in 1873 was the only public recognition she ever received. She was also a member of the Council of the Teachers' Training and Registration Society. Buss was also a

suffragist Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...

, participating in the

Kensington Society The Kensington Society is a civic society for Kensington, London. It serves both as an individual membership organisation, with more than 700 members, and as an umbrella organisation for 33 affiliated residents' associations and conservation ...

, a woman's discussion society, and the London Suffrage Committee. She is buried in the churchyard of Theydon Bois in Essex.

Legacy

Frances Mary Buss and Sophie Bryant Her name is associated with that of Dorothea Beale in a satirical rhyme:

Miss Buss and Miss Beale,
Cupid In classical mythology, Cupid (Latin Cupīdō , meaning "passionate desire") is the god of desire, erotic love, attraction and affection. He is often portrayed as the son of the love goddess Venus and the god of war Mars. He is also known in L ...
's darts do not feel. How different from us, Miss Beale and Miss Buss.

In the spring of each year North London Collegiate School, North London Collegiate School Jeju (in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

) and Camden School for Girls all hold Founder's Day to commemorate Frances Mary Buss and her legacy. Pupils, staff and guests each carry a daffodil in memory of Miss Buss's favourite flower. The educational values that Frances Mary Buss taught at the

became the model for many schools throughout the UK and overseas. This included

Pretoria High School for Girls Pretoria High School for Girls (Simply often known as PHSG), is a full-government, fee-charging, English-medium high school for girls located in Hatfield, Pretoria in the Gauteng province of South Africa. It is the sister school to Pretoria Boys ...

, founded in South Africa by Edith Aitken, a former pupil of Miss Buss.

Notes

External links

School WebsiteNLCS ArchivesAIM25: Frances Mary Buss and family
{{DEFAULTSORT:Buss, Frances Mary Feminist studies scholars English suffragists 1827 births 1894 deaths Headmistresses of North London Collegiate School People educated at Queen's College, London 19th-century English educators 19th-century women educators

Life

Career

Legacy

Notes

Further reading

External links