Geraldine Emma May Jebb

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(1886 – 28 December 1959), known as Gem Jebb, was the daughter of Heneage Horsley Jebb and Geraldine Croker Russell. The Jebbs were a distinguished Irish family, prominent in both the

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland (, ; , ) is a Christian church in Ireland, and an autonomy, autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the Christianity in Ireland, second-largest Christian church on the ...

and the legal profession: her paternal grandparents were Robert Jebb QC and Harriet Horsley, a descendant of Bishop

Samuel Horsley Samuel Horsley (15 September 1733 – 4 October 1806) was a British churchman, bishop of Rochester from 1793. He was also well versed in physics and mathematics, on which he wrote a number of papers and thus was elected a Fellow of the Royal Soc ...

. Her mother was a daughter of

John Russell John Russell may refer to: Arts and entertainment * John Russell (English painter) (1745–1806), English painter * John Russell (Australian painter) (1858–1930), Australian painter * John Russell (screenwriter) (1885–1956), author and screen ...

Archdeacon of Clogher The Archdeacon of Clogher is a senior ecclesiastical officer within the Diocese of Clogher (Church of Ireland), Anglican Diocese of Clogher. The Archdeacon is responsible for the disciplinary supervision of the clergy within the diocese. The arch ...

and his wife Frances Story. She was the Principal of Bedford College,

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

, from 1930 to 1951, the first higher education women's college in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

.Royal Holloway College archives accessed 30 December 2011
/ref> She was unmarried.

Education

Jebb was educated at

Newnham College, Cambridge Newnham College is a women's constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1871 by a group organising Lectures for Ladies, members of which included philosopher Henry Sidgwick and suffragist campaigner Millicen ...

taking the

Economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

Tripos TRIPOS (''TRIvial Portable Operating System'') is a computer operating system. Development started in 1976 at the Computer Laboratory of Cambridge University and it was headed by Dr. Martin Richards. The first version appeared in January 1978 a ...

although women were not awarded degrees at

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

until 1948.

Career

Jebb worked in the

Civil Service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

from 1913 to 1917 in the Department of the

Ministry of Labour A ministry of labour ('' UK''), or labor ('' US''), also known as a department of labour, or labor, is a government department responsible for setting labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, training, and s ...

Academia

Jebb then became Director of Studies and Lecturer on Economics at Newnham from 1917 to 1919 and from 1919 to 1929 a lecturer on Economics at Armstrong College, now

Newcastle University Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is a red brick university and a mem ...

but then part of the

University of Durham Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by royal charter in 1837. It was the first recognised university to ...

. In 1930 she was appointed Principal of Bedford College and retired in 1951. During this period, Jebb represented the college on the Management Committee for the

Florence Nightingale Foundation The Florence Nightingale Foundation (FNF) is a charity organization in the United Kingdom that provides scholarships to nurses, midwives, and other health professionals. The foundation was named after, and inspired by the work of, Florence Nigh ...

(FNF), a charity organisation that provides scholarships to health professionals in the UK. She was appointed

in 1951.

Relations

Jebb's sister, Eglantyne Mary Jebb (1889–1978), was Principal of the Froebel Educational Institute (now

Froebel College Froebel College is one of the four constituent colleges of the University of Roehampton. History The college was founded as a women's teacher training college in 1892 by followers of Friedrich Fröbel. The Froebel Society had been formed in 1874 ...

Roehampton University The University of Roehampton, London, formerly Roehampton Institute of Higher Education, is a public university in the United Kingdom, situated on three major sites in Roehampton, in the London Borough of Wandsworth. The University traces its r ...

Roehampton Roehampton is an area in southwest London, sharing its SW15 postcode with neighbouring Putney and Kingston Vale, and takes up a far western strip, running north to south, in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It contains a number of large counc ...

, London (1932–55). Her cousin,

Eglantyne Jebb Eglantyne Jebb (25 August 1876 – 17 December 1928) was a British social reformer who founded the Save the Children organisation at the end of World War I to relieve the effects of famine in Austria-Hungary and Germany. She drafted the docu ...

(1876–1928), founded the charity ''

Save the Children The Save the Children Fund, commonly known as Save the Children, is an international non-governmental organization. It was founded in the UK in 1919; its goal is to improve the lives of children worldwide. The organization raises money to imp ...

''.

References

External links

* List of Principals of Royal Holloway, University of London
The Woman Who Saved the Children: A Biography of Eglantyne Jebb with family tree of the Jebb family
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jebb, Geraldine Emma May 1886 births 1959 deaths Alumni of Newnham College, Cambridge Commanders of the Order of the British Empire People associated with Bedford College, London