Sarah Bannister LLA born Sarah Jane Stourton (August 5, 1858 – March 16, 1942) was a British educationist, school inspector and district councillor. She and her husband were involved with the pupil-teacher scheme in London. She served for twenty years as a district councillor in Hendon. She was creditted with creating Hendon Free Library.

Life

Bannister was born in 1858 in

Norton St Philip Norton St Philip is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England. The village lies about south of the city of Bath and north of the town of Frome on the eastern slopes of the Mendip Hills. It is situated on the A366 between Trowbridge and Ra ...

in Somerset. Her parents were Harriet (born Moon) and John Stourton. Her father was a journeyman mason. In December 1881 she became the second wife of Henry Bannister who was a widower. Her husband worked for the

London School Board The School Board for London, commonly known as the London School Board (LSB), was an institution of local government and the first directly elected body covering the whole of London. The Elementary Education Act 1870 ( 33 & 34 Vict. c. 75) was ...

(LSB) and in the following month she was made a school inspector and she started teaching evening classes to

pupil-teacher Pupil teacher was a training program in wide use before the twentieth century, as an apprentice system for teachers. With the emergence in the beginning of the nineteenth century of education for the masses, demand for teachers increased. By 1840, ...

s. In 1884 the LSB decided to pilot the idea of teaching pupil-teachers at a central location. Bannister and her husband were asked to carry out the experiment. Bannister became the as headmistress of a girls school based in a room under the Lycett Memorial Methodist Chapel in Stepney. Her husband had a similar position teaching boys at

Toynbee Hall Toynbee Hall is a charitable institution that works to address the causes and impacts of poverty in the East End of London and elsewhere. Established in 1884, it is based in Commercial Street, Spitalfields, and was the first university-affili ...

. Bannister studied to become a

Lady Literate in Arts A Lady Literate in Arts (LLA) qualification was offered by the University of St Andrews in Scotland for more than a decade before women were allowed to graduate in the same way as men, and it became popular as a kind of external degree for women ...

via the course offered by the University of St Andrews. She enrolled in 1884 and studied for two years. The pressure of her career is presumed to be the reason that she did not complete it until 1896. In 1887, she was asked to join an Education Department committee looking at the "Pupil-teacher" system chaired by a senior inspector of schools, Thomas Wetherherd Sharpe. Only three women were asked:

Elizabeth Phillips Hughes Elizabeth Phillips Hughes MBE (12 July 1851 – 19 December 1925) was a Welsh scholar, teacher, and promoter of women's education, first principal of the Cambridge Training College for Women. Early life Hughes was born in Carmarthen, Ca ...

from Cambridge training college, Lydia Manley of Stockwell training college and Bannister. She was called as a witness but she was very involved in the investigation. The committee's report resulted in a policy that caused the closure of the Pupil-teacher centres, hers included, that had been established. In 1908 she became the principal of a residential day teacher training college at

Moorfields Moorfields was an open space, partly in the City of London, lying adjacent to – and outside – its London Wall, northern wall, near the eponymous Moorgate. It was known for its marshy conditions, the result of the defensive wall acting a ...

. When that college was merged in 1915 she became an assistant inspector of schools. In 1918 the Hendon Women Citizens' Council encouraged her to become a candidate to become an Urban District Councillor. She was elected in 1918 and served until 1938. She was creditted with creating Hendon Free Library. Bannister died in 1942 in

Golders Green Golders Green is a suburb in the London Borough of Barnet in north London, northwest of Charing Cross. It began as a medieval small suburban linear settlement near a farm and public grazing area green, and dates to the early 19th century. It ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bannister, Sarah 1858 births 1942 deaths People from Somerset Councillors in Greater London School inspectors