ABSTRACT

The two most distinguished headmistresses of the later nineteenth century, Frances Mary Buss and Dorothea Beale, had established their reputations well before 1870. Miss Buss died in office at Christmas 1894 after a headship of forty-four years, and in that role she was one of the central figures in the history of nineteenth-century English education (Ridley 1895; Burstall 1938; Kamm 1958).