In 1899, Charlotte and her husband John Kenelm Wingfield Digby founded Sherborne School for Girls. The school opened on 20 September 1899 at Ramsam House on Greenhill with just 14 pupils, including five little boys. Charlotte was also a founder and governor of Headington School for Girls in Oxford, a governor of Foster’s and Lord Digby’s Schools in Sherborne, and … Read more
Emmeline Mary Tanner was born on 28 December 1876 at Locksbrook Place, Weston, Bath, Somerset. The eldest of seven children born to Samuel Thomas Tanner, a coal merchant, and Jeanetta Jane (née Fry). At the age of 13, Emmeline became a student teacher and went on to teach at private schools in Birmingham, Southampton, and … Read more
Winifred Spooner was born at Woolwich in Kent on 11 September 1900, the fifth child and only daughter of Major Walter Boulton Spooner and Annie (née Kirk). From 1916 to 1918, Winifred attended Sherborne Girls’ School, boarding at Aldhelmsted West. After briefly studying domestic science at Reading University she worked for a short time at a … Read more
Barbara Helen Rawson was born on 2 March 1893 at Brand Hall, Norton in Hales, Shropshire, the eldest child and only daughter of Philip Heathcote Rawson (1864-1917) and Lillie Campbell Rawson (née Clarke-Preston) (1867-1927). A second child, Philip Colin Rawson (1896-1915), was born at Brand Hall on 1 June 1896. By 1904, the Rawson family … Read more
Daphne Blake Oram was born at Devizes in Wiltshire on 31 December 1925, the youngest child and only daughter of James Oram MBE (1890-1964) and Ida Murton Oram (née Talbot) (1887-1972), of Belle Vue House, Devizes. Daphne’s middle name was the maiden name of her grandmother Alice Blake (1851-1941). Daphne’s father was a town councillor … Read more
In 1899, Beatrice Mulliner was appointed the first Headmistress of Sherborne School for Girls, a post she held for thirty years. Beatrice oversaw the growth of the school from 14 pupils when it first opened on 20 September 1899 at Ramsam House to 287 pupils when she left in 1929. From 1929 until her death in 1940, Beatrice … Read more
Princess Amrit Kaur was born in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India, in 1889, the daughter of Prince Harnam Singh, son of Sikh Maharajah of Kapurthala. In September 1902, Amrit’s father sent her to Sherborne School for Girls where she was a member of Headmistress Beatrice Mulliner’s house. Amrit remained at Sherborne Girls’ until July 1905, becoming Head Girl … Read more