Emily Anne Eliza Shirreff

Infobox Person
name = "Emily Shirreff"


image_size =
caption =
birth_date = 1814
birth_place =
death_date = 1897
death_place = London
education = Paris
occupation = educationist
spouse = None
parents = Rear-Admiral William Henry Shirreff (1785–1847) and Elizabeth Anne Shirreff
children = None

Emily Anne Eliza Shirreff (3 November 1814 – 20 March 1897) was a pioneer in the movement for the higher education of women and the development of the Froebelian principles in England.

Biography

Family

She was born on 3 November 1814, the second of four daughters and two sons born to Rear-Admiral William Henry Shirreff (1785–1847) and Elizabeth Anne Shirreff.cite encyclopedia
title = Shirreff, Emily Anne Eliza (1814–1897)
encyclopedia = Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
last = Levine
first = Philippa
publisher = Oxford University Press
date = Oct 2005
url = http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/25444
access date = 24 November 2007] She was very close to her sister Maria Shirreff (later Grey), with whom she collaborated with on educational and writing projects.

Education

Emily and her sisters were educated from a early age by a French governess called Adele Piqet, who had a limited education. [ Cite book
last = Ellsworth
title = Liberators of the Female Mind
date = 1979
pages = 8] In the 1820s the family lived in France where the father was stationed. Emily was a bright scholar at an early age but after suffering from a severe illness at the age of seven she had to relearn the alphabet. Emily suffered from ill health for the rest of her life. [Cite book
last = Kamm
title = Indicative Past:
date = 1971
pages = 16]

At the age of 14 she was sent to a boarding school in Paris but the rough conditions at the school affected Emily’s poor health and she was removed a year later. In 1829, her father took command of HMS "Warspite" and moved his family to Avranche in Lower Normandy. [ Cite book
last = Ellsworth
title = Liberators of the Female Mind
date = 1979
pages = 8] In 1831 her father was appointed to Gibraltar and did not think it his daughters needed another governess, bringing their formal education to an end. [Cite book
last = Kamm
title = Indicative Past
date = 1971
pages = 16-17]

Maria and Emily continued to improve their education through ‘self-improvement’ by travelling extensively to France, Spain and Italy, reading in their father’s extensive library, and became acquainted with many intellectuals of the age through their father's contacts. [cite journal
last = Morrison
first = Oonagh
title = The Woman of Purpose
journal = The Lady
date = 2 Jun 1966 ]

Early writings

Emily and Maria first began to write together when Mrs Shirreff brought her daughters back to England in 1834. Their first publication, "Letters from Spain and Barbary", was published in 1835. Though Maria was married in 1841, the two sisters continued to write together and anonymously published a romantic novel, "Passion and Principle". In 1850, they published "Thoughts on Self-Culture Addressed to Women", in which they disapproved of traditional girls' education which only trained women to be dependent on men and not teach them to think for themselves. [cite web
last = Froebel Web
title = Emily Shirreff 1814-1897
publisher = Froebel Web
date = 2002
url = http://www.froebelweb.org/images/shirreff.html
accessdate = 2008-04-18] In 1858, Shirreff published her first major solo work "Intellectual Education and its Influence on the Character and Happiness of Women", which further highlighted Emily's belief that women should not be educated as 'man's subordinate'. [cite web
last = University of Glasgow, special collections
title = Emily Shirreff 1814-1897
publisher = On women's education
url = http://www.froebelweb.org/images/shirreff.html
accessdate = http://special.lib.gla.ac.uk/exhibns/women/onwomen.html]

Educational work

In the 1870s, the sisters actively turned their attention to promoting education. Emily helped raise funds for the North London Collegiate School and continued to write papers on women’s education. She was also an early mistress of Girton College, Cambridge, and remained connected to the College until her death. [cite web
last = Girton College
title = Girton College, Cambridge, Emily Ann Eliza Shirreff (1814–1897)
date = 6 March 2007
url = http://www.girton.cam.ac.uk/staff/fellows/pastmistress/eshirreff/index.html
accessdate = 2008-04-18] Emily was one of the founders of the Froebel Society and was its president from 1876 until her death. She also wrote many articles and booklets on kindergarten education. Emily was also the vice-president of the Parents’ National Union.

In 1871, with her sister, Mary Gurney, Lady Henrietta Maria Stanley of Alderley, and the support of HRH Princess Louise, Emily founded the National Union for the Improvement of the Education of Women of all Classes, (also known as the Women’s Education Union). [Cite book
last = Kamm
title = Indicative Past
date = 1971
pages = 42-44 ] . Emily was heavily involved in the work of the union as its' honorary secretary and co-editor of its journal, "the Journal of the Women’s Education Union". The Union also found the Girls’ Public Day School Company in 1872, which opened secondary schools for girls which offered the same educational opportunities as boys’ schools, and still operates today as the Girls' Day School Trust. She was very active on the Council of the Company and was made a vice-president in 1896. Emily was also involved in the Union’s foundation of an evening college for women and the teachers training and registration society. [cite encyclopedia
title = Shirreff, Emily (Anne Eliza)
encyclopedia = A historical dictionary of British women.
pages = 392-393
publisher = Europa
date = 2003]

Other interests

Emily was also interested in other areas of research and supported women’s suffrage. Her opposition of the continuation of the use of slaves in southern USA was aired in her 1864 paper, "The Chivalry of the South". In 1874 she joined the Women's Peace and Arbitration Auxiliary, (later the London Peace Society). She also wrote a biographical sketch of Henry Thomas Buckle, who had been a close friend, for an posthumous edition of his works in 1872.

Later life

Emily had suffered from ill health all her life and became less active towards the end of her life She died in London on 20 March 1897 and was buried in Brompton cemetery.

Publications

* Shirreff, Maria Georgina; Shirreff, Emily (1841), "Passion and Principal". Edited by Captain Schmier. London.
* Grey, Maria Georgina; Shirreff, Emily (1850), "Thoughts on Self-Culture Addressed to Women". London
*cite book
last = Shirreff | first = Emily
title = Intellectual education and its influence on the character and happiness of women
publisher = John W Parker and Son
date = 1858 New editions 1862 and 1863.
*cite journal
last = Shirreff
first = Emily
title = Our Modern Youth
journal =Fraser’s magazine
date = 1863
*cite book
last = Shirreff
first = Emily
title = The Chivalry of the South
publisher = Emily Faithful for the London Ladies Emancipation Society
place = London
date = 1864
*cite book
last = Shirreff
first = Emily
title = Kindergarten, Principles of Froebel’s System and their bearing on the Education of Women
publisher = Emily Faithful for the London Ladies Emancipation Society
place = London
date = 1864
*cite book
last = Shirreff
first = Emily
title = The work of the National Union
publisher = William Ridgeway
place = London
date = 1872
*cite book
last = Shirreff
first = Emily
title = Why should we learn?
publisher = John W Parker & Son
place = London
date = 1872
*cite book
last = Shirreff
first = Emily
title = The Enjoyment of Life, a lecture by E A E Shirreff delivered at the College of Men and Women, Mar 20, 1875
publisher = William Ridgeway
place = London
date = 1875
*cite book
last = Shirreff
first = Emily
title = The Claim of Froebel’s System to be called “The New Education”: a paper read at the meeting of the Froebel Society, London, June 5, 1877
publisher = E Steiger
place = New York
date = 1877
*cite book
last = Shirreff
first = Emily
title = The Kindergarten in Relations to Schools: papers read before the Society of Arts, December 12 1877
publisher = W Millard
place = Reading
date = 1877
*cite book
last = Shirreff
first = Emily
title = On Connection between the Kindergarten and the School: A lecture on Mme. Portugall’s Synoptical Table
publisher = Sonnenschein &Allen
place = London
date = 1880
*cite book
last = Shirreff
first = Emily
title = ‘Wasted Forces’ Froebel Society’s Tract No. 5
publisher = Sonnenschein &Allen
place = London
date = 1880
*cite book
last = Shirreff
first = Emily
title = Home Education in Relation to the Kindergarten: Two Lectures
publisher = J Hughes
place = London
date = 1884
*cite book
last = Shirreff
first = Emily
title = The Kindergarten at Home
publisher = J Hughes
place = London
date = 1884
*cite book
last = Shirreff
first = Emily
title = Kindergarten Teachers and Their Qualifications: Annual Address delivered before the Froebel Society
publisher = William Rice
place = London
date = 1885
*cite book
last = Shirreff
first = Emily
title = A short sketch of the Life of Frederick Froebel
publisher = Chapman & Hall
place = London
date = 1887
*cite book
last = Shirreff
first = Emily
title = Moral Training: Froebel and Herbert Spencer
publisher = Philip and Son
place = London
date = 1892

Published Sources

* Cite book
last = Kamm
first = Josephine
title = Indicative Past: A Hundred Years of the Girl’s Public Day School Trust
publisher = George Allen & Unwin
date = 1971
location = London
* Cite book
last = Ellsworth
first =
title = Liberators of the Female Mind: The Shirreff Sister, Educational Reform and the Women’s Movement
publisher = Greenwood Press
date = 1979
location = Westport
* Cite book
title = The education papers: women's quest for equality in Britain, 1850-1912
publisher = Routledge & Kegan Paul
date = 1987
location = London
* cite encyclopedia
title = Shirreff, Emily Anne Eliza (1814–1897)
encyclopedia = Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
last = Levine
first = Philippa
publisher = Oxford University Press
date = Oct 2005
url = http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/25444
access date = 24 November 2007
*cite encyclopedia
title = Shirreff, Emily (Anne Eliza)
encyclopedia = A historical dictionary of British women
pages = 392-393
publisher = Europa
date = 2003

References

ee also

*Maria Georgina Grey
*Girls' Day School Trust

External links

* [http://www.nndb.com/people/257/000101951/ Biography at Notable Names Database]
* [http://www.froebelweb.org/images/shirreff.html Biography of Emily Shirreff from the Froebel web online resource]
*Philippa Levine, ‘Shirreff, Emily Anne Eliza (1814–1897)’, "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography", Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, Oct 2005 Accessed 27 Nov 2007. [http://www.oxforddnb.com/index/101025444/ index entry] .
* [http://www.girton.cam.ac.uk/staff/fellows/pastmistress/eshirreff/index.html Girton College past mistresses index]