Ethel Ann Burton-Brown, née Marshall (1868-1927) was an English educator. She was headmistress of

Prior's Field School Prior's Field is an independent girls' boarding and day school in Guildford, Surrey in the south-east of England. Founded in 1902 by Julia Huxley, it stands in 42 acres of parkland, 34 miles south-west of London and adjacent to the A3 road, w ...

from 1908 to 1927.

Life

Ethel Marshall was born in

Hertford Hertford ( ) is the county town of Hertfordshire, England, and is also a civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of the county. The parish had a population of 26,783 at the 2011 census. The town grew around a ford on the River Lea, ne ...

in 1868. She was the daughter of the Rev. Charles Marshall and Elizabeth Mary Tripe, later Metham. She was educated at Highfield School, Hendon, the girls school set up by

Fanny Metcalfe Fanny Metcalfe (1 February 1829 – 30 May 1897) was a pioneering educator who set up a school for girls, and was involved in setting up more than one women's college. Early life and education Fanny Metcalfe was born on 1 February 1829 to Charle ...

. In 1886 she went up to

Girton College, Cambridge Girton College is one of the 31 constituent colleges of the University of Cambridge. The college was established in 1869 by Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon as the first women's college in Cambridge. In 1948, it was granted full college status ...

. Though she initially wanted to study

classics Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

, her Girton tutors persuaded her to switch to

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

. She was taught by Gwatkin and

Mandell Creighton Mandell Creighton (; 5 July 1843 – 14 January 1901) was a British historian and a bishop of the Church of England. A scholar of the Renaissance papacy, Creighton was the first occupant of the Dixie Chair of Ecclesiastical History at the ...

, who both became friends and mentors to her. She achieved a first-class in her examination, though as a woman was denied a Cambridge degree. She married a doctor, Frederick Hewlett Burton-Brown, and moved to India with him when he joined the Indian Army Medical Service. Her first two children were born there, Beatrice and Margaret, who died in infancy. On returning to London, she worked at the

Women's University Settlement Blackfriars Settlement charitable organization in the UK established to improve the well-being of disadvantaged people. It was originally established as the Women's University Settlement in 1887, and focused especially on the needs of women and c ...

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

. In 1896 her husband bought a medical practice in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, and the family moved there. There she came to know the archaeologist Giacomo Boni, and wrote an English guidebook to Boni's excavations of the

Roman Forum The Roman Forum, also known by its Latin name Forum Romanum ( it, Foro Romano), is a rectangular forum (plaza) surrounded by the ruins of several important ancient government buildings at the center of the city of Rome. Citizens of the ancient ...

. She also gained extensive knowledge of

Italian painting Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

. Twin boys, Christopher and Theodore, were born in Italy. In 1904 Frederick was forced to give up his medical practice, and the family returned to England. After Frederick had made several unsuccessful attempts to set up an English practice, the marriage failed. A judicial separation between Frederick and Ethel Ann was drawn up, and Frederick left the family to move abroad. Forced to earn an income, Ethel Burton Brown took up lecturing. After lecturing in Cambridge on the recent Roman Forum excavations, she was made an Honorary Fellow of the Cambridge Classical Society and the Royal Historical Society. From 1905 she started giving regular weekly lectures on Italian art at Prior's Field School, founded in 1902 by

Julia Huxley Julia Huxley (née Arnold) (1862–1908) was a British scholar. She founded Prior's Field School for girls, in Godalming, Surrey in 1902. She came from and had an exceptional family. Life Born Julia Arnold in 1862 to Julia Sorell Arnold, the g ...

. Befriending Huxley, Burton-Brown became joint headmistress with her in April 1906, and took over as sole headmistress after Huxley's health failed. For the next two decades she dedicated herself to the school. Ethel Burton Brown died on 21 March 1927. She is buried near Huxley at

Compton, Guildford Compton is a village and civil parish in the Guildford district of Surrey, England. It is between Godalming and Guildford. It has a medieval church and a close connection to fine art and pottery, being the later life home of artist George Frede ...

. Her daughter Beatrice (1892-1964) succeeded her as headmistress of the school.

Works

* ''Recent excavations in the Roman Forum, 1898-1904''. London: Murray, 1904.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burton-Brown, Ethel Ann 1868 births 1927 deaths Alumni of Girton College, Cambridge Heads of schools in England Women heads of schools in the United Kingdom