Haberdashers' Girls' School is an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

day school in

Elstree Elstree is a large village in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire, England. It is about northwest of central London on the former A5 road, that follows the course of Watling Street. In 2011, its population was 5,110. It forms part of the ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

. It is often referred to as "Habs" (or "Habs Girls" to distinguish it from the neighbouring

Haberdashers' Boys' School Haberdashers' Boys' School (also known as Haberdashers', Habs, or Habs Boys), until September 2021 known as Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School, is a public school for pupils age 4 to 18 in Elstree, Hertfordshire, England. The school is a mem ...

). The school was founded in 1875 by the

Worshipful Company of Haberdashers The Worshipful Company of Haberdashers, one of the Great Twelve City Livery Companies, is an ancient merchant guild of London, England associated with the silk and velvet trades. History and functions The Haberdashers' Company follows the M ...

, one of the Great Twelve Livery Companies of the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

History

In 1690, Robert Aske gave the Haberdashers' Company £20,000 to set up a hospital and home for 20 elderly men and a school for 20 boys at

Hoxton Hoxton is an area in the London Borough of Hackney, England. As a part of Shoreditch, it is often considered to be part of the East End – the historic core of wider East London. It was historically in the county of Middlesex until 1889. I ...

, just north of the City of London. The school came decidedly second to the home for elderly men. There were no new boys between 1714 and 1739 because the foundation was short of funds. The hospital was rebuilt during 1824–26 and the foundation was reorganised in 1873 when four schools were established: two at Hoxton, and two at

Hatcham Hatcham was a manor and later a chapelry in what is now London, England. It largely corresponds to the area around New Cross in the London Borough of Lewisham. The ancient parish of Deptford straddled the counties of Surrey and Kent and there c ...

, New Cross in south-east London. Boys and girls were taught separately at each site. All four schools opened in 1875, the Hoxton schools offered a basic English education and the Hatcham schools covered a wider syllabus. In 1891, Hatcham Girls moved to new premises half a mile away, designed by

Henry Stock Henry Stock (1824/5–1909) was a British architect. He served as the county surveyor for Essex for nearly 50 years, and as the surveyor and architect to the Worshipful Company of Haberdashers. The latter appointment led Stock to undertake a co ...

, while Hatcham boys took over the Girls’ buildings. Early in the 20th century, new sites for the Hoxton schools were purchased in

Cricklewood Cricklewood is an area of London, England, which spans the boundaries of three London boroughs: Barnet to the east, Brent to the west and Camden to the south-east. The Crown pub, now the Clayton Crown Hotel, is a local landmark and lies north- ...

(always referred to as Hampstead) for the Boys and

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for the Girls. Both these schools became Direct Grant in 1946 and then fully independent, day, fee-paying schools in 1976. The need for expansion saw the Boys’ School move again to Elstree, Hertfordshire in 1961, followed by the Girls in 1974. The previous site of the Girls' School, in Acton, became the

Japanese School in London The is a Japanese international school in Acton, London Borough of Ealing. The school is incorporated as . The , a Japanese supplementary school, is a part of the institution. Junko Sakai (酒井順子 ''Sakai Junko''), author of '' Japanese ...

. In March 2021, ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''The ...

'' reported that the school's governing body would be undertaking a review of their founder, Robert Aske's, legacy, including his ties to slavery. In September 2021, various news reports confirmed that the Aske's name would be dropped from both the names of the Boys' and the Girls' schools, and that they would be henceforth called Haberdashers' Girls' School and Haberdashers' Boys' School. although the name Aske would be retained by their governing body. The school's motto was also updated, from "Serve and Obey", to "Together, boundless".

The School

Academic achievement

97% of girls achieve grades A* to B at A Level, and over 99% achieve A* - B at GCSE.

Headmistresses

The current headmistress is Rose Hardy, MA. * 2011 – 2019 Biddie O'Connor, MA * 2005 – 2011 Elizabeth Radice, MA * 1991 – 2005 Penelope Penney, BA * 1974 – 1991 Sheila Wiltshire,

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

, BSc * 1969 – 1973 Jessie Gillett, BA * 1944 – 1968 Eileen Harold, MA * 1920 – 1943 Dorothy Sprules, MA * 1904 – 1919 Margaret Gilliland, MA * 1888 – 1903 Edith Millar * 1875 – 1888 Elizabeth Powell

Old Girls

Former pupils are referred to as Old Girls. Their alumni association is called Haberdashers' Old Girls' Club which was created on 6 May 1904 by Headmistress, Miss Margaret Gilliland. In 2014, they celebrated their 110th anniversary at

St Martin-in-the-Fields St Martin-in-the-Fields is a Church of England parish church at the north-east corner of Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, London. It is dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours. There has been a church on the site since at least the mediev ...

. Notable Old Girls: *

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, actress (Class of 2004) *

Emily Arbuthnott Emily Frances Alice Arbuthnott (born 3 October 1997 Kingston upon Thames) is a British professional tennis player. Arbuthnott has been ranked as high as world No. 551 in singles and No. 319 in doubles by the WTA. At the 2017 Summer Universia ...

Tennis Player. * Florence Bell (1913–2000), scientist who contributed to the discovery of the structure of DNA. *

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, fashion designer and entrepreneur (Class of 1981) *

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, musicologist (Class of 1959) *

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, former

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for

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(Class of 1999) *

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, arts critic, broadcaster and author (Class of 1996) * Florence Birchenough, member of the first female Olympic team (1894-1973) (Class of 1911) *

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homeopath Homeopathy or homoeopathy is a pseudoscientific system of alternative medicine. It was conceived in 1796 by the German physician Samuel Hahnemann. Its practitioners, called homeopaths, believe that a substance that causes symptoms of a dise ...

to Queen

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(1898-1981) (Class of 1916) *

Hilda Buckmaster Dr Hilda Mary Adela Buckmaster BSc. (January 1897 – April 1993), was a British academic and Liberal Party politician. She was notably and unusually a naval officer in both World Wars. Background Hilda Buckmaster was born in Brentford, Middlese ...

, politician and naval officer (1897-1993) (Class of 1916) *

Nica Burns Lounica Maureen Patricia "Nica" Burns OBE (born August 1954) is a London theatre producer and co-owner with her business partner Max Weitzenhoffer of the Nimax Theatres group, comprising six West End theatres: the Palace, Lyric, Apollo, Ga ...

, theatre producer (Class of 1973) *

Linda Cardozo Linda Dolores Cardozo Order of the British Empire, OBE is a British gynaecologist and professor of gynaecology, urogynaecology at King's College Hospital, London. Biography Cardozo was educated at Haberdashers' Aske's School for Girls until Dec ...

, Professor of

urogynaecology Urogynecology or urogynaecology is a surgical sub-specialty of urology and gynecology. History In 1893, Howard Kelly, a gynecologist and pioneering urogynecologist, invented an air cystoscope which was simply a handheld, hollow tube with a glass ...

(Class of 1969) * Veronica Castang, actress (1938–1988) (Class of 1956) *

Barbara Craig Barbara Denise Craig (née Chapman; 22 October 1915 – 25 January 2005) was a British archaeologist, classicist, and academic, specialising in classical pottery. From 1967 to 1980, she was Principal of Somerville College, Oxford. Early life ...

, archaeologist and classicist (1915–2005) (Class of 1933) * Claire Dalby, botanical artist (Class of 1963) *

Amanda Davies Amanda Davies (born 24 March 1980) is an English sports presenter on CNN International. Early life Davies was born on 24 March 1980 in Manchester. She is the daughter of sports journalist and sports administrator David Davies. She was educat ...

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...

Sportscaster (Junior School) * Sophie Deen, children's author (Class of 2001) *

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, TV personality and radio broadcaster (Class of 1979) *

Tamara Finkelstein Tamara Margaret Finkelstein (born 24 May 1967) is a British civil servant who is currently the permanent secretary at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Early life and education Tamara Margaret Finkelstein was born on 2 ...

, senior civil servant,

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(Class of 1985) *

Charlotte Green Charlotte Green (born 4 May 1956) is a British radio broadcaster and a former continuity announcer and news reader for BBC Radio 4. After 1988 she specialised in news reading, including reading the news on Radio 4 breakfast ''Today'' programme ...

, radio broadcaster (Class of 1974) * Mary Hocking, author (1921–2014) (Class of 1939) *

Vera Houghton Vera Houghton, Baroness Houghton of Sowerby, (née Travis; 18 October 1914 – 30 November 2013) was a British women's health campaigner, chair of the Abortion Law Reform Association and founder of the Birth Control Trust. She also served as ...

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

, campaigner (1914–2013) (Class of 1931) *

Shelina Zahra Janmohamed Shelina Zahra Janmohamed (born 13 April 1974) is a British writer. She is the author of ''Love in a Headscarf'' (2009), a memoir of growing up as a British Muslim woman. Her new book titled ''Generation M: Young Muslims Changing the World'' was ...

, author (Class of 1992) *

Mabel Lethbridge Mabel Florence Lethbridge BEM (7 July 1900 – 14 July 1968) was a 20th-century English writer and business woman. She was the youngest person at the time to receive the British Empire Medal, an award affiliated to the Order of the British Empir ...

, writer and the youngest person to be awarded a

British Empire Medal The British Empire Medal (BEM; formerly British Empire Medal for Meritorious Service) is a British and Commonwealth award for meritorious civil or military service worthy of recognition by the Crown. The current honour was created in 1922 to ...

for her services in the Great War (Class of 1914) * Karen Liebreich

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

, author, historian and gardener (Class of 1978) * Dominique Lloyd-Walter, squash player (Class of 1999) *

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, journalist and author (1968–2006) (Class of 1986) *

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, actress (Class of 2004) *

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, writer (Class of 1995) * Ritula Shah, journalist and radio presenter (Class of 1985) *

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, youngest competitor at the

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, who represented

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swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

. She won her heat in the Women's 100m backstroke event. *

Daphne Slater Daphne Helen Slater (3 March 1928 – 4 October 2012) was an English actress noted for Shakespearean and period films. Biography She was born in London and educated at Haberdashers' Aske's School for Girls, when it was in Acton, before attendin ...

, actress (1928–2012) (Class of 1944) * Eloise Smith, fencer at 2000 Summer Olympics, Sydney (Class of 1995)

Controversy

In April 2021, an article in the ''

Daily Telegraph Daily or The Daily may refer to: Journalism * Daily newspaper, newspaper issued on five to seven day of most weeks * ''The Daily'' (podcast), a podcast by ''The New York Times'' * ''The Daily'' (News Corporation), a defunct US-based iPad new ...

'' claimed that students at the school "subjected to forced sex" and facing "sexism" from pupils at Haberdashers' Boys' School. Some pupils claimed that cases were reported to the school but were "downplayed".

References

Publications

* ''HR Dulley, Haberdashers' Girls' School: The First 125 Years (2000). Published by Gresham Books Limited. ''

External links

* http://www.habsgirls.org.uk/ * http://www.haberdashers.co.uk/index.php?p=schoolsElstree {{DEFAULTSORT:Haberdashers' School for Girls Girls' schools in Hertfordshire Haberdashers' Schools Preparatory schools in Hertfordshire Independent schools in Hertfordshire Educational institutions established in 1875 Relocated schools 1875 establishments in England Member schools of the Girls' Schools Association Aldenham