Helen Darbishire, (1881–1961) was an English literary scholar, who was Principal of

Somerville College, Oxford Somerville College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England, was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. Among its alumnae have been Margaret Thatcher, Indira Gandhi, Dorothy Hodgkin, Ir ...

, from 1931 until her retirement in 1945.'Obituary: Miss Helen Darbishire, former principal of Somerville College', ''The Guardian'', 13 March 1961

Life

Helen Darbishire was born in

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, the daughter of Samuel Dukinfield Darbishire, a physician at the

Radcliffe Infirmary The Radcliffe Infirmary was a hospital in central north Oxford, England, located at the southern end of Woodstock Road on the western side, backing onto Walton Street. History The initial proposals to build a hospital in Oxford were put forw ...

. She was educated at Oxford Girls' High School before going as a scholar to

, where she graduated first-class in English in 1903. After being a visiting lecturer at

Royal Holloway College Royal Holloway, University of London (RHUL), formally incorporated as Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, is a public research university and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It has six schools, 21 academic departm ...

, she returned to Somerville as a tutor in English in 1908. She was the first woman to be chair of the faculty board of English at Oxford University. In 1925-6 she held a visiting professorship at

Wellesley College Wellesley College is a private women's liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henry and Pauline Durant as a female seminary, it is a member of the original Seven Sisters Colleges, an unofficial g ...

. On her return to Oxford she was appointed university lecturer. In 1931 she succeeded

Margery Fry __NOTOC__ Margery is a heavily buffered, lightly populated hamlet in the Reigate and Banstead district, in the English county of Surrey. It sits on the North Downs, is bordered by the London Orbital Motorway, at a lower altitude, and its predom ...

as principal of Somerville, resigning her university lectureship (though continuing to teach and lecture). Darbishire remained principal of Somerville until her retirement in 1945, overseeing considerable building expansion at the college. Her work as a literary scholar focussed on

Milton Milton may refer to: Names * Milton (surname), a surname (and list of people with that surname) ** John Milton (1608–1674), English poet * Milton (given name) ** Milton Friedman (1912–2006), Nobel laureate in Economics, author of '' Free t ...

and

Wordsworth William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication ''Lyrical Ballads'' (1798). Wordsworth's ' ...

. She became a trustee of

Dove Cottage Dove Cottage is a house on the edge of Grasmere in the Lake District of England. It is best known as the home of the poet William Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy Wordsworth from December 1799 to May 1808, where they spent over eight years of ...

and eventually moved to the

Lake District The Lake District, also known as the Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous for its lakes, forests, and mountains (or ''fells''), and its associations with William Wordswor ...

Honours

In 1947, Darbishire was elected a

Fellow of the British Academy Fellowship of the British Academy (FBA) is an award granted by the British Academy to leading academics for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences. The categories are: # Fellows – scholars resident in the United Kingdom # C ...

(FBA). In the 1955 Birthday Honours, she was appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire 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 ...

(CBE).

Works

* ''The early lives of Milton'', 1932 *''The poet Wordsworth'', 1949 * ''The poetical works of John Milton: with translations of the Italian, Latin and Greek poems from the Columbia University edition'', 1952

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Darbishire, Helen 1881 births 1961 deaths Principals of Somerville College, Oxford People educated at Oxford High School, England Alumni of Somerville College, Oxford Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of the British Academy Rose Mary Crawshay Prize winners