Caroline Herford MBE, later Caroline Herford Blake (1860–1945) was an English educationist.M. E. Sadler, revised by M. C. Curthoys, 'Herford, William Henry', ''

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

, 2004.

Life

Caroline Herford was born on 1 November 1860, the daughter of Unitarian minister

William Henry Herford William Henry Herford (1820–1908) was an English Unitarian minister, writer and educator. He was interested in education and married a school head mistress, Louisa Carbutt. Early life Born at Coventry, 20 October 1820, he was fourth son in a f ...

and Elizabeth Anne Davis (died 1880). From 1886 to 1907 she was headmistress of the Froebelian

Lady Barn House School Lady Barn House School is an independent primary school in Cheadle, Greater Manchester. It was originally in Fallowfield, Manchester, but moved to its present location in the 1950s. It was founded in 1873 by W. H. Herford who was also the first ...

, which her father had founded in 1873. She also lectured at the Manchester Kindergarten Training College. Caring for her father until his death in 1908, Herford then lectured for a short time at

University College, Reading The University of Reading is a public university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as University College, Reading, a University of Oxford extension college. The institution received the power to grant its own degrees in 192 ...

. From 1910 to 1918 she was Lecturer in Education at

Manchester University , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...

. She was a founding member of the Manchester University branch of the British Federation of University Women, and a member of Manchester City Council until defeated by a Conservative candidate in 1923. In World War I she was a

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and ...

Commandant, organizing university students to meet ambulance trains. For this work she was awarded an MBE in 1919.Commandant Miss Caroline Herford
Imperial War Museum. Accessed 5 January 2020. In 1924 Herford married Robert Blake (died 1931), and left Manchester to live with him in

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

. After his death she lived with a Manchester friend, Julia Sharpe, in

Great Missenden Great Missenden is an affluent village with approximately 2,000 residents in the Misbourne Valley in the Chiltern Hills in Buckinghamshire, England, situated between the towns of Amersham and Wendover, with direct rail connections to London Mar ...

. She died there on 16 March 1945.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Herford, Caroline 1860 births 1945 deaths Schoolteachers from Greater Manchester English women educators Academics of the University of Manchester Members of the Order of the British Empire