Saint Felix School is a 2–18 mixed,

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and boarding school in Reydon, Southwold, Suffolk, England. The school was founded in 1897 as a school for girls but is now co-educational.

History

The school was founded in 1897 as a girls' school by Margaret Isabella Gardiner. By September 1902, the present site of the school had been purchased and the first four boarding houses and teaching block completed. In 1909 Lucy Mary Silcox took over as headmistress from the founding head. The student roll grew and in 1910, the Gardiner Assembly Hall and a Library were built and Clough House followed in 1914. Miss Silcox

Silcox was able to bring leading thinkers and artists to the school and money was found to buy sculpture and paintings. The modernist paintings inspired pupils like the artist Gwyneth Johnstone who remembered seeing work by Chistopher Wood at the school. Silcox directed the girls in ancient Greek plays. The students knew she was President of the local National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies as gave talks in surrounding villages in support of women gaining the vote. The school continued during the 1914-18 war and during the 1916-1917 school year there was an outpost of the school at Penmaenmawr as some parents were worried about their students' safety. The whole school was evacuated three times and the school took in some Serbian refugees.

Today

The school accommodates babies and toddlers in the St Felix Nursery, and children up to the age of 18 in the Sixth Form. The school offers boarding throughout the term, weekly, or 'flexi' boarding. The current head is Mr James Harrison.

Notable former pupils

* Griselda Allan - artist *

Jane Benham Jane Mary Benham MBE (28 January 1943 – June 1992) was an English painter and sailor who was instrumental in the formation and operation of the East Coast Sail Trust. Early life Born in Colchester, Essex, Jane Benham was the daughter of Hervey ...

MBE – artist and sailor who worked to preserve Thames sailing barges *

Dorothea Braby Dorothea Braby (17 October 1909 – 1987) was a British artist. Although she had a long career as a freelance designer producing work for several well-known companies, Braby is best known for the book illustrations she created, particularly thos ...

– artist and illustrator * Dorothy Elizabeth Bradford - painter *

Stella Browne Stella Browne (9 May 1880 – 8 May 1955) was a Canadian-born British feminist, socialist, sex radical, and birth control campaigner. She was one of the primary women in the fight for women's right to control and make decisions regarding their s ...

– feminist and abortion law reformer *

Natalie Caine Natalie Caine (6 June 1909 – 28 December 2008) was one of the first female woodwind players to establish themselves in leading British orchestras. She is frequently referred to by her married name Natalie James. She was born Evelyn Natalie Cai ...

– woodwind playerNatalie Caine
''The Guardian'', 2009-02-17. Retrieved 2013-01-05. * Constance Coltman – the first woman

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform ...

Christian ministry In Christianity, ministry is an activity carried out by Christians to express or spread their faith, the prototype being the Great Commission. The ''Encyclopedia of Christianity'' defines it as "carrying forth Christ's mission in the world", ...

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‘Coltman , Constance Mary (1889–1969)’
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004. *

Katherine Laird Cox Katherine Laird "Ka" Cox (1887–23 May 1938), the daughter of a British socialist stockbroker and his wife, was a Fabian and graduate of Cambridge University. There, she met Rupert Brooke, becoming his lover, and was a member of his Neo-P ...

– model, magistrate *

Nora David, Baroness David Nora Ratcliff David, Baroness David ( Blakesley; 23 September 1913 – 29 November 2009) was a British Labour Party politician and life peer. Born Nora Ratcliff Blakesley, the daughter of a merchant, she was educated at Ashby-de-la-Zouch Gi ...

, politician and life peerBaroness David
''The Daily Telegraph'', 2009-12-07. Retrieved 2013-01-05. *

Phyllis Gardner Phyllis Gardner (6 October 1890 – 16 February 1939) was a writer, artist, and noted breeder of Irish Wolfhounds. She and Rupert Brooke had, on her side at least, a passionate relationship. She attended the Slade School of Fine Art and was a ...

– artist and dog breeder *

Nick Griffin Nicholas John Griffin (born 1 March 1959) is a British politician and white supremacist who represented North West England as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 2009 to 2014. He served as chairman and then president of the far-righ ...

– Former BNP leader and MEP for North West England (1999–2014) *

Lilias Rider Haggard Lilias Margitson Rider Haggard, MBE (9 December 1892 – 9 January 1968) was the fourth and youngest child of the British writer Sir Henry Rider Haggard and Mariana Louisa MargitsonDawson Haggard D.,''The History of the Haggard Family in England ...

MBE, daughter of Sir Henry Rider Haggard and an author in her own right‘HAGGARD, Lilias Margitson Rider’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2008; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 200
accessed 5 Jan 2013
/ref> *

Norman Heatley Norman George Heatley OBE (10 January 1911 – 5 January 2004) was an English biologist and biochemist. He was a member of the team of Oxford University scientists who developed penicillin. Norman Heatley developed the back-extraction technique ...

–

biochemist Biochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. They study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. Biochemists study DNA, proteins and cell parts. The word "biochemist" is a portmanteau of "biological ch ...

Eric Sidebottom, ‘Heatley, Norman George (1911–2004)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Jan 2008; online edn, Jan 201
accessed 4 Jan 2013
/ref> * Gwyneth Johnstone - painter * Emily Beatrix Coursolles Jones – novelist *

Nancy Lyle Nancy Lyle (26 February 1910 – 1986) was a female tennis player from the United Kingdom who was active in the 1930s. She was also known by her married name, Nancy Lyle Glover. Early life and tennis Nancy Lyle was born in London on 26 Februar ...

– tennis player * Violet Helen Millar, later Countess Attlee, wife of

Clement Attlee Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, (3 January 18838 October 1967) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955. He was Deputy Prime Mini ...

Mother Maribel of Wantage Mother Maribel of Wantage (16 January 1887–29 January 1970) was an Anglican nun, artist and sculptor who was Mother General of the Community of St Mary the Virgin in Wantage from 1940 to 1953. Her artistic works, particularly her sculptures ...

– Anglican nun and artist * Anna Russell – singer and comedian‘RUSSELL, Anna’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2007; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 200
accessed 5 Jan 2013
/ref> *

Enid Russell-Smith Dame Enid Mary Russell Russell-Smith, DBE (3 March 1903 – 12 July 1989) was a British civil servant. Career Born in Esher, Surrey to Arthur Russell-Smith and Constance Mary (née Dilke), she attended Saint Felix School, Southwold, and Newn ...

DBE – civil servantJonathan Bradbury, ‘Smith, Dame Enid Mary Russell Russell- (1903–1989)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 200
accessed 5 Jan 2013
/ref> * Mary Snell-Hornby – translation scholar * Constance Tipper –

metallurgist Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys. Metallurgy encompasses both the sc ...

and crystallographerAnna Leendertz Ford, ‘Tipper , Constance Fligg (1894–1995)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 200
accessed 5 Jan 2013
/ref> * Hannah Waterman – actress * Dame Barbara Woodward - diplomat

Notable staff

* Lucy Mary Silcox, headmistress from 1909 to 1926 *

Anne Mustoe Anne Mustoe (24 May 1933 – 10 November 2009) was an English schoolteacher, a touring cyclist, author of travel books and former headmistress of Saint Felix School, Southwold, Suffolk. She fell ill and died in a hospital in Aleppo, Syria on 10 ...

, headmistress from 1978 to 1987Anne Mustoe
– ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'' obituary, 11 December 2009.

References

External links