Mary Datchelor School was an endowed

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...

for

girls A girl is a young female human, usually a child or an adolescent. While the term ''girl'' has other meanings, including ''young woman'',Dictionary.com, "Girl"'' Retrieved January 2, 2008. ''daughter'' or ''girlfriend'' regardless of age, ...

Camberwell Grove Camberwell Grove is a residential street in Camberwell, London, England, in the Borough of Southwark. It follows the line of a grove of trees, hence the name. The street once led from a Tudor manor house south to the top of a hill, which aff ...

Camberwell Camberwell ( ) is an List of areas of London, area of South London, England, in the London Borough of Southwark, southeast of Charing Cross. Camberwell was first a village associated with the church of St Giles' Church, Camberwell, St Giles ...

Greater London Greater London is an administrative area in England, coterminous with the London region, containing most of the continuous urban area of London. It contains 33 local government districts: the 32 London boroughs, which form a Ceremonial count ...

, England. It was established in 1877 and closed in 1981. It was known for its innovations in encouraging teacher training, and for its encouragement of music.

History

Mary Datchelor School was founded out of an endowment originally intended for the upkeep of the 18th-century Datchelor family's family tomb. A board of trustees was established in 1871, with £20,000 to found a girls' school. The school opened in 1877 with thirty girls, and had grown to over 400 by 1900. The first headmistress was Caroline Rigg (1852-1929), who remained in the job for four decades, until 1917.Margaret Bryant, 'Rigg, Caroline Edith', ''

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

'', 2004. Rigg had been professionally trained as a teacher, and encouraged professional training for her staff. From 1879 she began selecting pupils to train herself as teachers. As demand grew, senior girls were awarded 'student-teacherships' to proceed to Maria Grey Training College for further training. In 1888, Rigg persuaded the school trustees to establish a teacher training college, the Datchelor Training College, associated with the school. Rigg herself was college principal, with an additional mistress of method and lecturer in educational science. In 1899 the Cambridge training syndicate granted the college recognition, and the

Board of Education A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional area, ...

inspected and recognized the college in 1902. In 1905 the college became part of the

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. The training college had two departments: one trained students for the Cambridge Higher Locals and subsequently the

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

BA, and the other trained students for the Cambridge or London teaching diploma. From 1918 to 1950, the headmistress was

Dorothy Brock Dame Madeline Dorothy Brock (18 November 1886 – 31 December 1969) was an English educationist. She served as Headmistress of the Mary Datchelor Girls' School, Camberwell, London from 1918 to 1950. She oversaw the evacuation of the school duri ...

: In the early twentieth century the school was "one of the key centres for developing the music curriculum in secondary schools". From 1919, the school was funded to provide girls with a two-year course of post-GCE music study. Most took up music professionally, some entering teaching. Brock oversaw the school's evacuation during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, first to

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and then to

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. She was succeeded as headmistress by Rachel N. Pearse. In 1981, the school closed, rather than become either a comprehensive or a

private school A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a State school, public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their fina ...

. The building subsequently became the headquarters of

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for several years, and was converted into a complex of apartments, called Mary Datchelor House, by

Berkeley Homes The Berkeley Group Holdings plc is a British property developer and house-builder based in Cobham, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. The firm was founded in 1976 by Tony Pidgl ...

in 2009.

Notable alumnae

Notable staff

, former headmistress *

Elizabeth Jeffreys Elizabeth Mary Jeffreys (née Brown, 22 July 1941 – 12 September 2023) was a British scholar of Byzantium. She was Bywater and Sotheby Professor of Byzantine and Modern Greek Language and Literature, University of Oxford, and a Professorial ...

, Classics teacher 1965–69

History

Notable alumnae

Notable staff

References

Further reading