Frances Buss

Frances Mary Buss (16 August 1827 – 24 December 1894) was a British headmistress and a pioneer of girls' education.

Buss became the first headmistress of the North London Collegiate School for Ladies in 1850, a position she held for the remainder of her life. She was a leading figure in campaigns to allow girls to sit public examinations and to enter universities, and in 1871 she founded the Camden School for Girls to extend affordable education to more girls. She served as the founding president of the from 1874 until her death in 1894, and played a central role in establishing the Cambridge Training College (later Hughes Hall) for teacher training in 1885.

In 1869 she became the first woman Fellow of the College of Preceptors. Buss was also a suffragist, participating in the Kensington Society and the London Suffrage Committee. Her educational values became a model for schools throughout the United Kingdom and overseas, and her name remains associated with that of her contemporary Dorothea Beale in a well-known satirical rhyme.