Eliza Lowe, with two of her sisters, ran a school for girls, aged between 13 and 18, first in Liverpool, then in Southgate Middlesex. The book covers her life in Whitchurch, Burton on Trent, Everton, Liverpool and finally in Middlesex. It describes her school and investigates the lives of some her pupils, one from the influential Rathbone family and one who became a suffragist. Life in the school is described thanks to extant unpublished letters from pupils. An appendix continues the story of her school after her death when her niece took over and later became Headmistress of one of the early Woodard girls' schools in Bangor.

About the Author
Penny Thompson is a retired teacher living in north Liverpool. She taught Religious Education in comprehensive schools in Sefton for many years. She is the author of Whatever Happened to Religious Education, published by Lutterworth in 2004. She has been involved with 3 other books on RE, most recently with Marius Felderhof with whom she co-edited Teaching Virtue, Bloomsbury, 2014. She was a pupil of the School of S. Mary and S. Anne from 1959-1966 and is a Circle Secretary of the Guild. She is married and their daughter Ursula attended the school between 1990 and 1997.

Reviews
"In its detailed account of the life of one of the great pioneers of education for girls in the nineteenth century, this is an engaging and insightful read. Penny Thompson, a beneficiary of the legacy of Nathaniel Woodard and Eliza Lowe, offers far more, though. She demonstrates powerfully how debates and achievements of the past resonate with contemporary concerns. It's a project I wholeheartedly commend." The Rt Revd Dr John Inge, Lord Bishop of Worcester, President of the Woodard Corporation "Thompson achieves an impressive depth of research, and applies it painstakingly to build a picture of these amazing people. Striking a readable balance between academic research and warm biography, this book's jigsaw-like interweaving of tightly referenced material will shed new light on the emergence of the Suffrage movement, the educational ambitions of young Victorian women and the role of Eliza Lowe in making them achievable through her schools." Lynn Murthwaite, retired Assistant Headteacher of Chesterfield High School, Crosby, Liverpool "Penny Thompson's intricate narrative takes up a methodological challenge. Evidence of women educators and their pupils is frequently missing or overlooked and she pieces together a wide range of sources that highlight Eliza Lowe's role in the development of girls' education. The gendered nature of Lowe's complex social, economic, and religious networks of place and space emphasises the centrality of education in understanding both past and present society." Stephanie Spencer, Professor of History of Women's Education at the University of Winchester



Book Information
ISBN 9780718895662
Author Penny Thompson
Format Paperback
Page Count 176
Imprint Lutterworth Press
Publisher James Clarke & Co Ltd