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TEN FACTS FOUND IN THE MAYNARD COLLECTION - NOW AVAILABLE TO USERS

To celebrate the completed catalogue of the Constance Maynard Archive being available to users, we would like to let you in on ten surprising facts about the first headmistress of Westfield College.

Published:
Sepia photograph of Constance Maynard

These have been discovered in her 92 Archive Bookmarks., which cover her life from the age of 17 in 1866, to the day before her death in 1935.

  • Due to her religious and moral beliefs she did not dance, or attend theatre, and disagreed with consumption of alcohol.
  • She was one of the first women to attend college, at Girton, yet her Masters degree wasn’t recognised until 1928.
  • She rejected a proposal in 1869 and in 1884 this man shot his wife and then himself.
  • She declared her love for a female student at Westfield, and shared her bed sometimes. She had intimate friendships with several women in her life.
  • She travelled the world, including Palestine, Canada, South Africa, Europe, and the UK.
  • She adopted a child called Effie in 1888, who died at the age of 31. They had a tumultuous relationship due to disapproval of her daughter’s behaviour.
  • During World War I, she was accused of being ‘pro-German’ due to a newspaper misquoting an article she wrote about Germany; villagers threatened to throw bricks at her house.
  • She was diagnosed with preliminary cancer in 1919.
  • She used astrological symbols for days of the week, and the symbol @ for the word ‘about’.
  • She records details of contemporary events and issues including Wars, charity work, the death of Queen Victoria, and politics.

For more information about the archives and our collections see our diaries and autobiography and Guide to the Archives

 

 

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