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Katharine Jex-Blake (18 November 1860 – 26 March 1951), was an English classical scholar, and the eighth Mistress of Girton College, Cambridge.^[1]

Biography

Early life

Katharine Jex-Blake was born in 1860 at Rugby School, one of nine daughters and two sons of Thomas Jex-Blake (1832–1915), the school master and later head master at Rugby school, later the Dean of Wells, and his wife Henrietta Cordery. Her aunt was Sophia Jex-Blake, a pioneer in the fight for women's access to higher education; her sister, Henrietta Jex-Blake, would go on to be Principal of Lady Margaret Hall in Oxford. Jex-Blake was educated at home with her sisters by masters from Rugby School before reading classics at Girton College, Cambridge, 1879–1883.^[1] Although the passing of the so-called Three Graces in 1881 meant women were permitted to formally sit University exams from 1882, Jex-Blake was not considered a full member of the university and was thus not eligible for a degree.^[2] She was ranked in the third division of the first class in Part I of the Classical Tripos for women in 1882, one of the two highest performing female candidates.^[3] In Part II of the Classical Tripos, which allowed specialisation in particular sub-disciplines such as archaeology and philosophy rather than focusing on linguistic competence as in Part I, Jex-Blake was the only woman to be placed in the third class.^[3]

Career

After leaving Girton, she taught for a year at Notting Hill and Bayswater High School, a school owned by the Girls' Public Day School Trust. In 1885 she returned to Girton as the Resident Classics lecturer, later becoming the Director of Studies in Classics from 1901 to 1919 and Vice-Mistress from 1903 to 1916.^[1] She was elected as Girton's correspondent for the newly established Classical Association and was in that role by June 1906.^[4]

Jex-Blake was appointed as Mistress of the college in 1916 and served until 1922.^[1] She was thus responsible for steering the college through the changes and challenges of the First World War, including the introduction of rationing and raising vegetables and pigs on college land.^[5] As Mistress, she laid the groundwork for the college to be recognised in law, leading the college council in preparing a draft constitution and statues in order to obtain a royal charter.^[6]

Although Jex-Blake was an active teacher and scholar, in line with the academic norms of this period she did not publish extensively. Her only published work was a translation of Pliny the Elder's Chapters on the History of Art, produced in collaboration with her friend Eugenie Sellers (1896); Jex-Blake provided the translation, while Sellars wrote the introduction and the commentary.^[7]

Her influence extended beyond Girton: some of her students became classics lecturers at Girton, Newnham College, Bedford College, Royal Holloway, Somerville College and Lady Margaret Hall in the 1920s.^[1]

Politics

Jex-Blake was an active supporter of women's suffrage, signing a joint letter to The Times in 1917 objecting to the failure of the Electoral Reform Conference to address the issue.^[8]

Retirement

Upon her retirement from Girton in 1922,^[9] Katharine Jex-Blake donated a sum for what became the Jex-Blake Research Fellowship.^[1] She became a governor of the college and also sat on its Council. She was made an honorary fellow in 1932. From 1925 to 1937 she was an active member of the Council of her former employers, the Girls' Public Day School Trust and was later elected a vice-president of the Trust. She also served as a governor of the Harpur Trust at Bedford High School and at the Perse School.^[10]

She died at Hurstpierpoint, Sussex in 1951.

Works

Eugenie Sellers, Commentary and Historical Introduction to the Elder Pliny's Chapter on the History of Art. Translated by Katharine Jex-Blake (London, 1896).

Personal papers

Norfolk Record Office holds correspondence between Katharine and her sisters, Henrietta and Violet Jex-Blake, in the papers of the Jex-Blake family (Ref: MC 233/36).^[11]

Jex-Blake's personal papers are held at Girton College, and much of her correspondence is distributed around other colleges' archives at Cambridge.^[12]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Perrone, Fernanda Helen; Harrison, B. (October 2005). "Blake, Katharine Jex- (1860–1951)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Online edition. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/48441. Retrieved 14 July 2008. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
^ McWilliams Tullberg, Rita, 1943- (1998). Women at Cambridge (Rev. ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 052164464X. OCLC 39485246.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^ ^a ^b Beard, Mary; King, Gillian; Stray, Christopher (1998). The Birds and the Bees: Women in Classics, Cambridge 1871-1948. Cambridge: Cambridge Classics Faculty. pp. 6–7.
^ Stray, Chris (2003). "Getting under Way: Challenge and Response, 1904-22". Greece & Rome. 50: 29. doi:10.1093/gr/50.suppl_1.23. JSTOR 3567833.
^ Senechal, Marjorie. (2012). I Died for Beauty : Dorothy Wrinch and the Cultures of Science. Oxford: Oxford University Press, USA. p. 55. ISBN 9780199875795. OCLC 818851574.
^ Poole, Russell (2018). "Kindred, College, and Scholarship in the Lifework of Bertha Surtees Phillpotts (1877-1932)". In Chance, Jane (ed.). Women Medievalists and the Academy, Two Volumes. Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 208. ISBN 9781532644368.
^ Beard, Mary (2002). The Invention of Jane Harrison. Harvard University Press. p. 23. ISBN 9780674008076.
^ Erickson, Amy Louise (January 2018). "Ellen Annette McArthur: Establishing a Presence in the Academy". Generations of women historians : within and beyond the academy. Smith, Hilda L., 1941-, Zook, Melinda S. Cham. p. 40. ISBN 9783319775685. OCLC 1044746305.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^ Girton College Register, 1869–1946: Cambridge; CUP; 1948
^ Goodman, Joyce; Sylvia, Harop (2002). "Governing Ladies. Women governors of middle-class girls' schools, 1870-1925". In Goodman, Joyce; Harrop, Sylvia (eds.). Women, Educational Policy-Making and Administration in England: Authoritative Women Since 1800. Routledge. pp. 43, 47. ISBN 9781134639694.
^ Norfolk Record Office (2006). "Family Papers of Jex-Blake and Buxton families, with Title Deeds of Caister Hall Estate". Retrieved 15 February 2021.
^ "Advanced Search". Janus.

External links

Biographical sketch Archived 28 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine at Girton College website
Perrone, Fernanda Helen; Harrison, B. (October 2005). "Blake, Katharine Jex- (1860–1951)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Online edition. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/48441. Retrieved 14 July 2008. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

Academic offices
Preceded by Emily Elizabeth Constance Jones	Mistress of Girton College, Cambridge 1916–1922	Succeeded by Bertha Surtees Phillpotts

[odnb-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Perrone, Fernanda Helen; Harrison, B. (October 2005). "Blake, Katharine Jex- (1860–1951)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Online edition. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/48441. Retrieved 14 July 2008. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

[2] McWilliams Tullberg, Rita, 1943- (1998). Women at Cambridge (Rev. ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 052164464X. OCLC 39485246.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

[:0-3] Beard, Mary; King, Gillian; Stray, Christopher (1998). The Birds and the Bees: Women in Classics, Cambridge 1871-1948. Cambridge: Cambridge Classics Faculty. pp. 6–7.

[4] Stray, Chris (2003). "Getting under Way: Challenge and Response, 1904-22". Greece & Rome. 50: 29. doi:10.1093/gr/50.suppl_1.23. JSTOR 3567833.

[5] Senechal, Marjorie. (2012). I Died for Beauty : Dorothy Wrinch and the Cultures of Science. Oxford: Oxford University Press, USA. p. 55. ISBN 9780199875795. OCLC 818851574.

[6] Poole, Russell (2018). "Kindred, College, and Scholarship in the Lifework of Bertha Surtees Phillpotts (1877-1932)". In Chance, Jane (ed.). Women Medievalists and the Academy, Two Volumes. Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 208. ISBN 9781532644368.

[7] Beard, Mary (2002). The Invention of Jane Harrison. Harvard University Press. p. 23. ISBN 9780674008076.

[8] Erickson, Amy Louise (January 2018). "Ellen Annette McArthur: Establishing a Presence in the Academy". Generations of women historians : within and beyond the academy. Smith, Hilda L., 1941-, Zook, Melinda S. Cham. p. 40. ISBN 9783319775685. OCLC 1044746305.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

[9] Girton College Register, 1869–1946: Cambridge; CUP; 1948

[10] Goodman, Joyce; Sylvia, Harop (2002). "Governing Ladies. Women governors of middle-class girls' schools, 1870-1925". In Goodman, Joyce; Harrop, Sylvia (eds.). Women, Educational Policy-Making and Administration in England: Authoritative Women Since 1800. Routledge. pp. 43, 47. ISBN 9781134639694.

[11] Norfolk Record Office (2006). "Family Papers of Jex-Blake and Buxton families, with Title Deeds of Caister Hall Estate". Retrieved 15 February 2021.

[12] "Advanced Search". Janus.

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@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{Short description|English classical scholar}}
-'''Katharine Jex-Blake''' (18 November 1860 &ndash; 26 March 1951), was an [[English people|English]] classical scholar, mistress of [[Girton College, Cambridge]].<ref name="odnb">{{Citation
+{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
-| last = Perrone
+[[File:Katharine Jex-Blake by Herman Herkomer.jpg|thumb|Katharine Jex-Blake by Herman Herkomer]]
-| first = Fernanda Helen
+'''Katharine Jex-Blake''' (18 November 1860 – 26 March 1951), was an [[English people|English]] classical scholar, and the eighth Mistress of [[Girton College, Cambridge]].<ref name="odnb">{{Cite ODNB
+| last1 = Perrone
+| first1 = Fernanda Helen
 | contribution = Blake, Katharine Jex- (1860–1951)
-| year = October 2005
+| date = October 2005
-| title = [[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]] Online edition
+| title = Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Online edition
 | place = Oxford
-| publisher = Oxford University Press
 | contribution-url = http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/48441
-| doi = 10.1093/ref:odnb/48441|accessdate = 14 July 2008
+| doi = 10.1093/ref:odnb/48441|access-date = 14 July 2008
 | last2 = Harrison
+| first2 = B.| title-link = Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
-| first2 = B.}}</ref>
+}}</ref>
 ==Biography==
 ===Early life===
-Katharine Jex-Blake was born in 1860 at [[Rugby School]], one of nine daughters and two sons of [[Thomas Jex-Blake]] (1832-1915), the school master and later head master at Rugby school and his wife Henrietta Cordery. Her aunt was [[Sophia Jex-Blake]]. She was educated with her sisters at Rugby School before reading classics at [[Girton College, Cambridge]], 1879-1883.<ref name="odnb"/>
+Katharine Jex-Blake was born in 1860 at [[Rugby School]], one of nine daughters and two sons of [[Thomas Jex-Blake]] (1832–1915), the school master and later head master at [[Rugby School|Rugby school]], later the [[Dean of Wells]], and his wife Henrietta Cordery. Her aunt was [[Sophia Jex-Blake]], a pioneer in the fight for women's access to higher education; her sister, [[Henrietta Jex-Blake]], would go on to be Principal of [[Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford|Lady Margaret Hall]] in Oxford. Jex-Blake was educated at home with her sisters by masters from Rugby School before reading classics at [[Girton College, Cambridge]], 1879–1883.<ref name="odnb"/> Although the passing of the so-called Three Graces in 1881 meant women were permitted to formally sit University exams from 1882, Jex-Blake was not considered a full member of the university and was thus not eligible for a degree.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Women at Cambridge|last=McWilliams Tullberg, Rita, 1943-|date=1998|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=052164464X|edition= Rev.|location=Cambridge, UK|oclc=39485246}}</ref> She was ranked in the third division of the first class in Part I of the Classical Tripos for women in 1882, one of the two highest performing female candidates.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=The Birds and the Bees: Women in Classics, Cambridge 1871-1948|last1=Beard|first1=Mary|last2=King|first2=Gillian|last3=Stray|first3=Christopher|publisher=Cambridge Classics Faculty|year=1998|location=Cambridge|pages=6–7}}</ref> In Part II of the Classical Tripos, which allowed specialisation in particular sub-disciplines such as archaeology and philosophy rather than focusing on linguistic competence as in Part I, Jex-Blake was the only woman to be placed in the third class.<ref name=":0" />
 ===Career===
-She then taught for a year at [[Notting Hill & Ealing High School|Notting Hill and Bayswater High School]], a school owed by the [[Girls' Day School Trust|Girls' Public Day School Trust]]. In 1885 she returned to Girton as the Resident Classics lecturer, later becoming the Director of Studies in Classics from 1901&ndash; 1919; Vice-Mistress, 1903&ndash; 1916; and Mistress of the College,1916 &ndash; 1922.<ref name="odnb"/> In 1896 she published a translation of [[Pliny the Elder]]'s ''Chapters on the History of Art'' in collaboration with her friend [[Eugenie Strong|Eugenie Sellers]].
+After leaving Girton, she taught for a year at [[Notting Hill & Ealing High School|Notting Hill and Bayswater High School]], a school owned by the [[Girls' Day School Trust|Girls' Public Day School Trust]]. In 1885 she returned to Girton as the Resident Classics lecturer, later becoming the Director of Studies in Classics from 1901 to 1919 and Vice-Mistress from 1903 to 1916.<ref name="odnb" /> She was elected as Girton's correspondent for the newly established Classical Association and was in that role by June 1906.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Stray|first=Chris|date=2003|title=Getting under Way: Challenge and Response, 1904-22|journal=Greece & Rome|volume=50|pages=29|doi=10.1093/gr/50.suppl_1.23 |jstor=3567833}}</ref>
+Jex-Blake was appointed as Mistress of the college in 1916 and served until 1922.<ref name="odnb" /> She was thus responsible for steering the college through the changes and challenges of the [[World War I|First World War]], including the introduction of rationing and raising vegetables and pigs on college land.<ref>{{Cite book|title=I Died for Beauty : Dorothy Wrinch and the Cultures of Science.|last=Senechal, Marjorie.|date=2012|publisher=Oxford University Press, USA|isbn=9780199875795|location=Oxford|pages=55|oclc=818851574}}</ref> As Mistress, she laid the groundwork for the college to be recognised in law, leading the college council in preparing a draft constitution and statues in order to obtain a [[royal charter]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Women Medievalists and the Academy, Two Volumes|last=Poole|first=Russell|year=2018|isbn=9781532644368|editor-last=Chance|editor-first=Jane|pages=208|chapter=Kindred, College, and Scholarship in the Lifework of Bertha Surtees Phillpotts (1877-1932)|publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers }}</ref>
-Her influence extended beyond Girton as some her students became the classics lecturers at Girton, [[Newnham College]], [[Bedford College (London)|Bedford College]], [[Royal Holloway]], [[Somerville College]] and [[Lady Margaret Hall]] in the 1920s.<ref name="odnb"/>
+Although Jex-Blake was an active teacher and scholar, in line with the academic norms of this period she did not publish extensively. Her only published work was a translation of [[Pliny the Elder]]'s ''Chapters on the History of Art'', produced in collaboration with her friend [[Eugenie Strong|Eugenie Sellers]] (1896); Jex-Blake provided the translation, while Sellars wrote the introduction and the commentary.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Invention of Jane Harrison|last=Beard|first=Mary|publisher=Harvard University Press|year=2002|isbn=9780674008076|pages=23}}</ref>
+Her influence extended beyond Girton: some of her students became classics lecturers at Girton, [[Newnham College]], [[Bedford College (London)|Bedford College]], [[Royal Holloway]], [[Somerville College]] and [[Lady Margaret Hall]] in the 1920s.<ref name="odnb"/>
+=== Politics ===
+Jex-Blake was an active supporter of women's suffrage, signing a joint letter to ''The Times'' in 1917 objecting to the failure of the Electoral Reform Conference to address the issue.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Generations of women historians : within and beyond the academy|last=Erickson|first=Amy Louise|others=Smith, Hilda L., 1941-, Zook, Melinda S.|isbn=9783319775685|location=Cham|pages=40|chapter=Ellen Annette McArthur: Establishing a Presence in the Academy|oclc=1044746305|date = January 2018}}</ref>
 ===Retirement===
-Upon her retirement from Girton in 1922, Katharine Jex-Blake donated a sum for what became the Jex-Blake fellowship.<ref name="odnb"/> She became a governor of the College and also sat on its Council. She was made an honorary fellow in 1932. From 1925-1937 she was an active member of the Council of her former employers, the [[Girls' Day School Trust|Girls' Public Day School Trust]] and was later elected a vice-president of the Trust. She died at [[Hurstpierpoint]], [[Sussex]] in 1951.
+Upon her retirement from Girton in 1922,<ref>Girton College Register, 1869–1946: Cambridge; [[Cambridge University Press|CUP]]; 1948</ref> Katharine Jex-Blake donated a sum for what became the Jex-Blake Research Fellowship.<ref name="odnb"/> She became a governor of the college and also sat on its Council. She was made an honorary fellow in 1932. From 1925 to 1937 she was an active member of the Council of her former employers, the [[Girls' Day School Trust|Girls' Public Day School Trust]] and was later elected a vice-president of the Trust. She also served as a governor of the Harpur Trust at Bedford High School and at the Perse School.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Women, Educational Policy-Making and Administration in England: Authoritative Women Since 1800|last1=Goodman|first1=Joyce|last2=Sylvia|first2=Harop|year=2002|isbn=9781134639694|editor-last=Goodman|editor-first=Joyce|pages=43, 47|chapter=Governing Ladies. Women governors of middle-class girls' schools, 1870-1925|publisher=Routledge |editor-last2=Harrop|editor-first2=Sylvia}}</ref>
+She died at [[Hurstpierpoint]], [[Sussex]] in 1951.
 ==Works==
-*(transl. with Eugenie Sellers) [[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]]'s ''Chapters on the History of Art'' (1896)
+*Eugenie Sellers, ''Commentary and Historical Introduction to the Elder Pliny's Chapter on the History of Art.'' Translated by Katharine Jex-Blake (London, 1896).
-==Personal Papers==
+==Personal papers==
-Norfolk Record Office holds correspondence between Katharine and her sisters, Henrietta and Violet Jex-Blake, in the papers of the Jex-Blake family (REF: MC 233/36).<ref>{{cite web
+Norfolk Record Office holds correspondence between Katharine and her sisters, [[Henrietta Jex-Blake|Henrietta]] and Violet Jex-Blake, in the papers of the Jex-Blake family (Ref: MC 233/36).<ref>{{cite web
   | last = Norfolk Record Office
   | title = Family Papers of Jex-Blake and Buxton families, with Title Deeds of Caister Hall Estate
   | date = 2006
+  | url = http://nrocatalogue.norfolk.gov.uk/index.php/family-papers-of-jex-blake-and-buxton-families-with-title-deeds-of-caister-hall-estate
-  | url = http://nrocat.norfolk.gov.uk/Dserve/dserve.exe?dsqServer=128.60.0.31&dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqCmd=show.tcl&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqPos=0&dsqSearch=(CatalogueRef=='MC 233')
-  | accessdate = 14 July 2008}}</ref>
+  | access-date = 15 February 2021}}</ref>
+Jex-Blake's personal papers are held at Girton College, and much of her correspondence is distributed around other colleges' archives at Cambridge.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://janus.lib.cam.ac.uk/db/node.xsp?submit=Go&search=jex-blake|title=Advanced Search|website=Janus}}</ref>
 ==References==
@@ Line 39: / Line 53: @@
 ==External links==
-*[http://www.girton.cam.ac.uk/fellows-and-staff/past-mistresses/#h2-katharine-jex-blake-18601951 Biographical sketch] at Girton College website
+*[http://www.girton.cam.ac.uk/fellows-and-staff/past-mistresses/#h2-katharine-jex-blake-18601951 Biographical sketch] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090228110329/http://www.girton.cam.ac.uk/fellows-and-staff/past-mistresses/#h2-katharine-jex-blake-18601951 |date=28 February 2009 }} at Girton College website
-*{{Citation
+*{{Cite ODNB
-| last = Perrone
+| last1 = Perrone
-| first = Fernanda Helen
+| first1 = Fernanda Helen
 | contribution = Blake, Katharine Jex- (1860–1951)
-| year = October 2005
+| date = October 2005
-| title = [[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]] Online edition
+| title = Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Online edition
 | place = Oxford
-| publisher = Oxford University Press
 | contribution-url = http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/48441
-| doi = 10.1093/ref:odnb/48441|accessdate = 14 July 2008
+| doi = 10.1093/ref:odnb/48441|access-date = 14 July 2008
 | last2 = Harrison
+| first2 = B.| title-link = Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
-| first2 = B.}}
+}}
 {{s-start}}
 {{s-aca}}
+{{s-bef |before=[[Emily Elizabeth Constance Jones]] }}
-{{succession box |
+{{s-ttl |title=[[List of Mistresses of Girton College, Cambridge|Mistress of]] [[Girton College, Cambridge]] |years=1916–1922 }}
-  before=[[Emily Elizabeth Constance Jones]]|
+{{s-aft |after=[[Bertha Surtees Phillpotts]] }}
-  title= [[List of Mistresses of Girton College, Cambridge|Mistress of]] [[Girton College, Cambridge]]|
-  years=1916&ndash;1922|
-  after=[[Bertha Surtees Phillpotts]]
-}}
 {{end}}
+{{Mistresses of Girton College, Cambridge}}
+{{University of Cambridge}}
 {{Authority control}}
-{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. -->
-| NAME              = Jex-Blake, Katharine
-| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
-| SHORT DESCRIPTION = English classical scholar and college head
-| DATE OF BIRTH     = 18 November 1860
-| PLACE OF BIRTH    = [[Rugby School]]
-| DATE OF DEATH     = 26 March 1951
-| PLACE OF DEATH    = [[Hurstpierpoint]], [[Sussex]]
-}}
 {{DEFAULTSORT:Jex-Blake, Katharine}}
 [[Category:1860 births]]
 [[Category:1951 deaths]]
 [[Category:English classical scholars]]
+[[Category:British women classical scholars]]
 [[Category:Fellows of Girton College, Cambridge]]
+[[Category:Jex-Blake family|Katharine]]
 [[Category:Mistresses of Girton College, Cambridge]]
 [[Category:Presidents of the Girls' Day School Trust]]
+[[Category:Steamboat ladies]]
-{{UK-academic-bio-stub}}

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