TO WALK UPON THE GRASS: THE IMPACT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ST ANDREWS' LADY LITERATE IN ARTS, 1877-1892 Elisabeth Margaret Smith A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD at the University of St Andrews 2014 Full metadata for this item is available in St Andrews Research Repository at: http://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/ Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/10023/5570 This item is protected by original copyright To walk upon the grass: the impact of the University of St Andrews’ Lady Literate in Arts, 1877-1892 Elisabeth Margaret Smith Submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Institute of Scottish Historical Research School of History The University of St Andrews June 2014 For my parents, to whom this was long ago promised Contents Page List of Tables iii Abstract iv Acknowledgements v-vi Abbreviations vii-viii Chapter 1: A ‘greater liberty of choice’: the LLA in context 1 Reform and changing attitudes to female education in the nineteenth century 2 Continuity and progress: existing provision for girls and women in nineteenth-century England and Wales 8 Continuity and progress: existing provision for girls and women in nineteenth-century Scotland 13 The research context 18 The sources and their interpretation 25 Chapter 2: ‘To the highest pitch possible’: the origins and development of the LLA, 1877-1892 30 Politics and progress in the early years 30 The structure and development of the LLA 42 Chapter 3: ‘Lasses o’ pairts’ or a ‘leisured clientele attracted by scholarly ideals’: who were the pioneer LLA women? 51 Where did they come from? 53 How old were they? 57 What social class? 60 How were they educated? 81 What religion? 91 Chapter 4: Careers and achievements: the educators 96 The governesses 99 The headmistresses 102 The elementary teachers 105 The secondary teachers 109 The teacher trainers 113 The university women 117 i Chapter 5: Careers and achievements: moving outside education 123 Medicine 126 Nursing and caring 134 Journalism 138 Writers and poets 140 The visual arts 146 Commercial and domestic employment 147 Religious women 150 Benevolent work 152 Public life and social campaigning 154 Chapter 6: The beginning of the end or the end of the beginning?: the LLA from 1892 onwards 161 The entry of women undergraduates 161 The influence of the LLA on the campaign for female entry to university 162 The impact of female undergraduate entry upon the LLA 165 The position of the University 176 The attitudes of the women 179 Conclusion: ‘A wise and beneficent step’ 183 Appendices 192 Appendix 1: LLA Registers and Calendars 192 Appendix 2: 193 Tables 2.1- 2.4 Examination Centres and candidate numbers, 1877-1894 193 Table 2.1 Centres in Scotland 193 Table 2.2 Centres in England 194 Table 2.3 Centres in the rest of the United Kingdom 195 Table 2.4 Centres outside the United Kingdom 196 Appendix 3: 198 Table 2.5 Subjects offered for LLA examinations and numbers taking each, 1877-1894 198 Appendix 4: Classification system for occupations of parents, spouses, and LLA entrants 199 Bibliography 201 List of tables Table 3.1 - Comparative ages at entry of LLAs, female and male undergraduates 58 Table 3.2 – Parental occupations of LLAs, all groups 61 Table 3.3 – Parental occupations of LLAs, Group 1, Professional 62 Table 3.4 - Parental occupations of LLAs, Group 2, Commercial 67 Table 3.5 - Parental occupations of LLAs, Group 3, Agricultural 69 Table 3.6 - Parental occupations of LLAs, Group 4, Intermediate 70 Table 3.7 - Parental occupations of LLAs, Group 5, Working-class 72 Table 3.8 - Parental occupations of LLAs, male and female undergraduates, all groups 76 Table 3.9 - Parental occupations of LLAs, male and female undergraduates, Group 1, Professional 77 Table 3.10 - Parental occupations of LLAs, male and female undergraduates, Group 2, Commercial 78 Table 3.11 - Parental occupations of LLAs, male and female undergraduates, Group 3, Agricultural 79 Table 3.12 - Parental occupations of LLAs, male and female undergraduates, Group 4, Intermediate 79 Table 3.13 - Parental occupations of LLAs, male and female undergraduates, Group 5, Working-class 80 Table 3.14 - Religious denominations of LLA candidates 93 Table 4.1 - LLA occupations, all groups 97 Table 4.2 - LLA occupations, Group 1, Professional 98 Table 6.1 - Geographical origins of LLA students 1892-1904 167 Table 6.2 - Occupational backgrounds of LLA students 1892-1901, all groups 171 Table 6.3 - Occupations of LLA students 1892-1904 174 iii Abstract In 1877 the University of St Andrews initiated a unique qualification, the Lady Literate in Arts, which came into existence initially as the LA, the Literate in Arts, a higher certificate available to women only. Awarded by examination but as a result of a programme of distance learning, it was conceived and explicitly promoted as a degree-level qualification at a time when women had no access to matriculation at Scottish universities and little anywhere in the United Kingdom. From small beginnings it expanded both in numbers of candidates and in spread of subjects and it lasted until the early 1930s by which time over 36,000 examinations had been taken and more than 5,000 women had completed the course. The scheme had emerged in response to various needs and external pressures which shaped its character. The purpose of this thesis is to assess the nature and achievements of the LLA in its first fifteen years and to establish its place within the wider movement for female equality of status and opportunity which developed in the later decades of the nineteenth century. The conditions under which the university introduced the LLA, its reasons for doing so, the nature of the qualification, its progress and development in the years before 1892 when women were admitted to Scottish universities as undergraduates and the consequences for the university itself are all examined in detail. The geographical and social origins and the educational backgrounds of the candidates themselves are analysed along with their age structure, their uptake of LLA subjects and the completion rates for the award. All of these are considered against the background of the students’ later careers and life experiences. This thesis aims to discover the extent to which the LLA was influential in shaping the lives of its participants and in advancing the broader case for female higher education. It seeks to establish for the first time the contribution that St Andrews LLA women made to society at large and to the wider movement for female emancipation. iv Acknowledgements This thesis has been a long time in the making and over the years many individuals and institutions have been of much help in providing information and answering my questions. These have included family and local historians whose enquiries to the Special Collections Department of St Andrews University Library have metamorphosed into mutually beneficial exchanges when we discovered that we had an LLA woman in common. My thanks go to them for often thought-provoking and fascinating insights. I am grateful to staff of the Special Collections of the University of Edinburgh, the archives of Aberdeenshire City and Aberdeenshire Councils, of Cheltenham Ladies College, and of Dollar Academy for particular assistance. Researchers working on parallel subjects have been generous of their time and interest: these include Kenneth Hunter, private scholar; Charlotte Wilson of University College, London; Marsali Taylor of Shetland Archives; Susan Bennet of the ‘Women of Moray’ project. Nigel Shepley, archivist of St George’s College, Edinburgh, and Sylvia Lassam, of Trinity College, University of Toronto have both provided assistance beyond the call of duty. Especially rewarding and supportive have been extended conversations and communication with Alison McCall of Dundee University, whose work on her own doctoral thesis concerning ‘lasses o’ pairts’ has dovetailed with mine on so many points. I only hope that I was able to help her almost as much as she has me. It is to the people closest to me, however, that I owe the biggest debt. My supervisor, David Allan, has been supremely forbearing over the years and has so many times boosted my confidence when I was badly in need of it. Without his patience in giving me the time and space I needed, as well as his shrewd and perceptive comment, this research might never have seen the light of day. To my colleagues in Special Collections at St Andrews, Norman Reid, Rachel Hart, Maia Sheridan, Elizabeth Henderson, Moira Mackenzie and all the Reading Room Team, I give my especial thanks for a multitude of things. They too have been around to see this work grow haltingly and sporadically and have been ever-supportive in practical ways by sharing their expertise and by maintaining their interest in the outcome. Friends and family come last but certainly not least. Helen Watson has been a constant source of much-needed confidence in my ability to complete this thesis, as has been my cousin, Andrew Bain, who has shared unstintingly his own deep knowledge of the history of Scottish v Education. My son and daughter, Gavin and Petra, and their spouses, although sometimes bemused, I suspect, as to why I should be doing such a thing, have always been there for me. So too, for the longest of all, has been my husband Roger without whose patience, understanding and constant cups of tea provided through highs and lows, this work would certainly not have come to fruition. To him goes my deepest gratitude. vi Abbreviations