Elizabeth Raikes

Elizabeth Raikes is known from available records as the author of Dorothea Beale of Cheltenham, published in 1908 by Archibald Constable. Library and public-domain listings consistently point to that book as her principal known work, and modern bookseller and catalog pages do the same.

The book is a full-length life of Dorothea Beale, the influential head of Cheltenham Ladies’ College. In the preface, Raikes explains that Beale left extensive papers, letters, diaries, and a detailed history of the college, and she builds the biography around those materials. That gives the book a grounded, documentary quality while keeping the focus on Beale’s character, educational mission, and long public work.

Beyond that volume, reliable biographical detail about Raikes herself is limited in the sources I could confirm. What does come through clearly is her interest in preserving the story of a major figure in women’s education, and in turning archival material into a readable narrative for general audiences.