author
Lucy Helen Muriel Soulsby
1856–1927
A formidable English educator and essayist, she spent her career shaping girls’ schools while arguing fiercely for a traditional view of women’s education. Best remembered for leading Oxford High School for Girls, she also wrote on character, religion, and social questions.
2 Audiobooks
Work and Play in Girls' Schools By Three Head Mistresses
by Dorothea Beale, J. F. (Jane Frances) Dove, Lucy Helen Muriel Soulsby
Stray Thoughts for Girls
by Lucy Helen Muriel Soulsby
About the author
Born in London in 1856, Lucy Helen Muriel Soulsby spent part of her childhood in New Zealand before returning to England. She became known as a gifted teacher and school leader, and from 1887 to 1897 served as headmistress of Oxford High School for Girls.
After Oxford, she founded and led Manor House School in Brondesbury, where she continued her distinctive approach to education. Her writing and public speaking made her well known beyond the classroom, especially on questions of girls’ schooling, religion, and the place of women in society.
Soulsby’s views were influential but also controversial. She believed strongly in disciplined education and Christian character, yet she opposed women’s suffrage and argued against making women’s education simply mirror men’s. She died in 1927, leaving a complicated legacy as both a serious advocate for girls’ learning and a defender of traditional social roles.