Katharine Stephen

Katharine Stephen

Katherine Stephen by Glyn Philpott
Born 1856
South Kensington
Died 16 June 1924
Cause of death cancer
Residence South Kensington
Nationality United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
Other names Sarah Brook
Known for Principal of Newnham College

Katharine Stephen (26 February 1856 - 1924) was a librarian and later Principal of Newnham College at Cambridge University.

Early life and family

Katharine Stephen was born in London on 26 February 1856, the daughter of Mary Richenda Cunningham (1829–1912) and James Fitzjames Stephen (1829–1894), a judge.[1] She was the niece of Caroline Stephen and the cousin of Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell.

Work

Katharine Stephen worked at Newnham College, Cambridge. She first joined the college as Helen Gladstone's secretary,[2] and worked with Anne Jemima Clough to teach working men on Sunday mornings in St Matthew's Schoolroom, Barnwell.[3] She was appointed Librarian of Newnham's 'first purpose-built library' in 1888.[4] She went on to become Vice-Principal and, in 1911, Principal of the college during the First World War years,[5] and kept her seat on the Council after her retirement in 1920.[4]

Stephen sat for a portrait by her cousin Vanessa Bell but that painting is lost. The painting at Newnham College is by Glyn Philpott.[6]

Stephen died of cancer on 16 June 1924 at her home in South Kensington. Stephen was loyal to her family. Every day she would either see her mother or write her a letter. Her aunt, Caroline Stephen, was another relative; she was a friend too. Caroline came to live in Cambridge in 1895 where she evangelised her Quaker beliefs to Newnham students.[7] Caroline's final book contained a biography written by Katherine.[1]

Publications

References

  1. 1 2 "Katharine Stephen". www.oxforddnb.com. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  2. ↑ Gardner, Alice (1921). A Short History of Newnham College. Cambridge: Bowes & Bowes. p. 113.
  3. ↑ Gardner, Alice (1921). A Short History of Newnham College. Cambridge: Bowes & Bowes. p. 70.
  4. 1 2 "Significant contributors in the history of Newnham College". Newnham College. Retrieved 2017-03-08.
  5. ↑ Hamilton, Mary Agnes (1936). Newnham: an informal biography. London: Faber. p. 169.
  6. ↑ Frances Spalding (May 2015). Vanessa Bell: Portrait of the Bloomsbury Artist. I.B.Tauris. p. 82. ISBN 978-1-78453-241-3.
  7. ↑ Margaret M. Jensen, "Stephen, Caroline Emelia (1834–1909)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2014 accessed 10 Dec 2015
Academic offices
Preceded by
Eleanor Mildred Sidgwick		 Principal of Newnham College, Cambridge
1871–1892 		Succeeded by
Blanche Athena Clough
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.