Edith Major

Edith Helen Major, CBE^[1] (15 February 1867 – 17 March 1951)^[2] was an Irish educationalist.^[3]

Edith Major
by James Sinton Sleator
Born	15 February 1867  Lisburn
Died	17 March 1951  (aged 84) Antrim
Alma mater	Girton College
Awards	Commander of the Order of the British Empire (1931) honorary doctorate (1932)

Life

Major was born in Lisburn and educated at Methodist College Belfast^[4] and Girton College, Cambridge.^[5] She was Assistant Mistress at Blackheath High School from 1891 to 1900 serving under Florence Gadesden.^[6] She was Headmistress of Putney High School from 1891 to 1910;^[7] and Head Mistress of King Edward VI High School for Girls from 1910 until 1925. Major was Mistress of Girton College, Cambridge from 1925 until 1931.^[8][9]

Girton College has a painting of her by James Sleator.^[10]

References

1. 'The New Year Honours' The Times (London, England), January 1, 1931, Issue 45709, p.6
2. 'Miss E. H. Major' The Times (London, England), March 19, 1951, Issue 51953, p.8
3. "Major, Edith Helen". Who's Who & Who Was Who. Vol. 1920–2016 (April 2014 online ed.). A & C Black. Retrieved 16 February 2019. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
4. THE INTERMEDIATE EXAMINATIONS Freeman's Journal, Friday, September 14, 1883
5. Girton College Register, 1869–1946: Cambridge; CUP; 1948
6. Sondheimer, Janet (23 September 2004). "Gadesden [Gadsden], Florence Marie Armroid (1853–1934), headmistress". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 1 (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/48569. ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
7.  "Major, Edith Helen". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
8. "The colleges and halls: Girton". British History Online. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
9. Margaret Bryant, Major, Edith Helen (1867–1951), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004.
10. "Edith Major | Art UK". artuk.org. Retrieved 18 July 2023.