Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- [1871]-1959 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
6 volumes, 3 boxes
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Sophia Willock was born on 15 Feb 1850, at Sandymount near Dublin, the daughter of Rev W A Willock, Fellow of Trinity College Dublin. She was educated by her father and private governesses. In 1863, the family moved to London where her father took up the post of Professor of Geometry at London University, and in 1866 Sophia became a student at Bedford College.
In 1869 she married Dr W Hicks Bryant of Plymouth. When he died in 1870, she obtained a teaching post at a school for ladies in Highgate, before joining the staff of North London Collegiate School (NLCS), Camden in 1875. In 1895 she was appointed the second Headmistress, succeeding the School's founder Frances Mary Buss.
Bryant was a brilliant scholar and teacher. She was one of three women members of the Royal Commission on Secondary Education. She was one of the first two women to graduate with a Bachelor of Science degree, and the first to obtain a Doctor of Science, awarded in 1884. In 1898 Bryant was the first woman to be elected by the Convocation of London University to the University Senate. She also served on the Technical Education Board and its successor - the Education Committee of the London County Council, representing the Board on the London Polytechnic Council, and was also a member of the Consultative Committee of the Board of Education. She also enthusiastically supported teacher training, and was a member of the Board of Studies of Pedagogy at London University, as well as a campaigner for the University's establishment of a chair of education, and chair of the Training College's Council. She was also involved with Goldsmiths' College following its transfer to the University, was honorary director of the Henrietta Barnett School, Hampstead Garden Suburb, and President of the Association of Head Mistresses.
She retired from NLCS in 1918, after 43 years of service. She died in 1922, aged 72 as the result of an accidental fall during a mountaineering holiday near Chamonix, Switzerland.
Repository
Archival history
GB 2457 BRYANT [1871]-1959 Collection (fonds) 6 volumes, 3 boxes BRYANT , Sophia (Sophie) , nee Willock , 1850-1922
Sophia Willock was born on 15 Feb 1850, at Sandymount near Dublin, the daughter of Rev W A Willock, Fellow of Trinity College Dublin. She was educated by her father and private governesses. In 1863, the family moved to London where her father took up the post of Professor of Geometry at London University, and in 1866 Sophia became a student at Bedford College.
In 1869 she married Dr W Hicks Bryant of Plymouth. When he died in 1870, she obtained a teaching post at a school for ladies in Highgate, before joining the staff of North London Collegiate School (NLCS), Camden in 1875. In 1895 she was appointed the second Headmistress, succeeding the School's founder Frances Mary Buss.
Bryant was a brilliant scholar and teacher. She was one of three women members of the Royal Commission on Secondary Education. She was one of the first two women to graduate with a Bachelor of Science degree, and the first to obtain a Doctor of Science, awarded in 1884. In 1898 Bryant was the first woman to be elected by the Convocation of London University to the University Senate. She also served on the Technical Education Board and its successor - the Education Committee of the London County Council, representing the Board on the London Polytechnic Council, and was also a member of the Consultative Committee of the Board of Education. She also enthusiastically supported teacher training, and was a member of the Board of Studies of Pedagogy at London University, as well as a campaigner for the University's establishment of a chair of education, and chair of the Training College's Council. She was also involved with Goldsmiths' College following its transfer to the University, was honorary director of the Henrietta Barnett School, Hampstead Garden Suburb, and President of the Association of Head Mistresses.
She retired from NLCS in 1918, after 43 years of service. She died in 1922, aged 72 as the result of an accidental fall during a mountaineering holiday near Chamonix, Switzerland.
Unknown
Papers of Sophia (Sophie) Bryant comprising:
Willock family album containing photographs and news cuttings, [1871-1999]; volume of photographs and news cuttings relating to Bryant, 1875-1895; Bryant's holiday diary, recording a visit to Switzerland, (undated); published volume of Suggestions from the readings in Madame Guion on St John, London, (owned by Bryant, 1904); presentation address to Mrs Bryant, 1911 on the occasion of the presentation of her portrait by Mr Ralph Peacock, to the Francis Mary Buss Foundation [1918]; copy of Liberty order and law under native Irish rule, a study in the book of the ancient laws of Ireland, by Sophia Bryant DSc LittD, Harding and More, London 1923; painting of the Willock coat of arms;
printed papers, letters, photographs, cards, addresses, press cuttings, student testimonials, including printed copies of her articles, [1878-1923]; personal letters 1895-1916; also letters relating to the school, 1895-1908; letters and papers relating to her death and files concerning her grave and monument 1929-1959; files relating to the Bryant wing at NLCS, 1907-1909; and related papers.
By appointment. Available to bona fide researchers only. Contact the Mrs Karen Morgan, Archivist, North London Collegiate School, Canons, Edgware HA8 7RJ, Tel: 020 8952 0912. Email nlcslib@nlcs.org.uk
Access restrictions apply to material containing sensitive personal and institutional data.
Copies available subject to the physical condition of the materials. Researchers may be asked to contribute to the costs.
English
Archive database may be consulted in the School Library
Archives of North London Collegiate School, 1850-2003, held at North London Collegiate School
Sources: Historical Manuscripts Commission's On-Line National Register of Archives; And their works do follow them, the story of North London Collegiate School 1850-2000, Nigel Watson, James and James, London 2000; The North London Collegiate School 1850-1950, A hundred years of girls' education, Essays in honour of the centenary of the Frances Mary Buss Foundation, Oxford University Press, London 1950.
Compiled by Alison Field as part of the London Signpost Survey Project.
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal Place and Corporate Names 1997.
September 2003 Bryant , Sophia , 1850-1922 , educationalist Camden Educational development Educational innovations Educational systems England Europe Girls education London North London Collegiate School , Camden , 1850-1939 UK Western Europe Womens education
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Unknown
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Papers of Sophia (Sophie) Bryant comprising:
Willock family album containing photographs and news cuttings, [1871-1999]; volume of photographs and news cuttings relating to Bryant, 1875-1895; Bryant's holiday diary, recording a visit to Switzerland, (undated); published volume of Suggestions from the readings in Madame Guion on St John, London, (owned by Bryant, 1904); presentation address to Mrs Bryant, 1911 on the occasion of the presentation of her portrait by Mr Ralph Peacock, to the Francis Mary Buss Foundation [1918]; copy of Liberty order and law under native Irish rule, a study in the book of the ancient laws of Ireland, by Sophia Bryant DSc LittD, Harding and More, London 1923; painting of the Willock coat of arms;
printed papers, letters, photographs, cards, addresses, press cuttings, student testimonials, including printed copies of her articles, [1878-1923]; personal letters 1895-1916; also letters relating to the school, 1895-1908; letters and papers relating to her death and files concerning her grave and monument 1929-1959; files relating to the Bryant wing at NLCS, 1907-1909; and related papers.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
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System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
By appointment. Available to bona fide researchers only. Contact the Mrs Karen Morgan, Archivist, North London Collegiate School, Canons, Edgware HA8 7RJ, Tel: 020 8952 0912. Email nlcslib@nlcs.org.uk
Access restrictions apply to material containing sensitive personal and institutional data.
Conditions governing reproduction
Copies available subject to the physical condition of the materials. Researchers may be asked to contribute to the costs.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
- Latin
Language and script notes
English
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Archives of North London Collegiate School, 1850-2003, held at North London Collegiate School
Finding aids
Archive database may be consulted in the School Library
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Alternative identifier(s)
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Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal Place and Corporate Names 1997.
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
Language(s)
- English