| Administrative History | Mary Birch (1861-1914), of Lindale, Cumbria, gained a placed a place at Whitelands College in 1880. On completion of her training in 1881 she was immediately appointed to the staff as junior governess – which meant that she had been the star pupil of her year. She was reportedly extremely popular even as a student and was clearly a favourite of Principal John Faunthorpe. She worked closely with him and he wrote a series of six school reading books called ‘The Whitelands readers’ for her. She played the organ in the chapel, was given copies of books by John Ruskin and wrote many letters to him.
Three years after finishing her training she had passed all her probation as a teacher and was awarded her ‘Parchment’ (teaching certificate) by the government. In 1889 she started to take London University exams. She matriculated in 1889, passed the intermediate arts in 1894, and from 1897 to 1898 was a full-time student at the Royal Holloway College where she studied French and gained her BA degree. She spent a year at a French training college in 1894. She became Head Governess at Whitelands and in c. 1902 was made the College’s first Vice Principal.
Mary died unexpectedly of thrombosis in 1914 after a short illness. Obituary notices noted: ‘Mary Birch was the very embodiment of the Whitelands spirit, tradition, and tone’ and that:. ‘We are always told that no one is indispensable, and it is true; but with the passing away of Mary Birch, for thirty-two years a member of the staff of Whitelands College and for 12 years its Vice-Principal, something passed away that represented the best of its time and tradition and that can never be replaced.’
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