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she aimed at a serious attitude towards education, preparing some of her pupils for university life. She could be difficult to work with and knew little of housekeeping, but many of her staff, like her business partner Lilian
Heather, were devoted to her. One employee, the eccentric Maria Nickel, was her chauffeur, handyman, architect and engineer, and slept in her bathroom.
321:
172:, a daughter of John Armine Willis (1839–1916), a school inspector who later became Chief Inspector of Schools for the west of England, and of Janet Willis, who was a daughter of James Coutts Crawford. There were five children in the family, four daughters and a son, and Willis was the second girl. John Armine Willis had been educated at the
309:. The school began with one girl and five mistresses. Its aim was to achieve educational excellence in a framework which was relaxed but structured. Three more girls were added to the school by the spring of 1908, and by 1910 there were thirty-six girls, of whom all but four were boarders. Willis herself taught English,
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As a headmistress, Willis had an imposing presence, but a balanced personality, and she inspired respect in her girls. She wanted her school to be a place where "life should be normal", with some freedom and a natural pace. In education, Willis believed that girls should not try to be like boys, and
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Heather died in 1943, and in 1944 Willis gave up the ownership of the school, which was transferred to a public body. She retired as headmistress in 1946, but intended to go on living at Hill House, which had been built for her on the school's grounds. This led to her chosen successor moving to
317:, and history, while Carver was matron and kept house. Carver withdrew from their partnership in 1912, and Willis ran the school alone until 1919, when she took on a new partner called Lilian Heather, who had been at the school since 1907 as a part-time teacher of Science and Mathematics.
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439:. Willis was able to move her school there just four months after the purchase, in April 1922. For the Summer term of 1922, the school had 83 girls, and by 1925 it had grown to 118.
262:, then in 1902 returned to her own old school, Roedean, where she remained for two years. After that, she became a supply teacher, teaching in a wide range of schools, including the
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Bulletins and Other State
Intelligence for the year 1860 Compiled and Arranged from the Official Documents Published in the London Gazette
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In
December 1921, with the help of an uncle and with a loan from two parents of girls at the school, Willis bought The Cloisters,
176:, where he was an officer of the Cambridge University Rifle Volunteers, and he liked to take his children on climbing holidays in
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180:. Willis later remembered that they had "suffered from a surfeit of beautiful things on an empty stomach".
479:, and her ashes were buried in a memorial garden at Downe House. Her estate at death amounted to £16,510.
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Olive Willis was a rebellious child. In 1891, she was sent as a boarder to the new
Wimbledon House in
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another school, and Willis decided to divide her time between Hill House and a second home at 38
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In 1907, with her friend Alice Carver as a non-teaching partner, Willis founded a new girls'
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In 1964, after living nearly twenty years in retirement, Willis died from a perforated
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231:. At Roedean, Willis objected to the lack of religious teaching, was attracted to
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The school became popular with literary and academic parents. In 1913,
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460:. She kept up with old pupils and continued her interests in the
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and was its head for nearly forty years, from 1907 to 1946.
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gave piano recitals and played with the school orchestra.
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Avery, Gillian, 'Willis, Olive
Margaret (1877–1964)', in
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Willis was born on 26 October 1877, at 65 Thistle Grove,
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Olive Willis and Downe House: an adventure in education
368:(1899–1973), who became a significant novelist, and
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After Oxford, Willis taught history for one year at
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559:at downehouse.berks.sch.uk, accessed 20 July 2008
144:(26 October 1877 – 11 March 1964) was an English
649:Willis, Olive Margaret (1877–1964), headmistress
305:, a house which had previously been the home of
737:People educated at Roedean School, East Sussex
644:(London: Murray, 1967, Dewey ref. 376'.9422'3)
475:at the age of 86 at her London home. She was
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747:Women heads of schools in the United Kingdom
664:(London: Third Millennium Publishing, 2006,
352:, a school parent, captaining one team and
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742:Women school principals and headteachers
732:Founders of English schools and colleges
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538:(Oxford University Press, Sept 2004)
264:Haberdashers' Aske's School for Girls
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722:Alumni of Somerville College, Oxford
662:Downe House: a Mystery and a Miracle
187:, which while she was there became
235:, and at the age of seventeen was
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246:, remaining a lifelong Anglican.
657:(Oxford University Press, 2004)
199:, gaining a third class in her
400:(1907–2005), and the musician
356:the other, his team including
129:John Armine Willis (1839–1916)
1:
727:English educational theorists
557:Downe House - a Brief History
392:(1912–2001), the philosopher
693:Olive Willis and Downe House
595:Olive Willis and Downe House
502:online at books.google.co.uk
498:: (Part I, January to June)
408:taught at the school, while
607:Charles Darwin, a Companion
578:. 2 May 1913. p. 3198.
121:founding Downe House School
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404:(1911–2008). The composer
244:St Cuthbert's, Earls Court
215:, the Willises attended a
193:Somerville College, Oxford
102:Somerville College, Oxford
623:CGPLA England & Wales
427:and was built during the
211:Although baptised in the
540:online edition, May 2008
289:1,500 to rent and equip
174:University of Cambridge
388:(1908–1998), the poet
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219:church founded by the
542:accessed 20 July 2008
380:(1904–1965), writers
374:social anthropologist
372:(1899–1984), later a
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142:Olive Margaret Willis
35:Olive Margaret Willis
466:Girl Guides movement
396:, the archaeologist
344:match was played at
266:, which was then in
16:British educationist
425:James MacLaren Ross
256:Queen Anne's School
696:at openlibrary.org
625:, 23 November 1964
575:The London Gazette
340:magazine's annual
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293:in the village of
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154:Downe House School
82:Downe House School
41:65 Thistle Grove,
678:978-1-903942-50-5
647:Avery, Gillian, "
233:Anglo-Catholicism
213:Church of England
195:, where she read
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150:headmistress
146:educationist
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112:Headmistress
59:(1964-03-11)
25:Olive Willis
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717:1964 deaths
712:1877 births
638:Anne Ridler
570:"No. 28715"
390:Anne Ridler
362:Anglo-Irish
358:A. A. Milne
350:E. V. Lucas
283:Downe House
178:Switzerland
706:Categories
483:References
462:Bermondsey
447:Retirement
398:Aileen Fox
325:Down House
291:Down House
229:Piccadilly
166:Kensington
160:Early life
108:Occupation
43:Kensington
421:Berkshire
410:Myra Hess
378:Betty Rea
315:Scripture
299:Orpington
260:Caversham
237:confirmed
126:Parent(s)
88:Education
477:cremated
437:mortgage
431:for the
417:Cold Ash
217:Theistic
207:Religion
185:Brighton
135:Crawford
72:, London
619:Probate
500:page 65
458:Chelsea
348:, with
342:cricket
297:, near
281:called
239:at the
227:, near
197:History
70:Chelsea
676:
672:&
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651:", in
250:Career
201:finals
170:London
47:London
364:girl
346:Downe
337:Punch
329:Downe
311:Latin
295:Downe
268:Acton
674:ISBN
666:ISBN
303:Kent
148:and
54:Died
31:Born
456:in
223:in
133:née
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287:£
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