User:Silverjb/Marie Beauclerc

Marie Bethell Beauclerc

Marie Bethell Beauclerc (10 October 1845, St. Pancras, Lond. Eng. -

19 September 1897, Birmingham, Eng.) was a pioneer in the teaching of Pitman's shorthand and typing in Birmingham. In 1888 she was the first woman to be appointed as a teacher in an English boys' public school. The school was Rugby. The Phonetic Journal September 1891 and the Birmingham journal, Birmingham Faces and Places September 1892, both credit her with being the first female reporter in England.

Contents

1 Biography

2 References

3 External links

4 Further reading

Biography

Marie Bethell Beauclerc was born Maria Bethell. When she was aged around five, she moved from London to Bath with her mother and her older twin siblings, Richard and Elizabeth. By this time her given name had been changed to Marie and her surname and the surname of her siblings, had been changed to Beauclerc. The reason for this name change is unknown. She attended Weston Boarding Schools near Bath until circumstances forced her to leave school at age nine. At age twelve she began teaching herself shorthand from a manual called The Phonographic Teacher which she found in some waste paper. At age thirteen she and her mother moved to Birmingham where she continued her studies through a member of the Phonetic Society in Bath who corrected her exercises through the post. The addition of Bethell to her name Marie Beauclerc appeared for the first time in the title of her biography in The Phonetic Journal Sept. 1891.

Prominent Birmingham lecturer and preacher, George Dawson (1821-1876), appointed her as his amanuensis when he was editor of the Birmingham Morning News. From approximately 1865 until his sudden death in 1876, she recorded most of the content of the nine volumes of Dawson's lectures prayers and sermons, four of which were published after his death. The prefaces, written by the editor of these volumes, George St. Clair, acknowledge that "The discourses are mostly from the shorthand reports of Miss Marie Beauclerc." (George Dawson, Every-Day Counsels, London, 1888). A similar preface reads, "When a lecture is reported by Miss Beauclerc - as is the case with the one on the Shadow of Death - “ we have a near approach to fulness and accuracy;" Further on St. Clair adds, "I have had, as before, the invaluable help of Miss Beauclerc in collating and transcribing." (George Dawson, Shakespeare and Other Lectures, London, 1888). She is also credited in prefaces of volumes of work by author and preacher, Christopher J. Street (1855-1931). When Unitarian clergyman and lecturer, Robert Collyer (1823-1912), visited Britain from the United States, he engaged her to record his lectures.

When the Perry Barr Institute, which was the first suburban institute in Birmingham was established, she was appointed teacher of phonography and she held the position for fourteen years. She taught at the Birmingham and Midland Institute where, "Thousands of pupils have passed through the hands of Miss Beauclerc, in connection with this institute alone; and many young men owe their start in life to the knowledge they have thus gained." (The Phonetic Journal Sept. 1891). She delivered a paper at the International Shorthand Congress and Phonographic Jubilee in London in 1887 and the paper can be found in The Transactions of the Congress. Also in 1887, she established a Shorthand Writers Association and officially introduced "the art of type writing to Birmingham". (Birmingham Faces and Places September 1892). She was appointed teacher of shorthand at Rugby School in 1888. This was the first time shorthand had been taught in an English public school and the first appointment of a female teacher in an English boys' public school. There were one hundred boys in her classes and Dr. Percival, headmaster at this time, "expressed his satisfaction at the excellence of the teaching and the progress made by the pupils." (The Phonetic Journal Sept. 1891). She taught senior boys at the Birmingham Blue Coat School and in addition to achieving as a reporter, editor and pioneer in the teaching of shorthand and typing, she was a teacher of dancing and callisthenics.

She is buried at Key Hill Cemetery, Birmingham next to George Dawson. A quote from her headstone reads, "This stone was erected by the members of the Church of the Saviour, Birmingham. In grateful recognition of her services, by which many of the prayers, sermons and lectures of the late George Dawson, MA have been preserved". The Friends of Key Hill and Warstone Lane Cemeteries conduct monthly two hourly tours of Key Hill Cemetery and include her grave amongst those of other notable nineteenth century figures such as Joseph Chamberlain, George Dawson and John Henry Chamberlain. On 24 Sept. 2009, Chairman Richard Empson, in personal correspondence, wrote about an aspect of the life of Marie Bethell Beauclerc which is explained during cemetery tours. He said "she was one of several powerful women in the cemetery -“ Harriet Martineau & Constance Naden for example - who started to throw off the rigid mould imposed on them by Victorian convention and started to make their own way."

Note:

References

Birmingham Faces and Places September 1892, J.G. Hammond, Journal

Dawson, George, 1888 : Every-Day Counsels : Kegan Paul, Trench and Co; 1 Paternoster Square, London - Preface

Dawson George, 1888 : Shakespeare and Other Lectures : Kegan Paul, Trench and Co. 1 Paternoster Square, London - Preface

Gravestone - (plot no: 1:961 - In memory of Marie Bethell Beauclerc ) - erected by Church of the Saviour founded and built 1847-95 Birmingham)

Maria Bethell - Birth certificate - 10 October 1845, St.Pancras Lond. England.

Maria Bethell Beauclerc - Death Certificate - 19 September 1897 Birmingham England.

The Phonetic Journal September 1891 - pp. 596-597 - Our Portrait Gallery- Marie Bethell Beauclerc

UK censuses- 1851, 1861, 1871, 1881,1891

Empson,Richard, Chairman, Key Hill and Warstone Lane Cemeteries : Personal Correspondence 24th September 2009

External links

http://www.fkwc.org/page22.html[1]

Transcription of The Phonetic Journal - Our Portrait Gallery - Marie Bethell Beauclerc pp 596-597

Retrieved 12^th Jan. 2010

http:www.fkwc.org/page23.html[2]

Transcription of The Phonetic Journal - Our Portrait Gallery - Marie Bethell Beauclerc pp 596-597

Retrieved 12^th Jan. 2010

http://www.fkwc.org/page21.html

The Friends of Key Hill and Warstone Lane Cemeteries

Christmas Card from Marie Bethell Beauclerc

Retrieved 10^th Jan. 2010

http://openlibrary.org/b/OL15574571M/Two_sermons[3]

Collyer, Robert (1823-1912) - Two Sermons

Retrieved 11^th Jan. 2010

http://openlibrary.org/b/OL15955631M/Communings_with-the-father

Street, Christopher J. (1855-1931) - Communings with the Father viii Preface- "the whole of the contents of the present volume are from the excellent shorthand reports of Miss Beauclerc."

Retrieved 11^th Jan. 2010

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harriet_Martineau

Biography - Harriet Martineau

Retrieved 9^th Jan.2010

Further reading

The Friends of Key Hill and Warstone Lane Cemeteries newsletter, no.16 November 2009 - Marie Bethell Beauclerc - (1845-1897) Good Scholar- Holistic Teacher- Courageous Woman

www.parliament.uk - International Shorthand Congress and Phonographic Jubilee, London 26 Sept. 1887 - 1 Oct. 1887

Retrieved 12^th Jan. 2010