M. K. Ashby
Encyclopedia
Mabel Kathleen Ashby (wrote as M. K. Ashby) was an educationalist, writer and historian born in Tysoe, Warwickshire, England
.
and his wife Hannah Ashby (Ashby also being her maiden name). Her brother Arthur Ashby was a pioneer of agricultural economics.
In 1907 Mabel won a scholarship to Warwick High School
, where she became a weekly boarder. From there, she won a King’s scholarship to Birmingham University. This was a government grant conditional on undertaking to train as a teacher. She took a B.A. degree in her first three years, and stayed on to take an M.A. in philosophy. While she was at the training college, she successfully organised in her second year a women’s club for providing student amenities such as provision of common rooms and proper meals.
On leaving college she was appointed to a post as instructress of Rural Pupil Teachers in Staffordshire. This meant working in remote villages, travelling by train, bicycle or pony-and-trap, talking to teachers and giving lessons to small groups of receptive boys and girls.
After a summer term as a temporary lecturer at Bingley College in Yorkshire, in 1919 she became Warden of a Hall of Residence for teachers in training in Bristol University.
She next accepted a temporary post as Education Lecturer at Salisbury Training College, and the following year she was accepted to a similar, but established, post at Goldsmiths College, London.
In 1933 she applied for and was appointed to the post of Principal of the Residential College for Working Women
, usually known as Hillcroft from the name of its house at Surbiton. The college provided a year’s course of liberal education for women who had to leave school early, but who had since shown an interest in and capacity for further study.
, near Stow on the Wold. It was here that she write Joseph Ashby
of Tysoe, which was published in 1961. It was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize
for biography in that year. However, the accolade which she perhaps most appreciated was the tribute paid by E. P. Thompson
, the Marxist historian of the English working class. He so admired the book that he made a point of seeking the acquaintance of the author, and paid several visits to Bledington. Her next literary venture was to write a history of Bledington, The Changing English Village.
She was successively President of the Women's Institute and Chairman of the Parish Council at Bledington. She died 16 October 1975 in an Oxford
nursing home.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
Early life
She was one of the daughters of Joseph AshbyJoseph Ashby
Joseph Ashby was an agricultural trade unionist born in Tysoe, Warwickshire, England. “His life was remarkable, encapsulating in many aspects the ideal of the self-improving working man, and embracing most of the institutions—the nonconformist chapel, trades unionism, and working-class...
and his wife Hannah Ashby (Ashby also being her maiden name). Her brother Arthur Ashby was a pioneer of agricultural economics.
In 1907 Mabel won a scholarship to Warwick High School
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
, where she became a weekly boarder. From there, she won a King’s scholarship to Birmingham University. This was a government grant conditional on undertaking to train as a teacher. She took a B.A. degree in her first three years, and stayed on to take an M.A. in philosophy. While she was at the training college, she successfully organised in her second year a women’s club for providing student amenities such as provision of common rooms and proper meals.
On leaving college she was appointed to a post as instructress of Rural Pupil Teachers in Staffordshire. This meant working in remote villages, travelling by train, bicycle or pony-and-trap, talking to teachers and giving lessons to small groups of receptive boys and girls.
After a summer term as a temporary lecturer at Bingley College in Yorkshire, in 1919 she became Warden of a Hall of Residence for teachers in training in Bristol University.
Middle years
In 1924 she answered what she regarded as a “call” to accept the post of Advisory Teacher to Rural Schools, a post created for her by Henry Morris, the famous director of Education in Cambridgeshire. After some years of this “lonely and strenuous” work (it involved frequent changes of location, and dealing with sometimes resentful head teachers), she fell ill and returned to her cottage in Shennington that she shared with her lifelong friend Margaret Philips. She spent the next year recuperating and writing The Country School: its Problems and Practice (probably the thesis she submitted for the M.Ed. degree which she was awarded by Manchester University in 1930).She next accepted a temporary post as Education Lecturer at Salisbury Training College, and the following year she was accepted to a similar, but established, post at Goldsmiths College, London.
In 1933 she applied for and was appointed to the post of Principal of the Residential College for Working Women
Hillcroft College
Hillcroft College is a residential adult education college for women, located in Surbiton area of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in South London, England, ....
, usually known as Hillcroft from the name of its house at Surbiton. The college provided a year’s course of liberal education for women who had to leave school early, but who had since shown an interest in and capacity for further study.
Later life
She retired in 1946, but the next thirty years were filled with creative activity. She began to travel, some of her accounts of which were later published in Countrywoman's Occasions. She later moved, with Margaret Philips, to a farmhouse in BledingtonBledington
Bledington is a village and civil parish in the Cotswold district of Gloucestershire, England, located about four miles south-east of Stow-on-the-Wold and six miles south-west of Chipping Norton...
, near Stow on the Wold. It was here that she write Joseph Ashby
Joseph Ashby
Joseph Ashby was an agricultural trade unionist born in Tysoe, Warwickshire, England. “His life was remarkable, encapsulating in many aspects the ideal of the self-improving working man, and embracing most of the institutions—the nonconformist chapel, trades unionism, and working-class...
of Tysoe, which was published in 1961. It was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize
James Tait Black Memorial Prize
Founded in 1919, the James Tait Black Memorial Prizes are among the oldest and most prestigious book prizes awarded for literature written in the English language and are Britain's oldest literary awards...
for biography in that year. However, the accolade which she perhaps most appreciated was the tribute paid by E. P. Thompson
E. P. Thompson
Edward Palmer Thompson was a British historian, writer, socialist and peace campaigner. He is probably best known today for his historical work on the British radical movements in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, in particular The Making of the English Working Class...
, the Marxist historian of the English working class. He so admired the book that he made a point of seeking the acquaintance of the author, and paid several visits to Bledington. Her next literary venture was to write a history of Bledington, The Changing English Village.
She was successively President of the Women's Institute and Chairman of the Parish Council at Bledington. She died 16 October 1975 in an Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
nursing home.
Key works
- Joseph Ashby of Tysoe. Cambridge University Press, 1961; reissued by Merlin Press, London, 1974
- Countrywoman's Occasions
- The Country School: its problems and practice
- The Changing English Village