Kathleen Mary Carver Baxter (née fforde, 16 September 1904 – 3 January 1994), was a British dramatist, journalist and teacher.
She was born in Bulandshahr, British India, on 16 September 1904, the eldest daughter of Arthur Brownlow fforde, a judge in the Indian Civil Service, and his wife, Mary Alice fforde, née Branson.[1] Her elder brother was Arthur Frederic Brownlow fforde.[1] She was educated at seven different schools plus St Albans High School, followed by Newnham College, Cambridge, where she earned a degree in modern and medieval languages in 1927, followed by two years at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.[1]
From 1944 to 1966, Baxter was the Secretary of the Cambridge University Women's Appointments Board.[2]
In 1963 Baxter was elected a fellow of Newnham College, Cambridge, and from 1963 to 1966, she was Tutor and Director of Studies in Theology there.[1] [2]
Baxter wrote three successful religious dramas: Pull Devil, Pull Baker in 1947, a verse mime with music, Gerald of Wales, and Play your Trumpets Angels, for the Southwark Cathedral Festival of Britain pageant, both in 1951.[1] [2]
She published books including Speak what we Feel: a Christian Looks at the Contemporary Theatre in 1964, And I look for the resurrection in 1968, and The Silver Dove, with C. Le Fleming, in 1970.[1] [2]
In 1971, she became the first woman to conduct the Good Friday service in Westminster Abbey.[2]
On 5 November 1931, she married fellow actor and stage director, Major (Frank) Godfrey Baxter RE MC.[1] He died in 1943, when his plane crashed on the runway during take-off.[1]
She died at Soham, Cambridgeshire on 3 January 1994.[2]