Marianne Bernard Explained

Marianne Bernard (12 February 1839, in Bristol – 9 April 1926, in Bristol) was Mistress of Girton College, Cambridge from 1875 until 1884.[1]

Bernard was educated at the Home and Colonial Training College. from 1910 until 1925.[2] Her appointment as Mistress was not unanimously welcomed within Girton, as some felt her social position had swayed the decision: her maternal uncle was the Viceroy of India from 1864 to 1869.[3] She left in 1884 to marry Peter Wallwork Latham, Downing professor of medicine at Cambridge, going on to hold a position on the college executive committee until 1924.[4]

During her tenure she guided the college through ongoing construction of the college facilities and an outbreak of smallpox in 1878.[5]

Notes and References

  1. Girton College Register, 1869–1946: Cambridge; CUP; 1948
  2. https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/cambs/vol3/pp490-493 British History On-line
  3. Book: William Ford. John Laird Mair Lawrence, a viceroy of India. 1887.
  4. Obituary. Peter Wallwork Latham, M.A., M.D., F.R.C.P. British Medical Journal. 2317696. 10 November 1923. 2. 3280. 902–903. 10.1136/bmj.2.3280.902-d.
  5. https://www.girton.cam.ac.uk/events/mistress-1869-1924