Marie Bethell Beauclerc
Encyclopedia
Marie Bethell Beauclerc (1845–1897) was a pioneer in the teaching of Pitman's shorthand
Pitman Shorthand
Pitman shorthand is a system of shorthand for the English language developed by Englishman Sir Isaac Pitman , who first presented it in 1837. Like most systems of shorthand, it is a phonetic system; the symbols do not represent letters, but rather sounds, and words are, for the most part, written...

 and typing
Typing
Typing is the process of inputting text into a device, such as a typewriter, cell phone, computer, or a calculator, by pressing keys on a keyboard. It can be distinguished from other means of input, such as the use of pointing devices like the computer mouse, and text input via speech...

 in Birmingham, England. In 1888 she was the first woman to be appointed as a teacher in an English boys' public school
Independent school (UK)
An independent school is a school that is not financed through the taxation system by local or national government and is instead funded by private sources, predominantly in the form of tuition charges, gifts and long-term charitable endowments, and so is not subject to the conditions imposed by...

. The school was Rugby
Rugby School
Rugby School is a co-educational day and boarding school located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire, England. It is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain.-History:...

. The Phonetic Journal September 1891 and the Birmingham journal, Birmingham Faces And Places May 1893, both credit her with being the first female reporter in England.

Early life

Marie Bethell Beauclerc was born in London in 1845 as Maria Bethell. When she was around four years old, she and her older twin siblings Richard and Elizabeth, were sent from London to Bath. By this time Maria Bethell's given name had been changed to Marie and her surname and the surname of her siblings, had been changed to Beauclerc. The children's father, Richard Bethell, died when Marie was five years old however the reason for the name change of Marie, Richard and Elizabeth from Bethell to Beauclerc is unknown. Now known as Marie Beauclerc, 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
Shorthand
Shorthand is an abbreviated symbolic writing method that increases speed or brevity of writing as compared to a normal method of writing a language. The process of writing in shorthand is called stenography, from the Greek stenos and graphē or graphie...

 from a manual which she found in some waste paper. The manual, called The Phonographic Teacher was written by Isaac Pitman
Isaac Pitman
Sir Isaac Pitman , knighted in 1894, developed the most widely used system of shorthand, known now as Pitman shorthand. He first proposed this in Stenographic Soundhand in 1837. Pitman was a qualified teacher and taught at a private school he founded in Wotton-under-Edge...

. On her thirteenth birthday, Marie Beauclerc 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.

Reporter

In 1863, at the age of eighteen, Marie Beauclerc was engaged for two months as shorthand amanuensis
Amanuensis
Amanuensis is a Latin word adopted in various languages, including English, for certain persons performing a function by hand, either writing down the words of another or performing manual labour...

 to a phrenological lecturer visiting Birmingham. Later George Dawson
George Dawson (preacher)
George Dawson was an English nonconformist minister.-Ministry:He was born in London and educated at Marischal College, Aberdeen, and the University of Glasgow....

 (1821–1876), editor of the Birmingham Morning News between 1871 and 1873, also engaged Marie Beauclerc because of her outstanding shorthand reporting skills. The appointment of a female reporter by the Birmingham Morning News was extraordinary as it was the first time in England that a female had been engaged by a newspaper as a shorthand reporter. Marie Beauclerc's work at Birmingham Morning News included the reporting of many public meetings, conferences and lectures. At this time, shorthand was still a male dominated expertise however from approximately 1865 until Dawson's sudden death in 1876, Marie Beauclerc also recorded most of the content of the nine volumes of Dawson's lectures, prayers
Prayers
is an anime set in the year 2014 where the young of Japan have rebelled against the government for segregating Shibuya and declared themselves to be independent of Japan...

 and sermons. Four volumes were published after Dawson's death. George St. Clair, the editor of these volumes, acknowledges in the preface
Preface
A preface is an introduction to a book or other literary work written by the work's author. An introductory essay written by a different person is a foreword and precedes an author's preface...

s 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). Marie Beauclerc is also credited in prefaces of volumes of work by author and preacher, Christopher J. Street (1855–1931). When Unitarian
Unitarianism
Unitarianism is a Christian theological movement, named for its understanding of God as one person, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism which defines God as three persons coexisting consubstantially as one in being....

 clergyman and lecturer, Robert Collyer
Robert Collyer
thumb|Robert Collyer in 1880thumb|Robert Collyer in 1903Robert Collyer was an English-born American Unitarian clergyman.-Biography:...

 (1823–1912), visited Birmingham from the United States, he engaged Marie Beauclerc to report and edit his sermons and prayers which were delivered at Newhall Hill Church Birmingham on 2 Sept. 1883 and published during the same year.

Teacher

In 1874 the Perry Barr Institute, the first suburban institute in Birmingham was established and Marie Beauclerc was appointed teacher of phonography
Phonography
Phonography, meaning "sound writing" in Greek, may refer to:* Pitman shorthand, sometimes called phonography, a system of shorthand stenography developed by Isaac Pitman* Phonography, a neologism used by some to refer to field recording...

. She held her position at this institute for fourteen years until 1888. Marie Beauclerc was also engaged to teach phonography when it was introduced at the Birmingham and Midland Institute
Birmingham and Midland Institute
The Birmingham and Midland Institute , now on Margaret Street in the city centre of Birmingham, England was a pioneer of adult scientific and technical education and today offers Arts and Science lectures, exhibitions and concerts. It is a registered charity...

 in 1876. "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). "In 1888, Miss Beauclerc was accorded the high honour of the appointment of Teacher of Shorthand at Rugby School". (Birmingham Faces And Places May 1893). 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
John Percival (bishop)
John Percival was the first Headmaster of Clifton College, where he made his reptutation as a great educator. In his 17 years at Clifton numbers rose from 62 to 680. He accepted the Presidency of Trinity College, Oxford to recover from his exhaustive years at Clifton...

, 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). Marie Beauclerc also taught senior boys at the Birmingham Blue Coat School
Birmingham Blue Coat School
The Blue Coat School is a preparatory school in Birmingham, England for children aged two to 11. The school was founded in 1722. In 1930, it moved from the northeast corner of St. Philip's Square to its current location on Somerset Road, on the border between Edgbaston and Harborne. It has 15 acres...

 and in addition to achieving as a female teacher of predominately male students in the fields of shorthand and typing, Marie Beauclerc was a teacher of dancing and callisthenics
Calisthenics
Calisthenics are a form of aerobic exercise consisting of a variety of simple, often rhythmical, movements, generally using multiple equipment or apparatus. They are intended to increase body strength and flexibility with movements such as bending, jumping, swinging, twisting or kicking, using...

.

Pioneer

In 1887, Marie Beauclerc established a Shorthand Writers Association and "officially introduced the art of typewriting to Birmingham." (The Phonetic Journal Sept. 1891) (Birmingham Faces and Places May 1893). Also in 1887, Marie Beauclerc delivered a paper at the International Shorthand Congress and Phonographic Jubilee in London. Her paper, entitled Phonography in Birmingham, illustrates her passion for her pioneering work and is contained in the printed Transactions of the Congress held by the Pitman Library at the University of Bath
University of Bath
The University of Bath is a campus university located in Bath, United Kingdom. It received its Royal Charter in 1966....

. In England at this time, shorthand and typing were still male domains with few places available for female students and few employment opportunities for females. Marie Beauclerc's pioneering work in the fields of shorthand and typing, benefited the progress of Birmingham's business and cultural community, while her example and the discussion she generated, (e.g. International Congress) helped pave the way for the explosion of female stenography in the 20th century. In 1892, Marie Beauclerc now known as Marie Bethell Beauclerc, retired from teaching at the Birmingham and Midland Institute. Her retirement was due to illness, however she continued to edit Sunday Evening Lectures by James C. Street "during her short intervals of ease." (Birmingham Faces And Places May 1893.)

Death

Marie Bethell Beauclerc died on 19 September 1897. She is buried at Key Hill Cemetery
Key Hill Cemetery
Key Hill Cemetery, , originally called Birmingham General Cemetery, a Nonconformist cemetery, is the oldest cemetery in Birmingham, England. It opened on 23 May 1836. Located in Hockley, the city's Jewellery Quarter, it is one of two cemeteries there...

 Birmingham, next to George Dawson. A quote from her headstone
Headstone
A headstone, tombstone, or gravestone is a marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. In most cases they have the deceased's name, date of birth, and date of death inscribed on them, along with a personal message, or prayer.- Use :...

 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
Joseph Chamberlain
Joseph Chamberlain was an influential British politician and statesman. Unlike most major politicians of the time, he was a self-made businessman and had not attended Oxford or Cambridge University....

, George Dawson and John Henry Chamberlain
John Henry Chamberlain
John Henry Chamberlain , generally known professionally as J H Chamberlain, was a nineteenth century English architect....

. 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
Harriet Martineau
Harriet Martineau was an English social theorist and Whig writer, often cited as the first female sociologist....

 & 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."

External links


Further reading

  • Blain, Helen, 2009 : Marie Bethell Beauclerc – (1845–1897) Good Scholar – Holistic Teacher – Courageous Woman : The Friends of Key Hill and Warstone Lane Cemeteries Newsletter, no.16 November 2009
  • Wilson, Wright, 1905 : The Life of George Dawson, M.A. Glasgow : Percival Jones Ltd. Birmingham
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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