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Bertha Phillpotts
Dame Bertha Surtees Phillpotts DBE (25 October 1877 – 20 January 1932) was an English scholar in Scandinavian languages, literature, history, archaeology and anthropology.
Phillpotts was born in Bedford on 25 October 1877. Her father, James Surtees Phillpotts (1839–1930), was headmaster of Bedford School and instrumental in turning it from a relatively obscure grammar school to a top-ranking public school. Her mother, Marian Hadfield Phillpotts (née Cordery; 1843–1925), was a competent linguist. Having received all of her basic education at home, in 1898, Phillpotts won a Pfeiffer Scholarship to Girton College in the University of Cambridge, where she studied medieval and modern languages, Old Norse and Celtic under Hector Munro Chadwick. She graduated in 1901 with First Class honours. She then obtained a Pfeiffer Studentship which enabled her to travel to Iceland and Copenhagen to pursue her research. From 1906 to 1909, she worked as librarian at Girton College. In 1911, she won the Gamble Prize for her essay Studies in the Later History of the Teutonic Kindreds. In 1913, she became the first Lady Carlisle Research Fellow at Somerville College, Oxford.
During the First World War, she worked for some time at the British Legation in Stockholm, on a largely voluntary basis. An elder brother, Owen Surtees Phillpotts, was Commercial Attaché at the legation. Bertha's services were requested by the head of mission, Sir Esmé Howard, and she undertook both clerical and research work for him.
Her other elder brother, Brian ("Broo"), was an officer of the Royal Engineers who served in the First World War and was fatally wounded in action near Ypres in September 1917. Her younger sister, Marjory, captained the England Ladies Hockey Team and married William Sealy Gosset.
She was Principal of Westfield College from 1919 until 1921, and a member of the College Council from 1922 until 1932. She became the Mistress of Girton College in 1922, succeeding Katharine Jex-Blake (1860–1951), who happened to be her first cousin (the daughter of her mother's sister, Henrietta Cordery and Thomas Jex-Blake, sometime Headmaster of Rugby School). She held this post until 1925 when, following the death of her mother, she resigned in order to look after her elderly father who was living in retirement in Tunbridge Wells.[citation needed]
However, she was elected to a research fellowship and continued to be an active Fellow of the college, commuting between Tunbridge Wells and Cambridge in her Morris Cowley car which she nicknamed "Freda".[citation needed]
In 1922, she was selected (as the sole woman member) to serve on the Statutory Commission for the University of Cambridge. She remained a member until she resigned from her post at Girton College in 1925. From 1926 until 1931, she was a member of the Statutory Commission for the University of London. From 1926 until her death in 1932, she was director of Scandinavian studies and university lecturer at Girton College.[citation needed]
Her extensive research work included translations of old Icelandic sagas and studies on the influence of Old Norse and Icelandic on the English language. She is particularly known for her theory of ritual drama as the background to the Eddic poems.
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Bertha Phillpotts
Dame Bertha Surtees Phillpotts DBE (25 October 1877 – 20 January 1932) was an English scholar in Scandinavian languages, literature, history, archaeology and anthropology.
Phillpotts was born in Bedford on 25 October 1877. Her father, James Surtees Phillpotts (1839–1930), was headmaster of Bedford School and instrumental in turning it from a relatively obscure grammar school to a top-ranking public school. Her mother, Marian Hadfield Phillpotts (née Cordery; 1843–1925), was a competent linguist. Having received all of her basic education at home, in 1898, Phillpotts won a Pfeiffer Scholarship to Girton College in the University of Cambridge, where she studied medieval and modern languages, Old Norse and Celtic under Hector Munro Chadwick. She graduated in 1901 with First Class honours. She then obtained a Pfeiffer Studentship which enabled her to travel to Iceland and Copenhagen to pursue her research. From 1906 to 1909, she worked as librarian at Girton College. In 1911, she won the Gamble Prize for her essay Studies in the Later History of the Teutonic Kindreds. In 1913, she became the first Lady Carlisle Research Fellow at Somerville College, Oxford.
During the First World War, she worked for some time at the British Legation in Stockholm, on a largely voluntary basis. An elder brother, Owen Surtees Phillpotts, was Commercial Attaché at the legation. Bertha's services were requested by the head of mission, Sir Esmé Howard, and she undertook both clerical and research work for him.
Her other elder brother, Brian ("Broo"), was an officer of the Royal Engineers who served in the First World War and was fatally wounded in action near Ypres in September 1917. Her younger sister, Marjory, captained the England Ladies Hockey Team and married William Sealy Gosset.
She was Principal of Westfield College from 1919 until 1921, and a member of the College Council from 1922 until 1932. She became the Mistress of Girton College in 1922, succeeding Katharine Jex-Blake (1860–1951), who happened to be her first cousin (the daughter of her mother's sister, Henrietta Cordery and Thomas Jex-Blake, sometime Headmaster of Rugby School). She held this post until 1925 when, following the death of her mother, she resigned in order to look after her elderly father who was living in retirement in Tunbridge Wells.[citation needed]
However, she was elected to a research fellowship and continued to be an active Fellow of the college, commuting between Tunbridge Wells and Cambridge in her Morris Cowley car which she nicknamed "Freda".[citation needed]
In 1922, she was selected (as the sole woman member) to serve on the Statutory Commission for the University of Cambridge. She remained a member until she resigned from her post at Girton College in 1925. From 1926 until 1931, she was a member of the Statutory Commission for the University of London. From 1926 until her death in 1932, she was director of Scandinavian studies and university lecturer at Girton College.[citation needed]
Her extensive research work included translations of old Icelandic sagas and studies on the influence of Old Norse and Icelandic on the English language. She is particularly known for her theory of ritual drama as the background to the Eddic poems.
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