Anne Jellicoe : Short Biography

Anne Jellicoe was born  Anne WIlliam Mullin on the 26th of March 1823 in the civil parish of Mountmellick in County Laois. 

The importance of education would have been impressed upon Anne from a young age, as her father, William, was the master of a local Quaker school. 

On the 28th of October, Anne married a flour miller named John Jellicoe, and the pair soon moved to Clara, County Offaly. Whilst there, Anne established a school for girls where they wouldl learn practical skills, but also sharpen their minds. She encouraged the girls to think independently and educated them in matters that would previously have only been available to boys. Anne's school was so against the grain, that the local Catholic priest broke it up. 

In 1858, Anne and her husband moved to Dublin where she began working with charitable schools. She worked extensively with Dublin's poor, developing research techniques for the inspection of Workhouses, Prisons, and Slums. She was heavily involved in women's rights in the workplace and wrote about the coniditions experienced in Dublin's factories. She established schools to train women in practical skills that may help them to gain employment, such as book keeping and general secretarial skills. During this time, Anne became aware of a need to educate women from a younger age. As a result she established the Alexandra College in 1866 on Dublin's Earlsfort Terrace. She funded the school using her own inheritance. At this school, women could attain an advanced education to place them on a more level playing field in the workplace. The college was such a great success that a secondary school was established in 1873. 

On th 18th of October 1880, Anne died suddenly at the age of 57. She was in Birmingham at the time visiting her brother. 

The Alexandra School is still accepting pupils today, though it has been relocated to a larger premises in Milltown.