Kitty Anderson (headmistress)
 | This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. (May 2015) |
Dr Dame Katherine Anderson DBE BA PhD (4 July 1903, Lytham St Annes, Lancashire – 15 July 1979, Northallerton, Yorkshire), known as Kitty Anderson, was headmistress of North London Collegiate School from 1945-65.[1]
Early life and education
Katherine Anderson was the eldest child and only daughter of three children born to John Herbert Anderson, a chartered accountant, and his wife, Lizzie (née Dawson). The family moved to Middlesbrough, where Kitty attended the High School for Girls in Saltburn-by-the-Sea, where she became head girl. She was the first girl from the school to go up to university and attended Royal Holloway College, University of London to read history where she obtained a BA.[1]
In 1925 she obtained a teaching diploma from the London Day Training College, now the Institute of Education and part of the University of London. In 1926 she taught at Craven Street secondary school in Hull. In 1930, she returned to Royal Holloway as a Christie scholar and received a PhD in 1933 in Elizabethan history.[1]
Career in education
She then taught at Burlington School for Girls, London before taking a position as headmistress of King's Norton Grammar School, Birmingham in 1939. In 1944 she became head of the North London Collegiate School until retirement in 1965. [citation needed]
As headmistress there she became an outstanding figure in the educational world. She was appointed DBE in 1961, and served on the Robbins Committee[2] from 1961–63. She was a Governor member of the Council of her alma mater from 1947–53 and member again from 1962 until at least 1967.[3] On her retirement she became chairman of the Girls' Public Day School Trust.