In September 1973 twelve girls joined Haileybury as pupils in the sixth form thus starting the process which fifty years on has turned Haileybury into the fully co-educational school of today.
To commemorate and celebrate this as close to the original date as possible, on Sunday 10th September Society President Lizzie Graham (K76 & Alb) hosted an informal gathering in the Garden room at the College Arms on Hertford Heath to mark the day 50 years ago when Haileybury opened its gates to female pupils.
Over a finger buffet lunch those present shared their memories and stories of their time at Haileybury during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. This was a time when girls were initially only in the VI forms and attached to boys’ houses, until Alban’s, the first girls’ house, opened in 1977 , followed later by Allenby.
Strong attendance
We were particularly delighted to welcome a large cohort of girls who left in 1982, many of whom had not seen each other for 30 years. Happy conversation flowed easily in the afternoon sunshine as old photographs from schooldays were shared.
Those in attendance were: Tiggy Sawbridge (Alb & K 86); Susan Flint Cahan, nee Guildbride (Alb & B 93); Rosie Newland, nee Bass (Aby & L 86); Emma Brining (Aby & K 84); Lizzie Graham, nee Coldwells (K 76 & Alb); Janet Byrne, nee Butterfield (Alb & M 80); Rachel Cooke (Alb & M 80); Caroline Corderey, nee Spencer (Abl & Tr 80); Sarah Bruce Jones Alb & M 80); Sue Snowball, nee Martin (Alb & H 80); Joanna Burch (Alb & K 80); Fiona Illingworth, nee Short (BF 76 & Alb) and Jane Holmes, nee Rimmer (Alb & K 81)
Special guest
Our special guest on this occasion was Eleanor Rimmer (Honorary Member) who was part of the team of HMs’ wives who looked after the early girls in the 70s and 80s.
This was prior to the formal establishment of girls’ houses over subsequent years when, one by one, former boys’ houses Allenby, Colvin, Melvill, Hailey and Lawrence became girls’ houses thus giving the co-educational Haileybury of today an equal spread of 6 boys’ houses and 6 girls’ houses.
A photo recreated
After lunch a small group made their way to the Avenue entrance to the school and posed for a photograph (above) reminiscent of the photograph published in 1973 (below) showing the first cohort of 12 girls who blazed a trail for others to follow.
There will be a larger event in London on Fri 1st December, tickets for which are selling fast – do please sign up here.
A brief history of girls at Haileybury
In the early days there were on 12 girls in each VI form year group, all in boys’ houses, with Alban’s opening in 1977 when numbers rose to 24. This continued well into the 1990s with girls still remaining attached to boys’ houses as well until Allenby, Colvin and Melvill became girls’ houses. From 1998 onwards girls joined the school in the Removes but numbers were still lower than boys for some time. Numbers increased gradually with the opening of the Lower School to girls and the transition of Hailey to a girls’ house. The school has been fully co-educational since Lawrence became the sixth girls’ house in 2020.
Some comments received:
‘well done with your fabulous organisation and thank you for the goody bag’
‘Thank you so much for organising a lovely day. It all went off very smoothly. Thank you too for the generous goody bags. They really were a lovely touch.’
‘Thank you all so much for organising a lovely reunion on Sunday. Our 1980-82 group had such a joyful time catching up – some of us not having seen each other for 30 years or more’
Report: Jane Everard (L76 & Alb)
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