Maria Georgina Grey

Maria Georgina Grey (née Shirreff; 7 March 1816 – 19 September 1906), also known as Mrs William Grey, was a British educationist and writer who promoted women's education and was one of the founders of the organisation that became the Girls' Day School Trust. The college she founded was named in her honour the Maria Grey Training College. Biography Family Maria Georgina Shirreff was born on 7 March 1816 in Blackheath, London. She was the third daughter of Admiral William Henry and Elizabeth Anne Shirreff. Out of her three sisters, Caroline (b. 1812), Emily (b. 1814), and Katherine (b. 1818), Maria was very close to her elder sister Emily Shirreff, who would later become her collaborator in her writings and campaigns. She also had two brothers who both died at an early age. Educational experiences In the 1820s the family lived in France where their father was stationed at St Germain en Laye, near Paris, and later in Normandy. The four Shirreff sisters were first taught at home by a French-Swiss governess who had a limited education.