Willingly to School

A History of Women's Education

by Mary Cathcart Borer

Book cover: Willingly to School

Extent: 330 pages

Publisher: The Lutterworth Press

Subjects: Gender & Sexuality, Social Sciences 

Language: English

Paperback (No longer our product)

(May 2023)

ISBN: 9780718896508

Price: $33.00

In stock

PDF (Published)

(May 2023)

ISBN: 9780718896515

Price: $24.00

An overview of the provision, or lack thereof, for girls’ education from before the Norman Conquest to the twentieth century.


The denial of equal educational opportunities to women is arguably one of the great injustices in British history. In Willingly to School, Mary Cathcart Borer charts the gradual reversal of this inequality, and the revolutionary effect it has had on social structures, from the Anglo-Saxons to the twentieth century. Always mindful of the historical context of each period, Borer explores the significant early role of the church, the opportunities afforded to royal and noble girls, the origins of the various forms of privately and charitably funded school, and the emergence of the modern school system. Along the way, particular significant institutions and individuals such as Christ’s Hospital, Cheltenham Ladies College, the Bronte sisters and Fanny Burney are examined in depth. Writing in 1975, Borer described the mid-twentieth century as having ‘seen the culmination of women’s demands for full equality in society’. While the intervening years have shown that there is still much work to be done in the pursuit of equality, Borer’s analysis of the progress that has been made in women’s education remains as pertinent as ever.

  • By (author) Mary Cathcart Borer