Haileyburia

It is ten years since full co-education, and the first girls arrived as pupils in 1973. Women had a significant influence on Haileybury even when, as far as pupils were concerned, it was an all male institution. I shall try and post form time to time about some of these women. In my generation the history of the place and much of its ethos was caught by reading Molly Matthews' Haileybury Since Roman Times. Her daughter Imogen, also an historian of the school and a Housemaster's wife has kindly written what follows. 

Molly Matthews, who died two years ago, just one week short of her hundredth birthday, was an old style Housemaster's wife, who devoted her working life to Haileybury and made a considerable contribution to the school.  Edgar was already Housemaster of Batten when they married in 1932 and held that position until 1953.  Molly visited boys in the san (a frequent activity before the days of antibiotics and when epidemics often swept the school), watched them play games and entertained them to tea and supper. She had trained at R.A.D.A. and in those days, before girls had arrived at Haileybury, she played the female lead in a continual stream of school plays.  She also did the make-up for most school productions and created the Haileybury theatrical wardrobe, designing and making the historically correct period costumes, many of which still survive.  When Edgar retired he was asked to stay on for one year to run the fundraising for the Centenary Appeal.  Her contribution to this was to research and write 'Haileybury Since Roman Times', all the proceeds of which she gave to the Appeal.  She had taken her degree in History and English, specialising in Anglo-Saxon and her research for the Haileybury book led to her writing a series of learned books on surnames, place-names and the origins of our language, published in England, America and Japan. She loved Haileybury and Haileybury should be proud of her.