Barnes Old Girls Association
School Houses
Every pupil was a member of one of four School Houses, and was awarded House Points for sporting and academic achievements.
Edith Cavell
1865 -1915
​Edith Cavell Although not involved in espionage, Edith Cavell was a British nurse tried by a German court-martial in Brussels, and later executed by firing squad. She had been helping Allied soldiers trapped in German-occupied parts of Belgium to escape into neutral Holland. Her case was skilfully used by the British authorities of the day to boost the recruitment of soldiers at a time when there was no conscription.
Octavia Hill
1838 - 1912
​Octavia Hill (1838-1912) was a woman ahead of her time. An artist and a radical, she was a pioneer of affordable housing and can be seen as the founder of modern social work. Her formidable achievements as an environmental and open space campaigner led to her co-founding the National Trust, which today protects over 300 historic properties and keeps 250,000 hectares of land open to all.
Florence Nightingale 1820 -1910
Florence Nightingale 1820-1910, English nurse, the founder of modern nursing, b. Florence, Italy. Her life was dedicated to the care of the sick and war wounded. In 1844, she began to visit hospitals; in 1850, she spent some time with the nursing Sisters of St. Vincent de Paul in Alexandria; and a year later she studied at the institute for Protestant deaconesses in Kaiserswerth, Germany. In 1854, she organized a unit of 38 woman nurses for service in the Crimean War. By the end of the war she had become a legend. With the testimonial fund collected for her war services she established (1860) the Nightingale School and Home for training nurses at St. Thomas's Hospital, London. She was called "The Lady with the Lamp" because she believed that a nurse's care was never ceasing, night or day; she taught that nursing was a noble profession, and she made it so.
Mary Slessor
1848 -1915
​Mary Slessor Was a hard working Scottish mill girl and an unorthodox Sunday School teacher in Dundee in the mid 19th century. Inspired by David Livingstone, she became a missionary in Calabar in Nigeria, an area where no European had set foot before. Despite illness and constant danger, she lived with the tribes, learned their language, and respected their traditions, putting an end to some barbaric practises, such as the killing of twins. She adopted many Nigerian children (particularly twins) who had been left to die. When Southern Nigeria became a British Protectorate, she became the first ever female Magistrate in the British Empire and a skilful diplomatic emissary.