Queer Places:
University of Cambridge, 4 Mill Ln, Cambridge CB2 1RZ
Louth Cemetery, London Rd, Louth LN11 8QH, United Kingdom
Edith Margaret Sharpley (January 24, 1859 – April 14, 1940) was born on January 24, 1859, in Louth, Lincolnshire, as the second of ten children born to Dr. Thomas Sharpley and Sarah
McNicoll. Her early education took place at several schools in Louth, Taunton, and Paris before she attended Manchester High School. In 1879, she entered Newnham College,
Cambridge, where she made history that same year by becoming the first recorded student at Newnham to cox a boat on the River Cam, a feat accomplished fifteen years before
bicycles were permitted at the college. Academically distinguished, she achieved a first in part II of the Classical Tripos, specializing in philosophy.
Following her studies, Sharpley began her long tenure at Newnham College in 1884 as a Lecturer in Classics, choosing to focus her career heavily on teaching rather than
research and writing. She was a lifelong correspondent of Eleanor Sidgwick and became deeply integrated into the
administrative and communal fabric of the institution. Her deep personal and professional connections within the Newnham community included working closely with
Blanche Athena Clough. Alongside Blanche Athena Clough, Sharpley assisted in caring for
Anne Clough—Newnham’s first principal and Blanche's aunt—during her later years, and both women were present with Anne Clough when
she passed away in Cambridge on February 27, 1892.
Sharpley’s institutional leadership continued to expand over the decades. In 1911, she assumed the role of vice-principal of Sidgwick Hall. From 1918 to 1929, she served
as the first registrar of the roll of students, and she was later elected to Newnham’s governing body from 1919 to 1922. Known among students for "the fastidiousness of her
taste and the ruthlessness of her judgement," Sharpley remained a foundational figure in the early legacy of women's higher education at Cambridge until her death on April
14, 1940.
References:
- Gloyn, Liz (2016). "This is Not a Chapter About Jane Harrison". In Wyles, Rosie; Hall, Edith (eds.). Women Classical Scholars: Unsealing the Fountain from the Renaissance to Jacqueline de Romilly. Oxford University Press. pp. 153–175.
- Stray, Christopher (2013). "Women and Classics in Victorian Oxbridge". Roman Literature, Gender and Reception. Routledge. p. 401.
- Newnham College, Cambridge — Archival records and registers (including the Newnham College Roll and related institutional papers compiled by Edith Sharpley as registrar).
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