Frances Buss

Frances Mary Buss (16 August 1827–24 December 1894) was an English pioneer of women's education.

Buss founded the North London Collegiate School in 1850, and remained its principal for the rest of her life. Under her headship, the school became a model for girls' education. She also founded the Camden School for Girls in 1871, with the aim of offering more affordable education for girls. She was the first ever headmistress.

Buss was at the forefront of campaigns for the endowment of girls' schools, and for girls to be allowed to sit public examinations and to enter universities. She became the founding president of the Association of Head Mistresses in 1874, and was also involved in establishing the Teachers' Guild in 1883 and the Cambridge Training College (later Hughes Hall) for training teachers in 1885.

She was also a suffragette, participating in the Kensington Society, a woman's discussion society, and the London Suffrage Committee.

Her name is associated with that of Dorothea Beale in a satirical rhyme:

Miss Buss and Miss Beale,
Cupid's darts do not feel.
How different from us,
Miss Beale and Miss Buss.

External links

• Spartacus: Frances Buss
• History of North London Collegiate School
• Association of Head Mistresses
• AIM25: Frances Mary Buss and family