Mary Ewart
Born1830
London, England
Died19 February 1911(1911-02-19) (aged 80–81)
London, England

Mary Anne Ewart (1830 – 19 February 1911) was a British patron of higher education for women. She funded Newnham College and Bedford College, London.

Life

Ewart was born in London and baptised on 30 December 1830 at St George's, Hanover Square. Her parents were first cousins; her mother was Mary Anne (born Lee) and her father was the politician William Ewart. Her only grandfather was also godfather to William Ewart Gladstone.[1]

Her father died in 1869 and left the bulk of his wealth to his son and two of his daughters were well provided for.[1]

Girzeh a watercolour by Mary Anne Ewart created in Egypt in 1881

Ewart is noted as a supporter of women's higher education. She was a source of funds and a governor of Newnham College and of Bedford College in London.[2]

Ewart also created and ran a teachers' education loan fund to allow aspiring teachers to gain an education.[1]

In December 1880 she went to Egypt and she spent several months in Cairo and on the Nile where she created 90 water colours and over 50 photographs. These were pasted into a file which is extant.[3]

In the 1880s the architect Philip Speakman Webb drew up designs in the Arts and Crafts style for a house for her, Coneyhurst, at Ewhurst, Surrey. The main house design also included details of a gardeners cottage.[4]

Death and legacy

Ewart died in London in 1911.[1] In 2019 a sculpture, "Arc of History", was created for Newnham College by the Haberdashery design studio. The sculpture for the cafe was based on key items taken from the college's archive recreated in brass and coated steel. Ewart was included as the founding Principal, Anne Jemima Clough, refers to her in an 1890s letter as one of a few friends "specially connected with the College".[5]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Matthew, H. C. G.; Harrison, B., eds. (23 September 2004). "The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. ref:odnb/9011. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/9011. Retrieved 9 January 2023. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. ↑ Ewart, Mary Anne (1880–81). "Album of watercolours and photographs of Egypt: Cairo and the Nile, December 1880 - March 1881". Sotherby's. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
  3. ↑ "Designs for Coneyhurst, Ewhurst, Surrey, for Miss Mary Ann Ewart: elevations". RIBApix. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
  4. ↑ "'Arc of History' by Haberdashery Design Studio – Newnham College". newn.cam.ac.uk. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
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