Published October 1995 – source unknown. Cutting supplied by Mary Goodman. BURSARIES are going begging at the Woodard Corporation's St Elphin's Girls School, Matlock, Derbyshire. They are available to the daughters of the clergy, particularly those working in the Northern Province, but very few apply, says the head, Valerie Fisher. Only five of the 200 girls currently on the roll are clergy daughters. St Elphin's School and a small teacher-training college were founded in Warrington by the Revd Horace Powys more than 150 years ago. "He wanted to educate clergy daughters and send them out to change the world," says Mrs Fisher. The school is very northern and strongly Anglican, with five bishops on the governing body; but among the pupils are a Japanese Roman Catholic and a handful of Russian Orthodox girls. Many of today's Anglican pupils come from overseas, particularly Africa. One of the more famous Old Girls was Richmal Crompton, who later joined the staff, writing her William books in her study. "Violet Elizabeth ran away from the school because the staff were so beastly," Mrs Fisher claims. Another novelist, Penelope Mortimer, was also educated there.
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