Evelyn Sophia Mary Agnes DU PRE (1852-1935)

Evelyn Sophia Mary Agnes Du Pre (1852-1935) was Headmistress of the High School in Clewer, Berkshire, where May, Kathleen and Ethel Sladden were pupils.

Evelyn Sophia Mary Agnes Du Pre was born at Wereham, Norfolk, the third of five children of the Reverend Michael Thomas Du Pre, Perpetual Curate of Ryston cum Roxham, Norfolk, and his wife, Sophia (née Gardiner).  She was baptised on 22nd February 1852 at Ryston cum Roxham.  

By 1860 when her youngest sibling, Arthur, was born, the family had moved to Guiting Power, Gloucestershire, where Reverend Du Pre was now the Vicar.  Evelyn’s mother, Sophia, died in December 1861 when Evelyn was aged nine.  Her father married again in 1865 to Anne Watkins.  At the time of the 1871 census, Evelyn was a pupil at Cheltenham Ladies’ College.

On leaving school, Evelyn went into teaching.  In 1881, she was lodging at Clewer near Windsor, working as a Governess.  She lived next-door to the Sisters of Mercy and may well have worked at the school which they ran.  By 1891, Evelyn was Headmistress of the High School at Clewer and boarded with other teachers at 13 & 14 Gerald Villas.  She was the Head at the time that May and Kathleen started at the school in 1895.

By 1901 Evelyn was Headmistress of a school in Tunbridge, Kent, and by 1911 she was Headmistress of Cheltenham Ladies’ College.  Her younger sister, Sophia, had been teaching at the Ladies’ College for quite some time.  The two sisters lived at Benella, Painswick Road.

Evelyn died at 21 Royal Parade, Cheltenham, on 9th October 1935.