Miss Ironside's School

Miss Ironside's School (also called Miss Ironside's Day School and Miss Ironside's School For Girls) was a school at 2 Elvaston Place, in Kensington.^[1] The journalist John Walsh, writing in The Daily Telegraph, called it "legendary".^[2]

It was founded in 1920 by Miss Irene Ironside, the aunt of artists Robin and Christopher Ironside. During World War II the school was evacuated to Little Ridge House (later renamed Fonthill House) near to the village of Fonthill Bishop in Wiltshire.^[3] Ironside had a kindergarten or nursery at the site that was notable for its attendance of the "scions of many of the most illustrious families", including Nazi collaborator John Amery who she described as "unteachable".^[4]

Notable alumnae included:

• Salimah Aga Khan (née Sarah Frances Croker Poole), former fashion model and an ex-wife of the IV Aga Khan Prince Karim Aga Khan^{[citation needed]}
• Jane Birkin, singer and actor^[2][5]
• Sheila and Ellen-Craig Crosland, daughters of Susan Crosland, journalist, and step-daughters of Tony Crosland, Labour Education Minister who started the comprehensive school movement in the UK^[6]
• Rose Dugdale, a militant in the Irish republican organisation and the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA)^[5][7]
• Jane Fawcett, a World War II codebreaker, singer, and heritage preservationist^[8][9]
• Teresa Hayter, writer and activist^{[citation needed]}
• Sarah Hogg, Viscountess Hailsham (née Boyd-Carpenter), economist, journalist, and politician^[5]
• Virginia Ironside, journalist, agony aunt and writer, whose great-aunt was headmistress^[5]
• Tracy Reed, actor^[5]
• Jan Struther, writer^[5]
• John Amery, British fascist and Nazi collaborator^[4]

References

1. Ironside, Virginia. Janey and Me. p. chapter 4.
2. Walsh, John (15 February 1997). "The French miss". The Independent. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
3. Dakers, Caroline (2018). "7.9 - Miss Ironside's School at Little Ridge". Fonthill Recovered: A Cultural History (1st ed.). London: University College London Press. p. 176. ISBN 978-1-78735-045-8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 May 2024. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
4. Faber, David (2005). "7 - A Boy Of Unusual Character". Speaking for England: Leo, Julian and John Amery ; the tragedy of a political family (1st ed.). London: Free Press. p. 127. ISBN 0-7432-5688-3. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
5. Ironside, Virginia (9 January 1995). "A funny little girl in socks and sandals". The Independent. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
6. Crosland, Susan (14 February 2001). "Forget the school, it's the teaching that counts". The Telegraph. Retrieved 6 June 2016. Both went to Miss Ironside's primary school in south Kensington
7. Wilson, Frances (8 October 2006). "This season, I shall mostly be coming out". The Telegraph. Retrieved 7 October 2022. Rose Dugdale, the highlight of Miss Ironside's school,
8. "The deb who sank the Bismarck". The Economist. 4 June 2016. Retrieved 7 October 2022. Miss Ironside's School for Girls in Kensington
9. Smith, Michael (8 January 2015). The Debs of Bletchley Park and Other Stories. Aurum Press Limited. ISBN 978-1-78131-389-3.

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