Miss Belcher and another teacher, at a time when headships were very rare, came to her and told her that they had determined to apply for one. Miss Beale said, “Events are imminent which will shake the College to its very foundations”. They said, “We shall not apply”.
Her early days at Cheltenham were very full, so much so that her father wrote in a teasing spirit:—
“You always write as if you were at the top of your speed, and this is not good. I doubt not you have a great deal to occupy your time and your attention, but pray do not be always in a hurry, you will inevitably break down if you are so—you will lose in power what you gain in speed as certainly as in mechanics: and with greater danger to the regularity of the machine.... I am really fearful to take up your time.... I daresay now that you are scrambling through my note without that respect to which the writer and the subject are entitled. But pray remember that to neglect (the care of your health) is the worst economy in the world.”
In 1862 Dorothea Beale had the great sorrow of her father’s death, an event which left a great blank in her life.
Holidays at this time were spent partly at Cheltenham, partly abroad. When on the Continent she visited schools and gained new ideas for her work. For, to her, life and work were one. Nearly everything she did bore directly or indirectly on the one purpose of her life. It is impossible to enter into the spirit of her life unless one realises this singleness of aim. No nun, bound to her vocation by holy vows, could be more dedicated than was Dorothea Beale to the great work of education. It was to her the call of the Master to forsake all and follow Him.
This spirit in her expressed itself in many ways; in her simplicity of life, which she maintained always. Her way of living was always plain, as was her style of dress. In later life she dressed more grandly, but this was forced upon her by others who felt she ought to do so, and was not the expression of her own wishes. When she went to Cheltenham, she decided for the sake of her work not to go out in the evenings. I believe, as a matter of fact, that it was quite easy to keep this resolution, as Cheltenham society was extremely “exclusive” at that time, and was not sufficiently assured of the social position of women teachers to invite them out to anything except perhaps a quiet tea.
Dorothea Beale had very little small talk, and was too quietly thoughtful to be a great success socially. She was quite content to go on steadily with her teaching, her careful preparation of lessons, her painstaking correction of the children’s work, her thoughts and plans for wider work, all of which were slowly but surely laying the foundations of a new intellectual world for women. One of the ideas which she was never able to carry out was that of a Sisterhood of Teachers, consisting of a band of teachers who should live frugal, self-denying lives in a Community under a Mother Superior. These should have no personal possessions, but should live, as nuns do, a life devoted to their vocation. Later in life she became less anxious for such a Sisterhood, believing that the inward spirit of consecration could exist equally well without the outward and visible signs of devotion.
In our day we urge the necessity of having interests outside our special calling; to have hobbies, games, or a different kind of work which will be recreative; to have, as it were, in our brain several lines of rails to prevent the chief one from getting worn out. But though we have become more scientific in the management of life the main fact remains the same, that the work to which we are called is a stern mistress and will demand our whole-hearted service.
Growth is rarely a painless process, and Dorothea Beale felt that some of her greatest difficulties began after the College entered on its period of rapid development. By the year 1871, it had grown too big for Cambray House, and a site for a new building was purchased for the sum of £800. This purchase had to be endorsed by the Annual Meeting of Shareholders in June, but this was considered a mere formality. A good many shareholders, however, were interested in the Cambray property, and the meeting decided not to ratify the purchase but to re-sell the land. This was a great shock to the Council and the Principal, who knew the need for having bigger and better premises, and the Council announced their intention of resigning.
A special General Meeting was called for September 30. At this meeting Dr. Jex-Blake, the Principal of Cheltenham College, who was in the chair, pleaded most eloquently the cause of the Ladies’ College. I will quote part of his speech as showing something of the esteem in which the College was held at this date.