Barbara Corlett

Barbara Corlett (died 25 July 1891) was a pioneer of women's education and founded the first technical college for women in Ireland.

Career

Anne Barbara Corlett was the daughter of Henry Corlett who patented a coach spring in 1867 and was a coach spring manufacturer working in Summerhill. He retired in 1871 and died in 1873. Led by Anne Jellicoe and Corlett a committee of well to do Irish women established a Society for Promoting the Employment of Women on 19 August 1861. They then set up an employment registry for women. The main aim was to highlight the urgent need to provide training for women. The committee established classes in business related skills such as book-keeping, writing, dictating and arithmetic. Jellicoe gained funds through loans and an appeal which enabled them to create the Queen's Institute for the Training and Employment of Educated Women in 1863. Queen Victoria was its patron. In 1865 the name changed to ‘the Queen's Institute of Technical Schools’, due to continued expansion of its facilities and courses.

This was the first technical college for women in either Ireland or Great Britain. It is believed to be the model for similar institutions in Austria.

Corlett was the main person in charge of the Institute especially after Jellicoe left in 1866. The Institute is credited with unprecedented improvements in women's opportunities. The Royal Dublin Society allowed women to use their facilities including the use of the library and the ability to sit examinations for certificates like similar male students. When the civil service accepted women as telegraph operators in 1870 the Institute was officially given the responsibility for training the women for the new roles. Throughout her life Corbett had been a staunch supporter of women's suffrage and women's rights despite her conservative approach to gentility.