Barbara, Lady Stephen

Barbara, Lady Stephen (, afterwards Shore Nightingale, 6 February 1872 – 1945) was an English educational writer and biographer.

Family and education Lady Stephen was born Margaret Thyra Barbara Shore Smith on 6 February 1872 at Park Place, London, England.

Lady Stephen was named after her father's first cousin, the educationalist and feminist Barbara Bodichon. Florence Nightingale regarded her father as "almost as a brother."

Lady Stephen was educated privately at Heath Brow in Hampstead and Roedean School in Brighton, then studied history at Girton College, Cambridge, graduating in 1894. At Girton, she gained second in the historical tripos and was a member of the Cambridge University Music Society.

Marriage Lady Stephen travelled to British India with her brother.

Career Whilst living in India with her husband from 1904 to 1913, Lady Stephen co-founded the Women Graduates Union in Calcutta, with the barrister and social reformer Cornelia Sorabji, for the benefit of professional women coming to India. She was also a member of the European Female Orphan Asylum, served as secretary of the National Indian Association and learned the Hindustani and Persian languages.

During the World War I, Lady Stephen sat on the Cambridgeshire War Pensions Committee.

Death Lady Stephen died on 24 March 1945 and her husband passed away a few months later.

Works Emily Davies and Girton College, 1927. Girton College 1869-1932, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1932. 167p.