Winifred Mercier

Winifred Mercier OBE (20 May 1878 – 2 September 1934) was the principal of Whitelands College. She believed in education irrespective of class and gender and it has been argued that her approach is still relevant.

Life Mercier was born in Ilford in 1878. Her mother was Agnes Stedman and her father, Lewis Mercier, was a stockbroker but his enterprise failed. The family went to live with her grandfather Paul Metheun Stedman in Thurston in Suffolk where she was home schooled until she started at Wynaud House school. At that school, she became a student teacher and in 1897 she went to obtain a Teacher's certificate at the Maria Grey College.

She and the Leeds Training College principal had several disagreements and after three years she resigned. Some of the staff were not happy and as a result James Graham of the Leeds education board came to the college to address the staff. Her resignation and his instructive talk led to half of the women teachers also resigning from their positions.

She was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1933 New Year Honours.

Death and legacy Mercier died in 1934 in Surrey. Her ideas continued, in 2017 they were being discussed as relevant to contemporary British education.