Ann Jellicoe

Who was Ann Jellicoe?

Anne Jellicoe, née Anne William Mullin was a noted Irish educationalist best known for the founding of the prestigious Alexandra College, which became a force in women's education under her management.

She was born at Mountmellick, County Laois, the daughter of a Quaker schoolmaster. Her father, William Mullin, and her mother, Margaret née Thompson, died when Anne was aged 3 and 17 respectively. She married John Jellicoe, a flour miller in 1846 in Mountmellick and moved to Clara, County Offaly two years later. There she set up an embroidery and lace school to provide employment for young girls. The Jellicoes moved to Dublin in 1858 where she helped revive Cole Alley Infant School for poor children of all creeds run by the Quakers. She prepared a paper on working conditions for young factory girls in Dublin in 1861 and a year later visited the women's prison at Mountjoy. Her husband, John, died in 1862.She founded the first employment society for women in Ireland known as the Queen's Institute to provide adult technical training classes for women. This led her to realise that women must be educated before they could be trained.