Huxley, Julia Arnold (1862–1908)

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Huxley, Julia Arnold (1862–1908)

English educator who was headmistress of Prior's Field. Name variations: Mrs. Leonard Huxley, Judy Arnold. Born Julia Frances Arnold in 1862; died of cancer on November 30, 1908; granddaughter of the famous headmaster Thomas Arnold of Rugby (1795–1842, an English educator and headmaster of Rugby); daughter of Thomas Arnold (1823–1900), a professor of English literature, and Julia Sorell (1826–1888); sister of Mrs. Humphry Ward (1851–1920); niece of Matthew Arnold (1822–1888), an English poet and critic; attended Oxford High School for Girls; earned a first-class degree in English literature from Somerville College, Oxford, as a home student; married Leonard Huxley (1860–1933), an editor and author who taught at Charterhouse; children: (Noel) Trevenen Huxley (1890–1914); Julian Huxley (1887–1975, a biologist and writer who married Juliette Huxley; Aldous Huxley (1894–1963, a novelist and critic who married Maria Nuys Huxley , then Laura Archera Huxley ); Margaret Arnold Huxley (1896–1979).

Julia Arnold Huxley was born in 1862, the daughter of Thomas Arnold, a professor of English literature and son of the famous headmaster of Rugby, and Julia Sorell . Taking out a bank loan, Julia Huxley founded Prior's Field, a small but significant experimental girls' school in Godalming, Surrey, England, where she was its headmistress.