First Female 'Freeman'
Information
1926: On this, her 90th birthday, Miss Margaret Gibson was made an Honorary Freeman of the city of Peterborough - the first woman to be awarded this honour - 'in recognition of her long and distinguished services to the city in the cause of education of girls'. It is said that, while on a visit to Peterborough, she heard Bishop William Connor Magee speak and felt that this was the place for her to stay. with her friend Miss Annette Van Dissel, she opened a school. In the spring of 1870, they moved their school to Laurel Court, where it stayed until her death in 1928. An advertisement in the 1884 Peterborough directory states that:
The aim of this school is to give a high moral training, offering to the pupils the advantages of home life. French and German are the language of the house. Especial attention is paid to the culture of Music. Pupils are prepared for the Cambridge and Oxford examinations. Fees are 60 Guineas per Annum, paid in advance and a term's notice is required before the removal of a pupil.
One of her pupil-teachers was a Miss Edith Cavell. Miss Gibson died on 12 April 1928, aged 91. (People of Peterborough, Peterborough Museum Publications, 2009; Peterborough & Huntingdon Standard; Peterborough Advertiser; Liquorice, Mary, Posh Folk: Notable Personalities (and a donkey) Associated with Peterborough, Cambridgeshire Libraries, 1991)
Taken from The Peterborough Book of Days by Brian Jones, The History Press, 2014.