Emily Ward

Who was Emily Ward?

Emily Mary Jane Ward, née Lord, was a pioneer of childcare education. She founded several institutions including Norland Place School and, most notably, the Norland Institute.

Lord was born on 13 August 1850, in Derby, England. In her early twenties she joined Notting Hill High School as an infant teacher. Heavily influenced by the ideas of Friedrich Fröbel, she founded Norland Place School in 1876. In 1891, at the age of 40, she married Walter Cyril Ward. In 1892 she opened the Norland Institute, a training school for nanny girls and children's nurses, and in the following years steered it to a position of international respect. She died on 15 June 1930, in Bognor.