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Sophie Youngman (1849?-1907) was the first Headmistress of the Ipswich High School for Girls when it opened in 1878. The Girls' Public Day School Company was set up in 1870 with the aim of providing good and affordable education, a wide curriculum and for the first time, to educate girls to examination standards.
Within a few years, girls from the Ipswich High School were taking Cambridge exams and proceeding to Higher Education. One pupil was Kathleen Nibloe, the daughter of Ipswich Railway Stationmaster, who started at the school on the day of its opening. She received a scholarship to Newnham College, Cambridge of £15 and having passed the Classical Tripos Examination went on to teach Latin and Greek. Other examples were four pupils, who in 1893 went on to study medicine at London School of Medicine. Mildred Sims, Ipswich's first woman doctor, was an early student. In 1907 the school moved to new premises in Westerfield Road, Ipswich.
Miss Youngman's home during her years as headmistress was in 68, Christchurch Street and where according to the 1881 census she was the Head of Household. For twenty-one years Miss Youngman led and developed the school, changing local prejudice and public opinion about schooling for girls. The school still awards a prize in her name.