The Young Girl Who Would Become a Writer
At the age of six, Esther commenced her formal education at Mrs Lepine’s French boarding school at Mile End Green in East London. It was a serious school, intended for girls whose families valued disciplined conduct, useful learning, and intellectual development. Esther’s own recollections show that these years left a deep impression on her.
Mrs Lepine herself emerges as a memorable figure. Esther remembered her with affection and respect. She was firm, but not harsh, and appeared to have exercised a steady moral influence over the girls in her care. Instruction at the school extended beyond lessons alone. Habits were formed there — of order, attention, self-command, and diligence — and these were regarded as no less important than reading, writing, or needlework.
For the biographer, Esther’s recollections of these early years are invaluable. Material of this kind is rarely available in such abundance. It allows us to see not only what happened to Esther but also how she responded to it. Through these childhood memories, the shy, observant, thoughtful child begins to come into view. There is truth in the old Aristotelian idea: show me the child at seven, and I will show you the woman.
Particularly important was the kind of schooling Esther received in writing and reflection. She was not merely taught to repeat lessons by rote. She was expected to think, observe, organise her thoughts, and express them clearly. Weekly letters to her governess, together with written exercises based on reading, history, conduct, and moral reflection, helped to cultivate habits that would later serve her as an author. The discipline of putting thoughts into words, regularly and truthfully, seems to have begun very early. In this respect, the schoolroom was an apprenticeship in authorship.
These early influences are closely related to what I have elsewhere called the making of Esther’s mind. Her character was not formed by one influence alone, but by a combination of family, nurse, school, books, and inward reflection. What Mrs Lepine’s school appears to have done was to strengthen and order qualities already present in her — seriousness, curiosity, self-command, and moral alertness. The adult writer can already be faintly seen in the thoughtful child. In that sense, the school years are not incidental to her story. They are part of the foundation on which her later life and writing were built.
Notes & Sources
Copley, Esther Hewlett. Recollections of My Childhood. Edited and republished by Marion H Clark. Balwyn, Vic.: Privately published, 2022. Originally written by Esther Hewlett Copley as an autobiographical reflection of her early life, this edition makes the text accessible with an editorial introduction and notes.