Bryan, Margaret, 1759-1836?

Margaret Bryan, English educator and writer on natural philosophy. She ran a boarding-school for girls at Blackheath from 1795 to 1806, opened a school in London in 1815, and moved to Margate in 1816, where she also ran a school. Her best known works include Compendious System of Astronomy (1797) and Lectures on Natural Philosophy (1806). To Messrs. Lackington & Co., publishers : 2 letters : -- 1 autograph letter third person : 2 Feb 1811 : (MISC 2011) : saying "if they will send her the Books order'd for Monday Eveng. she will send them copies of the Philosophy in Boards, as before, as she thinks she has enough for that purpose ..." -- 1 autograph letter third person : [20?] Nov [1813?] : (MISC 2012) : requesting they "send her by the Lady who delivers this, a memorandum of the no. of copies of her book exchang'd with them ..." -- Both letters tipped into the William Upcott album of collected letters of eminent women. Shelved under "Upcott" with bound manuscript volumes.

Margaret Bryan (1759-1836(?)) was an English natural philosopher and educator, and the author of standard scientific textbooks. She was schoolmistress of a school located at various times in Blackheath, at Cadogan Place, and in Margate at Bryan House above the yet to be discovered Margate Caves. Her first known work was Compendious System of Astronomy (1797), collecting her lectures on astronomy. She later published Lectures on Natural Philosophy (1806), a textbook on the fundamentals of physics and astronomy, and an Astronomical and Geographical Class Book for Schools, a thin octavo, in 1815.

Life
Personal information about Margaret Bryan was unknown until genealogical research published from 2021 onwards uncovered many details about her life and family.[1][2] Baptized on 12 October 1759 in West Ham, Essex, Margaret was the daughter of textile merchant Oswald Haverkam and Sarah (née Wall), whose father was an apothecary. Margaret’s mother, Sarah, died in 1767, and Margaret and her siblings were put under the care of her uncle Thomas Nottidge and a second guardian; her father, Oswald, remarried in 1769 and died in 1781. Margaret, then living in Chigwell, married William Bryan in London on 12 July 1783, had two children, Ann Marian and Maria, in about 1784 and 1786, respectively, and by 1794 she was a widow living in Margate. From about 1791 until about 1816 she operated a boarding school for young ladies, initially in Margate and later in several places in London; during this time she also wrote the books for which she is best known. Sometime during or before 1837 Margaret and her older daughter, Ann Marian, had died; her younger daughter, Maria, lived at least until 1847, at which time she was still unmarried. It is possible, though not certain, that Margaret Bryan died on 30 March 1836 in Kentish Town in north London.

Teaching
Bryan was a schoolmistress. She taught young ladies from at least 1791 until 1797 outside of London, most often at Bryan House on Hooper Hill in Margate.[2] There is evidence to suggest that in July 1794 Bryan’s day school and boarding school were located in Tonbridge and Hadlow in Kent (villages over 60 km away from both Margate and London); the subjects taught included ‘English and French, Music, Writing, Dancing and Drawing, with every kind of Needle and Fancy Work’. Bryan’s school was back in Margate by 1795. From 1798 until at least 1807 the school was located in another Bryan House, this one in Blackheath next to Greenwich Park in London (very near the Royal Observatory). From 1808 or 1809 the school was located at 1 Gloucester Place, Portman Square, and ultimately at 27 Lower Cadogan Place in the Chelsea district of southwest London.

Publications
Bryan's published works are dated 1797 to 1815.[3]