23 Facts About Beryl Gilroy

Beryl Agatha Gilroy was a Guyanese educator, novelist, ethno-psychotherapist, and poet.

Beryl Gilroy worked primarily with Black women and children as a psychotherapist, and her children's books are lauded as some of the first representations of Black London.

Beryl Gilroy is perhaps best known as the first Black head teacher in London.

Beryl Gilroy was born in Springlands, British Guiana, on 30 August 1924, into a very large family.

Beryl Gilroy's father died when she was young and she grew up in the care of her maternal grandparents as a sickly child.

Beryl Gilroy was an herbalist who managed the family smallholding.

Beryl Gilroy began creative writing during her childhood and was homeschooled, as her grandparents did not think a formal education was good enough for her.

Beryl Gilroy earned a first-class diploma from a teacher training college in Georgetown in 1945, then taught and lectured for a UNICEF nutrition program.

Beryl Gilroy was the school head of the infant section of the local governmental school.

Beryl Gilroy was eventually employed by the Inner London Education Authority in 1953, making her the first Black female teacher in London.

Beryl Gilroy's first teaching job was at a poor Catholic school in Bethnal Green where her third year pupils had already been taught racist stereotypes by their parents.

Beryl Gilroy stepped away from teaching between 1956 and 1968 to raise their children, Darla-Jane and Paul, and to earn her master's degree in psychology.

Beryl Gilroy returned to teaching in 1968, this time as the deputy head at Beckford Primary School.

Beryl Gilroy left Beckford in 1982 and moved to the Centre for Multi-Cultural Education, which was run by University of London's Institute of Education and the Inner London Education Authority.

Beryl Gilroy started her PhD in 1984 at Century University in the United States and completed her doctorate in counselling psychology in 1987.

Beryl Gilroy finished her first novel, In Praise of Love and Children, in 1959, but had difficulty getting it published.

Beryl Gilroy met her husband Patrick at the library at University College London.

Beryl Gilroy attended therapy to cope with her grief and came away even more interested in psychology and counselling than she already had been.

Beryl Gilroy earned her doctorate in psychology and counselling 12 years later.

Beryl Gilroy died on 4 April 2001 at the Royal Free Hospital in Camden, London, from an aortic aneurysm.

Beryl Gilroy had been scheduled to deliver a keynote speech at the 4th annual Caribbean Women Writers Association Conference two days after her death.

Beryl Gilroy liked fashion and enjoyed dressing up, even for teaching.

Beryl Gilroy identified as a feminist throughout her life, something she felt was particularly important for Black women.