Sarah Tuke Grubb
Sarah Tuke Grubb (20 June 1756 – 8 December 1790) was a Quaker minister, writer, and founder of a girls’ finishing school in Ireland.
She was born in York, England, as Sarah Tuke, the daughter of William Tuke and his first wife Elizabeth Hoyland. When she was about nine, her father married Esther Maud. The Tuke family were strong Quakers, and her father later founded three Quaker schools: Ackworth, Bootham, and Trinity Lane Quaker Girls’ School. Sarah began preaching in Quaker meetings when she was 22.
In 1782 she married Robert Grubb of Clonmel, Ireland. They lived near her homeland at first, but moved to Ireland in 1787. They traveled across Europe as Quaker missionaries, visiting many Quaker communities. They started a girls’ finishing school in Clonmel called the Suir Island School, later known as the Clonmel School. One of their teachers was Susanna Corder, who later became headmistress of Newington Academy for Girls. Sarah Tuke Grubb died unexpectedly in Cork, Ireland, at age 34.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 14:13 (CET).