Coleridge was born in 1846 in the manor house of Ottery St Mary, East Devon, to Francis George Coleridge and his wife. Alice's mother, Harriet, became mentally ill after giving birth to Alice. Edward Clarke Lowe married Alice's much elder sister Harriet Duke Coleridge. Alice was brought up by Edward and Harriet at Hurstpierpoint College where Edward was the head. Alice Coleridge, who had been greatly influenced by the writer Anna Sewell and her godmother, Charlotte Yonge. Around 1859 Yonge created a literary group made up of younger girl cousins in order that they could write essays and gain advice from Yonge on their writing. Together they created a private magazine called "The Barnacle" and this collaboration continued until about 1871. This was valuable as this may have been the last generation of girls to be educated at home. Alice was unusual in that she was getting "a boy's education". Alice contributed under the name of "Gurgoyle". From the first issue she drew the covers and she contributed translations, articles, riddles and verses. Alice read many of Yonge's novels. Yonge's example and influence on her goddaughter is thought to have played a formative role in Coleridge's zeal for women's education and thus, indirectly, led to the foundation of Abbots Bromley School for Girls. Woodard thought his foundation would be wasting its efforts in promoting the education of women. Lowe, who owed so much to his well educated older sister Emily, strongly disagreed. He believed that university education should be open to women and with his friends eventually prevailed upon Woodard to give his blessing and use his enormous fund-raising skills for the foundation of the School of St. Anne at Abbots Bromley in 1874. Alice became Lady Warden of St. Anne's in 1878 and instituted a no-frills management and a wide curriculum. Coleridge had to retire in 1898 due to a stroke. She died in Henfield in 1907. In 2016 a new conference centre was opened in the sixth form college at Abbotts Bromley and it includes the ''Alice Mary Coleridge Conference Room".
