[3] Motivated by "a strong sense of public duty", as an adult she "serv[ed] in the Civil Defence Corps to be the better prepared to help in the event of any disaster".
[1] After attending a local school in Much Hadham, de la Mare departed for a final three years at Queen's College, Harley Street,[1] then read history at Lady Margaret Hall, University of Oxford.
thesis — examining the Vite di uomini illustri of Florentine bookseller Vespasiano da Bisticci, and striving to trace the manuscripts he published — proved so promising that her supervisor, Ernst Gombrich,[2] promoted her to a PhD dissertation under his own supervision.
[3] In 1989, she was duly appointed to the latter institution's Chair of Palaeography,[2] where she soon garnered praise for her "enthusiastic",[2] "inspirational"[1] lecturing style.
[1] The Warburg Institute held an academic conference commemorating her life and work in 2012, and 2016 brought publication of a volume of scholarly essays dedicated to her memory.