Elizabeth Anne (Eliza) Bostock

Eliza Bostock was one of Elisabeth Jesser Reid's closest friends and staunchest supporters in the venture of setting up Bedford College, and was one of the original Trustees of the Reid Trust. 

Bostock grew up in Liverpool, as part of a well off Unitarian family. Her early life was taken up with travel, society obligations and taking care of relatives, but her friendship with Reid increased her interest in women's casues, especially women's education. She was especially concerned that all women were able to work and support themselves. To this end, she was a strong supporter of scholarships for women, which she believed enabled them to live and study independently. In her will, she left money in trust to support female medical students studying at the University of London. 

Reid named Bostock as one of three trustees of Bedford College, and Bostock led the governing of the College in the 1860s and 1870s. She was particularly influential in making sure that the College remained focussed on the higher education of women, and she gave money to the College to ensure its expansion.

In 1885, she retired from College business to live in Glamorgan. She pledged support publically to women's suffrage in 1889. She died in 1898.