Agnata Butler Prize

Agnata Butler
Portrait of her as a student at Girton College
Born	Agnata Frances Ramsay (1867-01-28)28 January 1867 Marylebone
Died	27 May 1931(1931-05-27) (aged 64) Harrow on the Hill
Nationality	British
Alma mater	St Leonards School Girton College
Occupation	First Lady
Organization	Trinity College, Cambridge
Known for	first in the Classical Tripos

Agnata Frances Butler (née Ramsay; 1867–1931) was a British classical scholar. She was among the first generation of women to take the Classical Tripos examinations at the University of Cambridge, and was the only person to be placed in the top division of the first class at the end of her third year, in 1887. She married the Master of Trinity College, Montagu Butler, in August 1888, becoming the leading hostess in Cambridge. She published a version of Book VII of Herodotus' Histories in 1891.

She was born Agnata Ramsay in London on 28 January 1867, the daughter of Sir James Henry Ramsay, 10th Baronet of Bamff, and Elizabeth Mary Charlotte née Scott-Kerr. She came from a family with a history of academic achievement as her father published books on history, her uncle George Gilbert Ramsay was a professor of humanity at Glasgow University and her grandfather, Sir George Ramsay, published works on philosophy.

Brought up in Perthshire, she attended St Leonards School in St Andrews. In 1884, she went as the Misses Metcalfes' Scholar to Girton College, Cambridge, where she read Classics. Her achievement in being the only candidate in 1887 to be placed in the top division of the first class in the Classical Tripos examinations – thereby being placed above all of the men in her year – was marked with a cartoon in Punch which was entitled 'Honour to Agnata Frances Ramsay' and showed her boarding a train's first-class compartment marked 'For Ladies Only'.

While a student, she worked hard at her studies but also found time for outdoor pursuits which she enjoyed, including tennis and skating. She was president of the debating society and, while she did not speak often, she impressed others with her eloquence and humility.