1985 School Magazine

Mrs O'Connor resigned in 1876, after a dispute with the Trustees. Miss Sarah Cargill followed, and resigned in 1877. A good mark was given to Miss Sarah! Her Successor, Miss A. Mackinlay left to be married in 1881, having doubled the numbers and cleared the financial debt. Then came Miss Sophia Bean land- the first Lady Principal in a position to give her own Speech Day Report. She lasted from 1882 to 1889, and appealed to me as a sound and literate lady. She also fostered sewing. The Esther Bean land Medal, for hand sewing a baby's dress used to loom large in early days. Even she had a dispute with Sir Samuel Griffith, and resigned. MissPells (1889-1895) seems to have been imbued with the need for parents to consider the delicacy of their daughters' health. but she saw the school through the 1890 and 1893 floods. Then Miss Fewings! 1896-1899. A squabble between her and the Trustees erupted into the Brisbane Courier at great length. It would seem that her second in command (Miss Sellers) went behind her back and asked the Trustees to relieve her of her admi nistrative duties because of the poor administration of Miss Fewings. They tried to dismiss Miss Fewings, with six months notice, but she refused to go. After some hysterics by some sixth formers (to whom she reported) and a threatened sympathetic walkout by the servants, she eventually left after a weekend notice. The Chairman mentioned two complaints - poor French pronunciation and excessive Latin homework (for his daughter). This is the first history. There will be more. Another 50 years have passed since 1935 and we trust that those records will be less troublesome than the early ones. No school could have had a more chequered beginning. As a branch of the Brisbane Grammar School it had difficulty in finding its identity but, according to the records presented in Mr Prideaux's book, it began on a substantial basis- virtue, cooking, sewing and cutting out; arithmetic, writing and reading for the primary girls (8) and secondary subjects (for which not al l the teachers were equa lly qualified). Even the telephone came in 1909; electricity in 1922; and the first wireless in 1933 (nine years after the beginning of radio in Brisbane). High scholastic standards were claimed from the beginning and the Sydney junior and Senior examinations were taken with success. Early in the book we have a list of 28 Open Scholarships to the University of Queensland from its inauguration in 1910 until 1935. These were competitive State-wide, and twenty were awarded annually. I thought it would be of interest to follow up a few of these people, as examples of the outcome of this school's contribution: (a) Dorothy Hill Emeritus Professor (Geology and Mineralogy) Open Scholarship 1924. C.B.E., M.Sc. , Ph.D., D.Sc. , L.L.D.(Hon), F.R.S., F.A.A., F.G.S. Honorary Life Member, Geological Society of Australia.

(b) Miss Kathleen Campbell Brown Open Scholarship 1920

Retired Senior Lecturer in French, University of Queensland. M .A., Chevalier dans I'Ordre des Palmes Academiques, and Chevalier dans L'Ordre National du Merite. One time staff member of Brisbane Girls' Grammar School until winning an Orient passage to study in Europe from 1930.

(c) Dr joan Allsop Open Scholarship 1930 Retired Senior Lecturer in Adult Education, University of Sydney. A.M., M.A., Dip.Ed., B.Ed., Ed.D., Lady Lilley Silver Medal 1930. Retired Senior Lecturer in Social Studies, University of Queensland. A.M., B.A., Dip.Soc.Stud. (Sydney) and Certificate of N.S.W. Institute of Almoners. Captain, A.W.A.S. (World War II). But think of those who were more adventurous than we the academics were. They have contributed, in their thousands, children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and often academic and professional work as well. (d) Miss Alma Hartshorn Open Scholarship 1931

Professor Hill was the first woman President of the Professorial Board and the first woman full Professor in Australia. Upon graduating she had won the University Gold Medal and a Foundation Scholarship which took her to Cambridge University. At Matriculation she won the Lady Lilley Gold Medal at this school. 19