Grammar Gazette- Issue 2, 2010

1 3 5 Y E A R A N N I V E R S A R Y E D I T I O N

Bertha Marie Burdorff (1861–1925) attended Brisbane Girls Grammar School from 1875 to 1878. She was the first Queensland woman to be awarded the Fairfax Prize from the University of Sydney. This prize was given to the student who obtained the highest aggregate marks in New South Wales Senior and Junior Public Examinations. These examinations were open to candidates from all states and were sat by Grammar girls until the opening of The University of Queensland in 1909. From 1878 until 1909 students from Brisbane Girls Grammar won the Senior Fairfax Prize thirteen times and the Junior Fairfax Prize six times. Bertha was appointed an assistant mistress at Girls Grammar in 1880 and in 1883 travelled to Europe to study at the Leipsic Conservatorium of Music. On her return to Brisbane she established a secondary school for girls, while actively supporting her old school where she was president of the Old Girls Association in 1900. THE EARLY YEARS PERSPECTIVES FROM THE PAST

BERTHA BERDORFF WROTE THIS RECOLLECTION IN 1925

PICTURE BRISBANE IN 1875, LITTLE MORE THAN A VILLAGE, WITHOUT TRAMS, ELECTRIC LIGHT, MOTOR- CARS, MOVING-PICTURES; WITH NO TECHNICAL COLLEGE AND NO UNIVERSITY, AND THE YOUNG PEOPLE OF TODAY MAY REALISE WHAT PROGRESS HAS BEEN MADE IN THE INTERVAL AND WHAT THEY OWE TO THE PIONEERS OF THIS CITY AND STATE.

It says much for the Government and Grammar School trustees of that time, that, when the young colony of Queensland was but sixteen years old, and higher education for women still a subject of controversy, the inestimable boon of a liberal and non-sectarian education was offered to our girls. The Brisbane Girls’ Grammar School was opened on March 15, 1875. It was held in a two-storied building in George Street, with Mrs O’Connor as Lady Principal. On the staff were Miss Cargill, Mrs Elcock, and later on, Mrs Leontine Cooper; Madame Mallalieu (now Mrs Willmore), as Music Mistress, and Mr R T Jefferies as Singing Master. In 1876 there were sixty-five pupils in attendance, and D. Franz was Head of the School. In that year, the first State scholarships, only three in number, and competitive, were awarded to the School, and were won by M Burdorff, G Illidge, and M Waugh. By 1877 the School had been removed to Wickham Terrace, with

Wickham Terrace 1877

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