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Advanced School for Girls

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Advanced School for Girls building, later part of Adelaide High School

The Advanced School for Girls was a South Australian State school whose purpose was to prepare girls to qualify for entry to the University of Adelaide. Founded in 1879, the school merged with Adelaide High School in 1907.

History

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Advanced School's first premises, previously home of Dr. Butler, some 30 years after the School had moved.

From its inception, the University of Adelaide welcomed female students, although degrees were not available to females until 1880. At first, the only schools preparing girls to matriculation level were small private colleges such as Miss Martin's School and Parliament considered that education of women should be on a more structured basis, and the "Education Act of 1875" provided for establishment of a government-funded Advanced School.[1]

The first appointments were for a headmistress and assistant head: Jane Stanes and Edith Cook (both transferred from the Grote Street Model School),[2] followed by Rene-Armand Martin (French). Stanes resigned the following year, ostensibly due to ill-health, and Cook was promoted to head in 1882. A Government regulation, stipulating that the head must be aged 25, had to be waived for her to be appointed, as she was only 20. The Minister of Education (Thomas King) did not approve, but his successor (J. Langdon Parsons) pushed it through.

The school, in the two-storey former residence of Dr. Lambert Butler, Franklin Street, was opened on 7 October 1879 with sixteen students passing the entrance examination.[3] Additional appointments were made in 1880: Madeline Rees George (German), Ellen Thornber (assistant), Kate C. Brown (assistant).[4] By September 1880 the number of students was 92.[5] The following year, there were more applicants than places.[6] By 1882, girls from the school were prominent in the matriculation results: two of the top nine were from the Advanced School.[7] In 1883, both recipients of the Sir Thomas Elder prize for physiology were students of the Advanced School.[8]

Many criticisms were leveled against the school: that it robbed educated widows of a source of income as tutors; that by conducting an entrance examination and by not conducting junior classes it had an unfair advantage over other schools; and that by offering French and German rather than the more difficult (and essential for University degrees) Latin and Greek, it was gaining an inflated reputation and at the same time robbing talented women of opportunities.[9]

In 1891 a new purpose-built building on Grote Street was completed. The move from Franklin Street enabled the number of students to be raised from 124 to 150.[10] This building still stands today (2016).

Combining with Adelaide High School

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The Grote Street Model School and the Training School (a teachers' training college) were amalgamated, forming the Continuation School for Boys, which then amalgamated with the Advanced School for Girls, creating Adelaide High School on 24 September 1908.[11][12] The headmaster from 1909 until 1919 was W. J. Adey, later Director of Education.[13]

In 1951 the school divided into the Adelaide Boys' High School and the Adelaide Girls' High School under headmistress Mary Veta Macghey.[14]

Staff

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  • Edith Alice Bowen ( –1932) married George Craig in 1892; appointed assistant 1882
  • Kate Cormac Brown (c. 1860–1891) appointed assistant 1880, then at private school; suicide 1891[15]
  • Sarah Cargill: appointed head teacher June 1880, ex-Brisbane Grammar School.
  • Edith Agnes Cook (1859–1942) married Samuel Grau "Sam" Hübbe ( – c. 15 October 1900) in 1885. She was the first female student at Adelaide University, second headmistress of ASG, later of Burnside school. Her daughter, Dr. Edith Ulrica "Rica" Hübbe (1885–1967), was a student
  • Katherine Dixon Cook (1874–1960), sister of Rica Cook, was music teacher until merger with Adelaide High School
  • Charlotte Jane Ellershaw (1865–1954): pupil teacher in 1882
  • Madeline E. Rees George (c. 1851–1931) : taught German; in 1880 left to conduct Miss Woolcock's School in North Adelaide, returned 1886 as headmistress, then head of Adelaide High School.[16]
  • Agnes Marie Johanna Heyne (1871–1958) married Rev. Caspar Dorsch in 1893
  • Laura Olga Hedwig Heyne (1873–1959) with Advanced School 1900–1908, then Adelaide High.[17]
  • Ethel Holder MA. and Rica Hübbe were brought in as teachers while Rees George was overseas in 1907.[18]
  • Caroline Jacob (1861–1940) in December 1897 took over the Misses McMinn's Tormore House School in North Adelaide;[19] she took over Miss Thornber's School in December 1906[20]
  • Ellen Magdalen Lewis (1848–1934) drawing teacher 1888–1892
  • René Amand Martin: French master. One of the first appointments, and one of the few males, but may not have taken up position.
  • Minnietta Maughan (c. 1862–1947) married Rev. Thomas McNeil on 6 April 1912. She was a daughter of Rev. James Maughan.
  • Caroline Ellen "Carrie" Sells (1868–1956) married James Sadler on 18 June 1932. She was last surviving ASG teacher[21]
  • Elizabeth Emily Sheppard (1866–1939) pupil teacher 1882.
  • Jane Sarah "Jeanne" Stanes (1846–1932) married Henry Alfred Doudy (1849–1931) in 1880.[22] She wrote and a book on early Australian history, The Magic of Dawn,[23] credited as "Mrs Henry Doudy".
  • Ellen Thornber (1851–1947) was daughter of Catherine Maria Thornber (–1894) who in 1855 founded "Mrs. Thornber's School" at Gover (later renamed Thornber) Street, Unley Park. Ellen was second mistress of ASG, then ran her mother's school with two sisters Catherine Maria Thornber (died 1924) and Rachel (died 1930) until December 1906, when it was taken over by Caroline Jacob to become part of Tormore House School.[24]

Notable alumnae

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References

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  1. ^ "Advanced School for Girls". South Australian Register. Adelaide. 28 October 1878. p. 4. Retrieved 2 August 2013 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. ^ "The Month's News". South Australian Register. Adelaide. 6 October 1879. p. 4. Retrieved 2 August 2013 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. ^ "Educational". South Australian Register. Adelaide. 3 November 1879. p. 4 Supplement: Supplement to the South Australian Register. Retrieved 2 August 2013 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. ^ "Teachers' Appointments". South Australian Register. Adelaide. 14 January 1880. p. 4. Retrieved 2 August 2013 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ^ "Advanced School for Girls". South Australian Register. Adelaide. 24 September 1880. p. 5. Retrieved 2 August 2013 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. ^ "Advanced School for Girls". South Australian Register. Adelaide. 27 April 1882. p. 4. Retrieved 2 August 2013 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. ^ "The Matriculation Examinations". South Australian Register. Adelaide. 18 December 1882. p. 4. Retrieved 2 August 2013 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. ^ "Miscellaneous". South Australian Register. Adelaide. 6 January 1883. p. 2 Supplement: Supplement to the South Australian Register. Retrieved 2 August 2013 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. ^ "The Advanced School for Girls". South Australian Register. Adelaide. 31 August 1886. p. 7. Retrieved 2 August 2013 – via National Library of Australia.
  10. ^ "Advanced School for Girls". Evening Journal. Vol. XXIII, no. 6624. Adelaide. 17 December 1891. p. 3. Retrieved 11 July 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  11. ^ Anderson, Margaret; Elton, Jude. "Grote Street". SA History Hub. History Trust of South Australia. Retrieved 25 November 2024.
  12. ^ "Model School". Adelaide City Explorer. Archived from the original on 16 March 2024.
  13. ^ Condon, Brian (1979). "William James Adey (1874–1956)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 25 November 2024. This article was published in hardcopy in Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 7, (Melbourne University Press), 1979
  14. ^ Allen, Margaret, "Mary Veta Macghey (1897–1970)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 10 January 2024
  15. ^ "A Terrible Suicide". South Australian Chronicle. Vol. XXXIII, no. 1, 699. South Australia. 14 March 1891. p. 9. Retrieved 12 July 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  16. ^ "Miss M. Rees George". The Chronicle. Vol. LXXIII, no. 3, 889. Adelaide. 18 June 1931. p. 18. Retrieved 10 July 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  17. ^ "Personal". The Advertiser. Adelaide. 13 May 1933. p. 14. Retrieved 10 July 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  18. ^ "Concerning People". The Register (Adelaide). Vol. LXXII, no. 18, 843. South Australia. 5 April 1907. p. 5. Retrieved 13 November 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  19. ^ "Passing Of Noted S.A. Educationist". The Advertiser. Adelaide. 12 November 1940. p. 5. Retrieved 10 July 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  20. ^ "Fifty Years a School Mistress". The Register. Vol. LXXXIX, no. 26, 140. Adelaide. 7 October 1924. p. 4. Retrieved 9 July 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  21. ^ "Picture Round-Up Today". The Mail. Vol. 36, no. 1, 867. Adelaide. 13 March 1948. p. 5. Retrieved 10 July 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  22. ^ Hancock, Janette Helen (2007). A Not So Innocent Vision (PDF) (Ph.D.). Adelaide University.
  23. ^ Deborah Towns. "Doudy, Jane Sarah". Encyclopedia of Women and Leadership. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
  24. ^ "Miss Ellen Thornber Dies At 95". The Advertiser. Adelaide. 19 March 1947. p. 10. Retrieved 11 July 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  25. ^ "Melbourne Kindergarten President". The News. Vol. XXVII, no. 4, 104. Adelaide. 16 September 1936. p. 9. Retrieved 9 July 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  26. ^ "Concerning People". The Register. Adelaide. 6 September 1907. p. 7. Retrieved 3 July 2014 – via National Library of Australia.
  27. ^ "Dorsch Family's Fine Record". The Advertiser. Adelaide. 30 November 1933. p. 14. Retrieved 23 July 2016 – via National Library of Australia. A great story.
  28. ^ Holder, Alison (1988). "Puddy, Maude Mary (1883–1974)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 11. Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  29. ^ "Schoolgirls of Yesteryear". The News. Vol. XXVI, no. 3, 920. Adelaide. 13 February 1936. p. 13. Retrieved 11 July 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
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Relevant photographs held by the State Library of South Australia:

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