Edith Howitt Searle Grossmann (née Searle, 8 September 1863 – 27 February 1931) was a New Zealand teacher, novelist, journalist and feminist.
Early life
Grossmann was born in
Beechworth
Beechworth is a well-preserved historical town located in the north-east of Victoria, Australia, famous for its major growth during the gold rush days of the mid-1850s. At the , Beechworth had a population of 3,859.
Beechworth's many histor ...
,
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
, Australia on 8 September 1863, to Mary Ann Beeby and George Smales Searle.
She was the fourth of their five children. Grossmann's parents were acquaintances of the parents of
Alfred William Howitt
Alfred William Howitt , (17 April 1830 – 7 March 1908), also known by author abbreviation A.W. Howitt, was an Australian anthropologist, explorer and naturalist. He was known for leading the Victorian Relief Expedition, which set out to es ...
, an explorer who rescued the sole survivor of
Robert O'Hara Burke
Robert O'Hara Burke (6 May 1821c. 28 June 1861) was an Irish soldier and police officer who achieved fame as an Australian explorer. He was the leader of the ill-fated Burke and Wills expedition, which was the first expedition to cross Australi ...
's ill-fated expedition of 1861. As Grossmann was born almost exactly two years after this rescue, they gave their daughter the middle name "Howitt".
Her father was initially a wine merchant in Australia, before becoming a newspaper editor.
The family moved to Melbourne
and then, in 1878, to
Invercargill
Invercargill ( , mi, Waihōpai is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region. The city lies in the heart of the wide expanse of t ...
, where Searle became editor of ''
The Southland Times
''The Southland Times'' is the regional daily paper for Southland, including Invercargill, and neighbouring parts of Otago, in New Zealand. It is now owned by media business Stuff Ltd, formerly the New Zealand division of Fairfax Media.
History ...
'' newspaper.
Education
In Invercargill, Grossmann attended Invercargill Grammar School for a year, before being sent to
Christchurch Girls' High School
Christchurch Girls' High School in Christchurch, New Zealand, was established in 1877 and is the second oldest girls-only secondary school in the country, after Otago Girls' High School.
History
Christchurch Girls' High School was established i ...
. The principal,
Helen Connon
Helen Connon ( 1860 – 22 February 1903) was an educational pioneer from Christchurch, New Zealand. She was the first woman in the British Empire to receive a university degree with honours.
Early life
Connon was born in Melbourne, in 1859 o ...
, encouraged Grossmann to continue her studies to the end of secondary school, and to apply for a university scholarship.
In her final year, Grossmann was head girl of the school.
Grossmann studied at
Canterbury College Canterbury College may refer to:
* Canterbury College (Indiana), U.S.
* Canterbury College (Waterford), Queensland, Australia
* Canterbury College (Windsor, Ontario), Canada
* Canterbury College, Kent, England
* Canterbury College, Oxford, England ...
from 1880 to 1885, during which time she received a number of prizes and honours, and was also an active participant in student life. She had received a junior scholarship to enter the College, and in 1882 also received a senior scholarship. In 1881, she won second prize in the Bowen Essay Competition, and in 1882, the first prize.
Grossmann was also a member of the university debating society and participated in debates on contemporary issues such as the Married Women's Property Bill of 1884, and the higher education of women.
When Grossmann completed her studies, she held both a B.A. degree and an M.A. degree with first class honours in Latin and English, and third class honours in political science.
Career
After her graduation, Grossmann taught at
Wellington Girls' College
Wellington Girls' College was founded in 1883 in Wellington, New Zealand. At that time it was called Wellington Girls' High School. Wellington Girls' College is a year 9 to 13 state secondary school, located in Thorndon in central Wellington.
H ...
until 1890, initially as assistant mistress, then later as second assistant.
Her non-fiction writing ranged from essays on theology and philosophy to articles on the women's movement, and pieces of literary criticism, and appeared in a number of publications, including the Empire Review and the
Westminster Review
The ''Westminster Review'' was a quarterly British publication. Established in 1823 as the official organ of the Philosophical Radicals, it was published from 1824 to 1914. James Mill was one of the driving forces behind the liberal journal until ...
.
She also wrote fiction, including poetry, which was published in ''
Zealandia
Zealandia (pronounced ), also known as (Māori) or Tasmantis, is an almost entirely submerged mass of continental crust that subsided after breaking away from Gondwanaland 83–79 million years ago.Gurnis, M., Hall, C.E., and Lavier, L.L., ...
'' magazine, and short stories, published in the ''
Otago Daily Times
The ''Otago Daily Times'' (ODT) is a newspaper published by Allied Press Ltd in Dunedin, New Zealand. The ''ODT'' is one of the country's four main daily newspapers, serving the southern South Island with a circulation of around 26,000 and a c ...
''.
From 1903 to 1912 she lived in London and was a freelance writer there, often writing on issues related to New Zealand.
While living in London, she was a founding member of the New Zealand Circle at the Lyceum Club, a club for professional women, and a member of The Austral, another club specifically for women from the colonies.
Grossmann found these clubs very useful for making contacts in the writing world, and advised other women to join them. Some of her fellow club members were
Kate Isitt
Kate Isitt is an English actress who is perhaps best known for her role as beauty therapist Sally Harper in the BBC television situation comedy ''Coupling''.
From 1995–1998, she played Alison, a secretary in a solicitors' office, in '' Is It ...
and
Dora Wilcox
Dora Wilcox (born Mary Theodora Wilcox, 24 November 1873 – 14 December 1953), was a New Zealand and Australian poet and playwright.
Biography
Wilcox was born in Christchurch, New Zealand to William Henry Wilcox and his wife Mary Elizabeth, né ...
.
Grossmann was the author of four novels and one biography:
* ''Angela;- A Messenger'' (1890)
* ''In Revolt'' (1893)
* ''A Knight of the Holy Ghost'' (1907); republished as ''Hermione; A Knight of the Holy Ghost'' (1908)
* ''A Life of Helen Macmillan Brown'' (1905)
* ''The Heart of the Bush'' (1910)
Grossmann was an advocate of
women's suffrage
Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...
and in 1892 she and her husband were founding members of the
Canterbury Women's Institute, which campaigned for the vote.
She signed the suffrage petition submitted to Parliament in 1893 by
Kate Sheppard
Katherine Wilson Sheppard ( Catherine Wilson Malcolm; 10 March 1848 – 13 July 1934) was the most prominent member of the women's suffrage movement in New Zealand and the country's most famous suffragist. Born in Liverpool, England, she emig ...
.
Personal life
In 1890, Grossmann married Joseph Penfound Grossmann, a master at Wellington Boys' High School, who had been a fellow student of hers at Canterbury College.
Grossmann resigned from her teaching position and the couple moved back to Christchurch where her husband took a teaching position at
Christchurch Boys' High School
, motto_translation = I Seek Higher Things
, type = State school, Day and Boarding school
, gender = Boys
, song = The School We Magnify
, colours = Blue and Black
, established =
, address = 71 Straven R ...
.
Their only child, Arthur Searle, was born in 1894, and was considered to be intellectually handicapped.
Grossmann separated from her husband around 1897, and the couple never reconciled.
Arthur lived with Grossmann, including in London, until around 1914, when his father arranged for him to live on a farm near Christchurch with family friends.
This enforced separation from her son had a significant impact on Grossmann's mental health; she wrote a letter to the editor of the ''
Auckland Star
The ''Auckland Star'' was an evening daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, from 24 March 1870 to 16 August 1991. Survived by its Sunday edition, the ''Sunday Star'', part of its name endures in ''The Sunday Star-Times'', created in ...
'' as late as 1929, in which she complained of the effects of separating the mentally ill from their loved ones.
Grossmann died on 27 February 1931 at her home in
Auckland
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...
,
and was buried at
Hillsborough Cemetery
Hillsborough Cemetery is a large cemetery located in the Auckland isthmus suburb of Hillsborough.
Location
The cemetery lies on a ridge at the south of the Auckland isthmus, overlooking the Manukau Harbour. The cemetery is split in two by a l ...
.
Legacy
In 1999, the Canterbury Branch of the
New Zealand Society of Authors
The New Zealand Society of Authors (PEN New Zealand Inc.) promotes and protects the interests of New Zealand writers. It was founded as the New Zealand PEN Centre (Poets, Essays and Novelists) in 1934. It broadened its scope and became the New Ze ...
laid a trail of 32 plaques around Christchurch commemorating notable writers of the city, including Edith Grossmann.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grossmann, Edith Searle
1863 births
1931 deaths
New Zealand educators
New Zealand feminists
New Zealand journalists
New Zealand women novelists
People from Beechworth
Australian emigrants to New Zealand
People educated at Christchurch Girls' High School
University of Canterbury alumni
New Zealand suffragists
19th-century New Zealand novelists
20th-century New Zealand novelists
19th-century New Zealand writers
19th-century New Zealand women writers
20th-century New Zealand writers
20th-century New Zealand women writers
New Zealand poets
Burials at Hillsborough Cemetery, Auckland