Ethel Gavin (2 April 1866 – 2 March 1918) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

educationist and headmistress. She led several schools including

Wimbledon High School Wimbledon High School is an independent girls' day school in Wimbledon, South West London. It is a Girls' Day School Trust school and is a member of the Girls' Schools Association. History Wimbledon High School was founded by the Girls' Public ...

and

Notting Hill High School Notting Hill and Ealing High School is an independent school for girls aged 4 – 18 in Ealing, London. Founded in 1873, it is one of the 26 schools that make up the Girls' Day School Trust. It has a Junior Department of 310 girls (ages 4–11) ...

Life

Gavin was born in Elgin in central Scotland. She was the first born girl of Mary Isabella Macandrew and John Gavin. They had a house Wester Elchies near Elgin. Her father had spent nearly twenty years in

Kandy Kandy ( si, මහනුවර ''Mahanuwara'', ; ta, கண்டி Kandy, ) is a major city in Sri Lanka located in the Central Province. It was the last capital of the ancient kings' era of Sri Lanka. The city lies in the midst of hills ...

in Ceylon where he was known as "Honest John". Her parents paid for her education in Switzerland but she turned when she was fourteen to attend the

Maida Vale High School The Girls' Day School Trust (GDST) is a group of 25 independent schools, including two academies, in England and Wales, catering for girls aged 3 to 18. It is the largest group of independent schools in the UK, and educates 20,000 girls each ye ...

. She was then able to enrol at

Girton College, Cambridge Girton College is one of the 31 constituent colleges of the University of Cambridge. The college was established in 1869 by Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon as the first women's college in Cambridge. In 1948, it was granted full college status ...

in 1885. After she graduated she returned to her school in Maida Vale to begin her teaching career. Shrewsbury High School had opened as a day school for girls in 1885. In 1893 Gavin took over as head at the age of 27. The school had outgrown its site and it moved to a new (its present) location on the banks of the

River Severn , name_etymology = , image = SevernFromCastleCB.JPG , image_size = 288 , image_caption = The river seen from Shrewsbury Castle , map = RiverSevernMap.jpg , map_size = 288 , map_c ...

in central Shrewsbury in 1895. Gavin moved on to another headship in 1897. In 1905 Gavin was able to obtain a masters degree from

Trinity College, Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

by becoming one of the

Steamboat ladies "Steamboat ladies" was a nickname given to a number of female students at the women's colleges of the universities of Oxford and Cambridge who were awarded ''ad eundem'' University of Dublin degrees at Trinity College Dublin, between 1904 and 19 ...

. Oxford and Cambridge allowed women to take degree courses but refused to confer degrees on women irrespective of their achievement. Trinity College had decided to confer degrees on any student who had passed courses at Cambridge or Oxford. They were not expecting 5,000 women to travel to Dublin and to pay the fees so that they could have a degree. The offer was only open for three years and Gavin was lucky enough to take advantage during this time. Harriet Morland Jones had been the founding head of Notting Hill School Jones retired in 1900 and controversially Gavin was appointed instead of an internal heir apparent, Mrs M. Withiel, and resignations followed. Mrs Withiel left to become a school inspector and later inspected her former school. Gavin was described as a "capable and experienced headmistress". Gavin became the head of

in 1908. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, the school endured a difficult time; Gavin was in Germany at the time and was detained for some weeks. A fire broke out in 1917 and gutted the main building. Gavin organised the recovery but died at

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

in early 1918 from

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gavin, Ethel 1866 births 1918 deaths People from Elgin, Moray Heads of schools in England Alumni of Girton College, Cambridge Steamboat ladies