Gertrude Amy Roseby (20 April 1872 – 27 December 1971) was an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

Congregationalist lay leader as well as school teacher, principal and school owner.

Early life

Born in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

on 20 April 1872, Roseby was the eldest of ten children born to Rev Thomas Roseby and his wife Sarah (nee Hooworth). Roseby's father was a Congregationalist minister. Roseby was privately tutored before entering the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

. She graduated with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in 1895 with second class honours in

logic Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the science of deductively valid inferences or of logical truths. It is a formal science investigating how conclusions follow from premises ...

and

mental philosophy Philosophy of mind is a branch of philosophy that studies the ontology and nature of the mind and its relationship with the body. The mind–body problem is a paradigmatic issue in philosophy of mind, although a number of other issues are add ...

Teaching career

Roseby taught at Rockhampton Girls' Grammar School,

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

for eight years before travelling to

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

for further study. She completed a Diploma of

Pedagogy Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken as ...

at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

(1905). In the following two years, Roseby taught at the Wyggeston School for Girls in

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

before returning to Australia. In 1908, she became headmistress of Ascham,

Darling Point Darling Point is a harbourside eastern suburb of Sydney, Australia. It is 4 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of Woollahra Council. Darling Point is bounded by Sydney Harbour to ...

. Roseby lived on site and served under principal HJ Carter. In April 1911, she bought Redlands School,

Neutral Bay Neutral Bay is a suburb on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Neutral Bay is around 1.5 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of North Sydney Council. Neutral Bay takes ...

with her sister Mabel. Redlands was a school with 35 day girls and 8 boarders when she acquired it, and grew to 400 students under Roseby's direction. She also extended the grounds and buildings to accommodate the extra students. Roseby encouraged capable students to pursue university studies. The school was sold to the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

in 1945. Roseby was chair of the Sydney Kindergarten Training College between 1946 and 1950. She was founder of Wybalena Hostel for Girls, Burwood and served as treasurer 1951–63. Roseby was also a member of the NSW Women's Inter-Church Council and the National Council of Women of New South Wales.

Activism

Roseby was a member of the

Women's International League for Peace and Freedom The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) is a non-profit non-governmental organization working "to bring together women of different political views and philosophical and religious backgrounds determined to study and make kno ...

and the Rotary Peace Fellowship. She was a life member of the Congregational Women's Association and served as president in 1942 to 1946.

Awards

Roseby was appointed an OBE in June 1958.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roseby, Gertrude Amy 1872 births 1971 deaths Religious leaders from Dunedin Australian schoolteachers 19th-century Australian women Australian Officers of the Order of the British Empire University of Sydney alumni Alumni of the University of London Australian Congregationalists