Mabel Jewell Baker (30 December 1885 17 June 1967) was an Australian headmistress.

Early life

Baker was born on 30 December 1885 in east

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

. She was the third of nine children of William Kendall Baker and Harriett Ann (née Chaston). Baker attended the

Advanced School for Girls 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 From its ince ...

in Adelaide. From 1904 to 1906, Baker was a pupil-teacher at Parkside and Walkerville public schools before she went on to attend the University Training College in 1907-08. Baker went on to teach at

Payneham Payneham is an eastern suburb of Adelaide in the City of Norwood Payneham St Peters. It is part of a string of suburbs in Adelaide's east with a high proportion of Adelaide's Italian-Australian and French-Australian residents, many of whom can be ...

Public School for four years. Starting in 1907 and for six years she passed nine arts subjects at the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...

where she also was part of the Women Students' Club. In 1907, Baker protested salary inequality.

Career

In 1913 Baker began to teach history, geography and English at Walford Girls School in

Malvern Malvern or Malverne may refer to: Places Australia * Malvern, South Australia, a suburb of Adelaide * Malvern, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne * City of Malvern, a former local government area near Melbourne * Electoral district of Malvern, an e ...

before she was promoted to senior mistress soon after; a role in which she began in 1917 after the death of then sitting senior mistress

Ellen Benham Ellen Ida Benham (12 March 1871 – 27 April 1917) was a science teacher, headmistress and education pioneer in South Australia. History Ellen was born at "Talarno", Kapunda, South Australia to solicitor William Hoare Benham (27 November 1833 � ...

. In 1917, Baker moved the Walford Girls School to its present location in

Hyde Park Hyde Park may refer to: Places England * Hyde Park, London, a Royal Park in Central London * Hyde Park, Leeds, an inner-city area of north-west Leeds * Hyde Park, Sheffield, district of Sheffield * Hyde Park, in Hyde, Greater Manchester Austra ...

. Moreover, she started the Old Scholar's Association soon after her promotion and move of the school. Baker, due to her Angelican connexion, was welcoming to students who belonged of all faiths and denominations. She was noted for creating a strict yet friendly environment at the school. Baker was an original member of the

Adelaide Lyceum Club The Lyceum Club, also known as the Australian Association of Lyceum Clubs and formed in 1972 from several smaller clubs, is an Australian arts, literature and social activism group for women only. The aim of the AALC is to promote a spirit of go ...

. In 1924 she founded the Association of Headmistresses of Girls Secondary Schools of South Australia; she served as President twice (in 1943 and 1954). Baker's choice of staff helped improve the academic reputation at Walford in contrast to the scarce science facilities which got the short end of the stick. Moreover, it wasn't until 1941 that secretarial classes began at Walford. In 1937 Baker worked for the Adelaide conference of the New Education Fellowship before inaugurating the Walford Parent-Teacher Association a year later. Baker allowed people at her school to express pacifist views during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

despite her being a royalist and a patriot. From 1943 to 1955, Baker was an Educational Broadcasts advisory committee member before her six-year stint on the Soldiers' Children committee. Baker sold her 450 pupil school to the Anglican Church and she retired in late 1955. In 1956, Baker was appointed O.B.E and she was a councillor of University Women's College (later

St Ann's College St Ann's College is a co-residential college in North Adelaide, South Australia. In its early decades, the college had only female boarders. Today it houses 197 tertiary students, both sexes, in single rooms; rooms in the new buildings have ens ...

) until 1961.

Personal life and death

In 1920, Baker's mother allowed boarders to stay on a property that she owned in Hyde Park and 16 years later Baker's whole school moved in to that property. Baker's sister Amy ('Miss Dob') also was a teacher and a bursar and Baker's sister Florence ('Miss Flo') was in charge of the boarding house. After her retirement, Baker lived with her sister Amy and eventually learned to broom. On 17 June 1967 Baker died at Westbourne Park and she was buried in North Road cemetery. She was commemorated by a school history in 1968. The Baker building and the Mabel Jewell Baker scholarships at Walford Anglican School were named in her honour.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Mabel Jewell 1885 births 1967 deaths People from Adelaide Australian Officers of the Order of the British Empire Australian headmistresses 20th-century Australian educators 19th-century Australian women 20th-century Australian women educators University of Adelaide alumni Burials in South Australia People educated at the Advanced School for Girls