Edith Emily Dornwell

DESCRIPTION

Last NameDornwellFirst NameEdithMiddle NameEmilyDate of Birth31 August 1865Date of Death18 November 1945QualificationsBachelor of ScienceBiography

Edith Emily Dornwell was born on 31 August 1865 at Auckland, New Zealand¹to Bernhard Carl and Sarah Ann Dornwell (nee Phillips), formerly of Adelaide.² It is unclear why the Dornwell family were in New Zealand, and when or why they returned to South Australia. The family evidently returned to South Australia early in Edith’s childhood, as Bernhard C Dornwell is recorded as living in Norwood in 1870.³

While attending the Advanced School for Girls in 1880, Edith won first prize and £20 in the Exhibition for Girls Examination.⁴Two years later, she matriculated with honours in French, German, and animal physiology.⁵

In 1883, Edith was the first woman to attend the University of Adelaide and the first person to enrol in the Bachelor of Science degree.⁶ She placed first in her class, consistently performing ahead of her male peers, and when she graduated in 1885, she became the first woman graduate of the University.⁷ At her graduation, Chancellor Sir Samuel Way stated:

"In your distinguished undergraduate career, and in the manner in which you have taken that degree, you have not merely done honour to the University, but you have vindicated the right of your sex to compete, and to compete on equal terms, with other undergraduates for the honours and distinctions of the University."⁸

After graduating, Edith returned to the Advanced School for Girls, where she taught mathematics, physics, Latin and physiology.⁹ Edith later went on to teach interstate at the Methodist Ladies College in Victoria and the Riviere College in Woollahra.¹⁰

On 13 February 1895, Edith married Lionel Charles Raymond at St Andrew’s Church, Walkerville.¹¹

Edith passed away on 18 November 1945¹².

Footnotes:

[1] South Australian Register 1865, ‘Births’, South Australian Register, 4 October, p. 2, viewed 25 August 2022, <https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/41034390>
[2] The South Australian Advertiser 1864, ‘Married’, The South Australian Advertiser, 10 October, p. 2, viewed 25 August 2022 <https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/31842294>
[3] South Australian Register 1870, ‘Assignment’, South Australian Register, 25 November, p.4, viewed 25 August 2022 <https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/39196197>
[4] The Pictorial Australian 1886, ‘Miss Edith Emily Dornwell’, The Pictorial Australian, 1 May, p. 70, viewed 25 August 2022, <https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/224644940/23679857>
[5] The Pictorial Australian 1886, ‘Miss Edith Emily Dornwell’, The Pictorial Australian, 1 May, p. 70, viewed 25 August 2022, <https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/224644940/23679857>
[6] The Pictorial Australian 1886, ‘Miss Edith Emily Dornwell’, The Pictorial Australian, 1 May, p. 70, viewed 25 August 2022, <https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/224644940/23679857>
[7] Lumen 2014, ‘Australia’s first female graduate’, Lumen, 25 June, p. 7, viewed 25 August 2022 <https://issuu.com/uniofadelaide/docs/lumen_winter_2014_issuu/7>
[8] Lumen 2014, ‘Australia’s first female graduate’, Lumen, 25 June, p. 7, viewed 25 August 2022 <https://issuu.com/uniofadelaide/docs/lumen_winter_2014_issuu/7>
[9] Creese, M R S and Creese, T M 2010, Ladies in the laboratory III: South African, Australian, New Zealand, and Canadian women in science: nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Scarecrow Press, Lanham, MD.
[10] Creese, M R S and Creese, T M 2010, Ladies in the laboratory III: South African, Australian, New Zealand, and Canadian women in science: nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Scarecrow Press, Lanham, MD.
[11] South Australian Register 1895, ‘Marriages’, South Australian Register, 20 February, p. 4, viewed 25 August 2022 <https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/53712909>
[12] Kershaw, Matthews, Lane and Glasgow 1946, ‘Re will of Edith Emily Raymond, late of Epping, near Sydney, widow, deceased’, Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales, no. 38, pp. 943-944 <https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/224762811/14152816>