Emily Dorothea Pavy

Emily Dorothea Pavy (née Proud) was born on 19 June 1885 in North Adelaide.[1]  Her mother, Emily Proud (née Good), was a non-graduating student at the University of Adelaide before women were admitted to degrees.[2]  Her father, Cornelius Proud, was politically active in the area of women's suffrage and advocated for women's higher education and social reform.[3]

Dorothea, as she was known, earned her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Adelaide in 1906,[4] and as the first recipient of the Catherine Helen Spence Scholarship for sociology, went on to study at the London School of Economics.  Here, she gained a Doctorate of Science in 1916 for her work on women working in munitions factories,[5].  Her thesis was published that year as Welfare work: employers' experiments for improving working conditions in factories by G. Bell and sons.[6]. In recognition of her work on the health and output of women workers in industry, Dorothea was awarded Commander of the British Empire in 1917.[7]

In 1917 Dorothea married fellow South Australian, Lieutenant Gordon Augustus Pavy, and the pair returned to Adelaide in 1919.[8]

Dorothea found work at the University of Adelaide, lecturing in economics from 1921 to 1922,[9] before commencing a law degree and graduating in 1928.[10]  She then went into law practice with her husband until her retirement in 1953.[11]

Passionate and dedicated to her work, Dorothea pursued women's issues through the law, community service and research, and convened the law committee of the State branch of the National Council of Women.[12]  

Dorothea Pavy passed away on 8 September 1967.[13]

Footnotes:
 
1. Evening Journal 1885 ‘Births’, Evening Journal, 23 June, p. 2, viewed 18 January 2023, <https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/198398141>.

2. Mackinnon, A 2014, 'Pavy, Emily Dorothea', The Encyclopedia of Women and Leadership in Twentieth-Century Australia, Australian Women's Archives Project, viewed 14 February 2023, <https://www.womenaustralia.info/leaders/biogs/WLE0297b.htm>.

3. Bourke, H 1988, 'Pavy, Emily Dorothea (1885-1967)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 11, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, viewed 14 February 2023, <https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/pavy-emily-dorothea-7987>.

4. Registrar’s Department. (1910-1928) ‘Pavy, Emily Dorothea’ [Student card]. University of Adelaide, University Archives, Series 1117.

5. Mackinnon, A 1986, The new women: Adelaide’s early women graduates, Wakefield Press, Netley, South Australia, p. 128.

6. Proud, ED 1916, Welfare work: employers' experiments for improving working conditions in factories, G. Bell and Sons, London.

7. Mackinnon, A 1986, The new women: Adelaide’s early women graduates, Wakefield Press, Netley, South Australia, p. 129.

8. Mackinnon, A 1986, The new women: Adelaide’s early women graduates, Wakefield Press, Netley, South Australia,p. 129. 

9. Registrar’s Department. (1921-1922) ‘Pavy, Emily Dorothea’ [Staff card]. University of Adelaide, University Archives, Series 587, Item 10.

10. Registrar’s Department. (1910-1928) ‘Pavy, Emily Dorothea’ [Student card]. University of Adelaide, University Archives, Series 1117.

11. Bourke, Helen 1988, 'Pavy, Emily Dorothea (1885–1967)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 11, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, viewed 2 February 2023, 
<https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/pavy-emily-dorothea-7987>.

12. Bourke, Helen 1988, 'Pavy, Emily Dorothea (1885–1967)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 11, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, viewed 2 February 2023, 
<https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/pavy-emily-dorothea-7987>.

13. Bourke, Helen 1988, 'Pavy, Emily Dorothea (1885–1967)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 11, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, viewed 2 February 2023,
<https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/pavy-emily-dorothea-7987>.

Image:

Gall, E 1912 'E Dorothea Proud, B.A. 1906', Group photograph of the Proud sisters, University of Adelaide, University Archives, Series 1831, Item 55.