Edith Agnes Cook (1859 – 2 April 1942), was in 1876 the first female student at

Adelaide University 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 ...

, and second principal of 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 inc ...

in Adelaide, South Australia. She was later, as Edith Agnes Hübbe, principal of her own school in Knightsbridge, now

Leabrook Leabrook is a suburb of Adelaide, South Australia in the City of Burnside. It is a primarily residential suburb in eastern Adelaide, and was the site of Coopers Brewery Coopers Brewery Limited, the largest Australian-owned brewery, is ba ...

History

William Cook (c. 1815 – 18 November 1897) arrived in SA aboard ''Rajasthan'' in 1837; on 1 January 1855 married Janet Whitehead MacNee (c. 1836 – December 1915) on 1 January 1855. They were pioneers of Pinnaroo, where William and

Wilton Hack Wilton Hack (21 May 1843 – 27 February 1923) was an Australian artist, traveller, pastor, lecturer and utopist with interests in Theosophy and Eastern cultures. Early life He was born in Echunga, South Australia the son of Stephen Hack and Eli ...

had established a sheep run, but were forced off it by the drought of 1865–1867; they moved to Kensington and Golden Grove, then from 1874 to 1884 managed the "Government Farm" (later to become

Belair National Park Belair National Park (formerly known as the National Park and as Belair Recreation Park) is a protected area in Belair, South Australia, southeast of Adelaide city centre; it covers an area of . It was proclaimed in 1891 and was the first natio ...

). Edith was born in 1859 near

Campbelltown, South Australia Campbelltown is a suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. The population of the area was 7,003 in 2006. It is bordered in the north-west by the River Torrens, a river that is surrounded by parks and smaller creeks. Campbelltown is 8.7 km north ...

; by 1875 she was a pupil teacher at the Grote Street Model School; in 1877 she was the school's second assistant; and promoted to first assistant the following year. Around this time she was studying at Adelaide University: Latin under Professor Lamb, botany under Professor Tate, and Physiology under Professor Stirling. In 1879 she was seconded to the about-to-be-opened Advanced School for Girls in Franklin Street as deputy to Jane Stanes. Stanes retired at the end of 1880, and Edith was appointed her successor, though a Government regulation, stipulating that a head of a school must be aged 25, had to be waived by the Minister of Education

J. Langdon Parsons John Langdon Parsons (28 April 1837 – 21 August 1903), generally referred to as "J. Langdon Parsons", was a Cornish Australian minister of the Baptist church, politician, and the 5th Government Resident of the Northern Territory, 1884–1890. ...

. While head of the school she frequently invited

Catherine Helen Spence Catherine Helen Spence (31 October 1825 – 3 April 1910) was a Scottish-born Australian author, teacher, journalist, politician, leading suffragist, and Georgist. Spence was also a minister of religion and social worker, and supporter of e ...

to address the students. She married "Sam" Hübbe ( –1900) in January 1885 and late that year she resigned from ASG, to be replaced by

Madeline Rees George Madeline Rees George (25 May 1851 — 17 June 1931), often written M. Rees George, was a teacher in Germany and in South Australia. She was at various times proprietor of her own school, and headmistress of the Advanced School for Girls and Adel ...

(c. 1851–1931). Edith's sister Harriet had in 1885 founded Knightsbridge School, a co-educational school in a house owned by Euphemia Clark (Mrs.

M. Symonds Clark Francis Clark and Son was an engineering business in the early days of South Australia, which later became Francis Clark and Sons. Francis Clark (1799–1853), previously a silversmith and magistrate in Birmingham, England, founded Francis Clar ...

) on The Parkway, Leabrook, and in 1886 moved the school to Edith's home in Statenborough Street, Leabrook, which the two conducted jointly, and shortly purchased a nearby house which served the school until 1921, when they retired. The school had a high reputation: Dorothea Forster "Dorrit" Black (a grand-daughter of

John Howard Clark John Howard Clark (15 January 1830 – 20 May 1878) was editor of ''The South Australian Register'' from 1870 to 1877 and was responsible for its ''Echoes from the Bush'' column and closely associated with its ''Geoffry Crabthorn'' persona. ...

) and Dora Crompton (Mrs E. W. Harris), both recipients of the Tennyson medal for English; Maurice Giles ( Mayor of Westminster), Bill Hayward, Dr. Darcy Cowan and Gladys Rosalind Cowan (Mrs.

Essington Lewis Essington Lewis, CH (13 January 18812 October 1961) was a prominent Australian industrialist. He was the Director-General of the Department of Munitions during World War II. Biography Early life Essington Lewis was born in Burra, South Austr ...

) were among their successful students.

Family

William Cook (c. 1815 – 18 November 1897) arrived in SA aboard ''Rajasthan'' in 1837. He married Janet Whitehead MacNee (c. 1836 – December 1915) on 1 January 1855. Janet's sister Agnes Macnee (c. 1843 – 13 June 1913) was

's second wife. *Harriet Anne Cook (c. 1855 – November 1943) governess for H. C. Swan, founded Knightsbridge School (1886–1921) with sister Edith Agnes Hübbe. Harriet wrote Harriet wrote ''Reminiscences of Life on the Government Farm 1874–1884'' (1942) manuscript donated to Archives Department 1943; copies held by the University of Adelaide; Old Government House, Belair National Park. * (William) Moxon Cook (18 June 1857 – 20 December 1917), educated at AEI and SPC, as "Trumpator" he was sporting editor of

South Australian Register ''The Register'', originally the ''South Australian Gazette and Colonial Register'', and later ''South Australian Register,'' was South Australia's first newspaper. It was first published in London in June 1836, moved to Adelaide in 1837, and f ...

, then as "Terlinga" with ''

The Australasian The ''Australasian Post'', commonly called the ''Aussie Post'', was Australia's longest-running weekly picture magazine. History and profile Its origins are traceable to Saturday, 3 January 1857, when the first issue of ''Bell's Life in Victoria ...

''. Longtime member of Yorick Club. *Edith Agnes Cook (1859 – 2 April 1942) married Samuel Grau "Sam" Hübbe ( – c. 15 October 1900) on 3 January 1885. He was the first South Australian commissioned officer to be killed in the Boer War. A practising Unitarian, he was a son of Ulrich Hübbe, who was largely responsible for the

Torrens Title Torrens title is a land registration and land transfer system, in which a state creates and maintains a register of land holdings, which serves as the conclusive evidence (termed " indefeasibility") of title of the person recorded on the register ...

system of land registration. :*Dr. Edith Ulrica "Rica" Hübbe (1885–1967), was a student at the Advanced School for Girls. :*Janet Doris Hübbe (1887–1950) married (Alfred) Allen Simpson (1875–1939) on 6 January 1910. He was a son of

Alfred M. Simpson Alfred Muller Simpson (4 April 1843 – 28 September 1917), invariably known as Alfred M. Simpson or A. M. Simpson, was a South Australian industrialist, a principal of the manufacturing firm of A. Simpson & Son. He was a member of the South Au ...

:*Sgt. Max Ulrich Hübbe (28 May 1891 – ) of 1st AIF, then farmer at Woodenup, near

Kojonup, Western Australia Kojonup is a town south-east of Perth, Western Australia along Albany Highway in the Great Southern region. The name Kojonup refers to the "Kodja" or stone axe made by Aboriginal Australians, from the local stone. History The Noongar people a ...

:*(Harriet) Marjorie Hübbe (1893–1993) married Alfred Beech Caw ( – 1966) on 22 February 1922, farmed at Woodenup. :*Capt.(Hermann) Fritz Hübbe (1895 – 28 July 1916) of 1st AIF, was killed in action, France. *George Dowell Cook (c. 1861 – 24 September 1912), clerk of the Probate Court, died as the result of a bicycle accident. *Mary Rankine Cook (1868 – ) married Frederick Henry Bathurst (1859 – 2 May 1929) in 1892. He was finance writer "Minos" of ''The Mail'', later a member of Sydney Stock Exchange, founded ''Mining Standard'' then finance editor for Melbourne ''Argus''. *Katherine Dixon Cook (8 October 1874 – 1960) was a well-known musician and teacher of pianoforte. She studied under Gotthold Reimann and taught at ASG for a few years until amalgamation with Adelaide High School, when music was dropped from the curriculum. *Henry Alfred "Harry" Cook (c. 1886 – 10 December 1966) married Dorothy Owen (c. 1888 – 20 June 1963); he was manager of National Bank, retired to Barmera Was Harry an adopted son?

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, Edith Australian headmistresses 1859 births 1942 deaths 19th-century Australian educators 20th-century Australian educators 19th-century women educators 20th-century women educators 20th-century Australian women People from Adelaide Colony of South Australia people Educators from the British Empire