Dr Charlotte Edith Ainslie

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(15 February 1863 – 24 August 1960) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

educationist and headmistress.

Life

Ainslie was born in Lauriston Place in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

in 1863, the second daughter of Mary Ann Wood and William Ainslie, a pharmaceutical chemist. Ainslie attended

George Watson's Ladies' College George Watson's College is a co-educational private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), fro ...

and, in 1880, she took the senior level exams and came second. Ainslie studied for the

St Andrews University The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, following the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, t ...

higher certificate for women, whilst she worked abroad for three years. In 1885, she obtained the higher certificate, LLA diploma with honours. She was able to study at Bedford College in London in 1892 because of a scholarship and her preparation, whilst heading a modern language department in a school in Cornwall for several years. Whilst at Bedford, she won another scholarship on the way to B.A. in 1895. She worked from 1896 to 1900 as assistant headmistress at the Skinners' Company's School for Girls and, from 1901 to 1902, as lecturer in psychology and education at the

Cambridge Training College for Women Hughes Hall is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England. The majority of students are postgraduate, although nearly one-fifth of the student population comprises individuals aged 21 and above who are studying undergraduate ...

. In 1902, Ainslie was appointed to be the head of her first school George Watson's Ladies' College. This was the first prestigious Scottish secondary school to appoint a woman head.Lindy Moore, ‘Ainslie, Charlotte Edith (1863–1960)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 200
accessed 11 June 2017
/ref> Ainslie expected discipline and corporal punishment was avoided because pupils obeyed commanding staff members. A student who once greeted the head when meeting her at the weekend was summoned later to explain her impudence.Benchmark for learning
2007, The Scotsman, Retrieved 11 June 2017 In 1909, she became a governor at Bedford College and she led the Secondary Education Association of Scotland in 1912–13. In 1914, she assembled the school to explain that they were at war to defend freedom. She asked that all assembled should assist in the efforts. In December 1915, the schools sent a nine-pound Christmas pudding to everyone of the 800 people who crewed the dreadnought battleship

HMS Orion Seven ships of the British Royal Navy have been named HMS ''Orion'', after the hunter Orion of Greek mythology: * was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line launched in 1787 and broken up in 1814. * was an 80-gun second-rate screw ship launched i ...

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Watsonians.org, Retrieved 11 June 2017 Ainslie encouraged her students' ambitions. She organised subjects that would be of interest to girls, but she felt that girls should always be able to study alongside boys. She was critical of the actual rewards and opportunities available to women. She also campaigned to ensure that every girls' school should have a deputy head who was a woman. She retired in 1926 and she received a

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

honorary LLD degree and an OBE in 1929. Ainlslie lived in her retirement in Mayfield Terrace, Edinburgh, and died, aged 97, in a nursing home in the city on 24 August 1960.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ainslie, Charlotte 1863 births 1960 deaths Schoolteachers from Edinburgh Women heads of schools in the United Kingdom Alumni of Bedford College, London Alumni of the University of St Andrews Officers_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire