Dora Elizabeth Armitage
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Dora Elizabeth Armitage (14 July 1858 – 30 May 1945) was an American-born teacher of typing. She was one of the first in Australia. She was a leading member of the National Council of Women.


Life

Armitage was born in 1858 in St. Clair, Michigan. She went to England for her education and in 1877 she was in
Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
(now Sri Lanka) where she married Charles Cyrus Armitage. They had four children in Ceylon, but her husband's business collapsed and she took their four children to the UK. Five years later her husband was in Australia where his new business was also failing. Dora and three of their children went out to join him in Sydney. She knew how to type and she supported the family by teaching others. In 1888 she was at the Melbourne Centennial Exhibition where she won a medal for her typing. Her testimonial about her Calligraph typewriter was used by its manufacturers in their advertising. She had bought a Caligraph 2 when she arrived in Australia and this was a model that featured a button for every upper and lower case letter. In 1888 the Ladies' Type-writing Association, which she had started, was given a special prize at the Exhibition of Women's Industries. The exhibition had been organised by Lady Carrington and it was held in Sydney. In 1891 she won another prize for her typewriting at the National Juvenile Industrial Exhibition again in Sydney. The National Council of Women was formed in 1896 and she was elected their founding treasurer and in the following year she was their secretary. Her first husband died that year. In 1900 she was one of the signatories with
Louisa Macdonald Louisa Macdonald (10 December 1858 – 28 November 1949) was an educationist and women's suffragist. Early life and education Louisa Macdonald was born in 1858 in Arbroath, Scotland, the eleventh child of Ann (née Kid) and John Macdonald, tow ...
, Helen McMillan,
Rose Scott Rose Scott (8 October 1847 – 20 April 1925) was an Australian women's rights activist who advocated for women's suffrage and universal suffrage in New South Wales at the turn-of-the twentieth century. She founded the Women's Political Educati ...
, Zara B. Aronson (and others) of a letter sent by the National Council of Women. They drew attention of the authorities to the success of women as sanitary inspectors in England. They had been appointed by
Thomas Orme Dudfield Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...
and they suggested that Sydney should follow his lead. She married Walter White Wingrove Cooke in 1902. Armitage died in
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
in 1945. Her son Hugh Traill Armitage was a leading banker and died in 1963.


References


External links


Biography at ADB
{{DEFAULTSORT:Armitage, Dora Elizabeth 1858 births 1945 deaths People from St. Clair, Michigan Australian educators Typists Australian women's rights activists