Olive Purser (1886–1973), was one of the first women to enter Trinity College Dublin and was the first woman to be made a scholar.

Early life and education

Olive Constance Purser was born on 15 July 1886 to Alfred and Ellen Purser. Purser was the youngest of four. She had two sisters and a brother. Her father was a Chief Inspector of National Schools. Within a few years of her birth the family had moved to

Rathmines Rathmines (; ) is an inner suburb on the Southside (Dublin), Southside of Dublin in Ireland. It begins at the southern side of the Grand Canal of Ireland, Grand Canal and stretches along the Rathmines Road as far as Rathgar to the south, Ranela ...

in Dublin where they remained. The family were dedicated to education. Her aunt was

Sarah Purser Sarah Henrietta Purser RHA (22 March 1848 – 7 August 1943) was an Irish artist mainly noted for her portraiture. She was the first woman to become a full member of the Royal Hibernian Academy. She also founded and financially supported An T� ...

and her uncle was

Louis Claude Purser Louis Claude Purser, FBA (28 September 1854 in Abbeyside – 20 March 1932 in Dublin) was an Irish classical scholar. Purser was educated at Midleton College, County Cork,''The New International Encyclopædia'', Volume 19 (Dodd, Mead, 19 ...

; her two older sisters, Elinor and Luisa, became teachers, and her brother John, in 1911, was a master's student and Assistant to the Professor of Engineering in

Birmingham University The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

. Purser was one of the first women to be admitted to

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

, entering in the

Michaelmas Michaelmas ( ; also known as the Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, the Feast of the Archangels, or the Feast of Saint Michael and All Angels) is a Christian festival observed in many Western Christian liturgical calendars on 29 Se ...

term of 1904. Within 2 years of the ban on women being lifted, she had become the first woman to be made a scholar under the TCD system on 11 June 1906. She won it for classics. At the time she achieved this, women were still not permitted to remain in the college after 6pm or to dine with the male students or staff. Purser was a member of the Elizabethan Society started by her fellow student Marion Johnston. Two years after she completed her degree in TCD, Purser become a temporary lecturer at the university, taking over for

Edward Dowden Edward Dowden (; 3 May 18434 April 1913) was an Irish critic, professor, and poet. Biography He was the son of John Wheeler Dowden, a merchant and landowner, and was born at Cork, three years after his brother John, who became Bishop of Edi ...

. In 1921, the Crewe report (The position of the Classics in the Educational System of the United Kingdom) lists her as ''Dean of the Women Students'' when she reports on the education of women and girls. Purser worked with her uncle Louis Purser on the Shanganagh dig. In 1954 she was awarded an honorary LL.D. She later wrote a book on the women of Trinity. Purser died on 12 April 1973.

Bibliography

* ''Women in Dublin University, 1904-1954'', 1954 * ''Ancient Pottery at Shanganagh Castle, County Dublin''; Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy; Vol. 37, 1924 * ''A Welsh Poet of the Seventeenth Century'' ;The Irish Church Quarterly; Vol. 7, 1914 * ''Fragment of a Celtic Cross Found at Drumcullin, King's County''; The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland; Vol. 8 1918

References and sources

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Purser, Olive 1886 births 1973 deaths Alumni of Trinity College Dublin