4 Issue 55 – February 2016 – QUEEN MARGARET CALLING
P rior to the roll of the credits, the movie ends with the listing
of the dates as to when female suffrage was passed into law in
countries around the world. Sitting in the darkened theatre
I felt a sense of pride. First up on the timeline was New Zealand
leading the way in 1893 and then later, the others - Australia (1908),
USA (1920), England (1928) and, startlingly, Switzerland bringing
up the rear in 1971. That New Zealand became the first self-
governing country in the world to grant the right to vote to all adult
women was a truly progressive change at that time but the pioneers,
unencumbered by class and privilege, were receptive to new ideas. In
other parts of the world, this was not the case and so it was a longer
journey. In some countries female suffrage was only selectively
granted as was the case for Black Americans and Aboriginals who
had to wait for their vote until 1920 and 1962 respectively.
This year, Scots College, celebrates its Centenary. It acknowledged
From the Principal
The movie, Suffragette, was released in New Zealand in the New Year. I had been looking for-
ward to seeing this film and it did not disappoint. Set in Edwardian England just prior to the
start of World War One, it tells the story of a working class girl, Maud Watts, who becomes a
foot soldier in the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) led by Emmeline Pankhurst.
Although Maud’s story is fictional, the brutal events such as force-feeding in prison and
bruising demonstrations that provide the context are not.
this milestone on Friday 5 February with boys marching from
Queen Margaret College to Parliament. It was on our Thorndon site
at 53 Hobson Street in 1916 that Scots College was first established,
relocating to Strathmore two years later. Our common Founders
were Presbyterian Scots who highly valued education for both young
women as well as young men and so, in 1919, the Hon. John Aitken
and Rev. Dr James Gibbs set up a girls’ school, Queen Margaret
College, in the now vacant Tower Building. Above is a photo taken
the day the College opened, with the three Scots College boys who
remained until they were old enough to travel to the new site. Up
until 1929, the Colleges shared a board, after which date the two
schools became self-governing. Congratulations to Scots on turning
one hundred and best wishes for your second century.
For those girls who attended Queen Margaret College in the
early years, the right to vote was a given; 12,000 miles away, this
was not the case. In 1919, the 53 first-day girls who enrolled at
the newly established College did not have the same breadth of
opportunities as today’s young women. However, New Zealand, as a
liberal, egalitarian society, was at that time and continues to be in the
forefront of promoting female education. Our College is part of that
story. The history and development of Queen Margaret College over
97 years emphatically demonstrates that its purpose has been and
continues to be striving to give every girl an education that identifies
and fosters her unique potential.
Along with the wider school community it will be a privilege to
celebrate this ethos in three years’ time at the College’s Centenary.
Carol Craymer