Person
à Beckett, Ada Mary (1872 - 1948)
CBE
- Born
- 18 May 1872
Adelaide, South Australia, Australia - Died
- 20 May 1948
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia - Occupation
- Biologist and Educator
- Alternative Names
- Lambert, Ada Mary (maiden name)
Summary
Ada à Beckett was the second woman to graduate in science at the University of Melbourne (1895) and their first appointed female lecturer (1901). She began her science teaching career in 1893 and by 1900 had taught at seven schools. à Beckett had also taught and demonstrated at the Working Men's College and at the University of Melbourne. From 1903 to 1911 her career was suspended as she gave birth to and raised three children. Ada á Beckett returned to teaching and demonstrating in 1912, and was appointed the inaugural Head of Biology at Scotch College in 1921. She retired from that post in 1937. Throughout her career, à Beckett was heavily involved in the kindergarten movement and pre-school education. She was elected foundation vice-president (then president and life-president) of the Free Kindergarten Union of Victoria, made great contributions to the establishment of the Kindergarten Training College, Kew and founded the Australian Association for Pre-School Child Development. She was also member of many women's organisations including the National Council of Women and the Lyceum Club - a club for women graduates and those women who distinguished themselves in art, music, literature, philanthropy or public service.
Details
Chronology
- 1892 - 1893
- Career position - Annie Grice Scholar, University of Melbourne in Victoria
- 1893
- Career position - Science Teacher at Merton Hall (later Melbourne Church of England Girl's Grammar School), Victoria
- 1893 - 1900
- Career position - Teacher at several girls' schools in Melbourne and Geelong
- 1895
- Education - Bachelor of Science (BSc), University of Melbourne
- c. 1896 - 1897
- Career position - Biology Demonstrator, University of Melbourne
- 1897
- Education - Master of Science (MSc), University of Melbourne
- 1898
- Career position - Senior Demonstrator in Biology, University of Melbourne
- 1898 - 1899
- Career position - Botany Lecturer at the Working Men's College in Melbourne
- 1901
- Career position - Demonstrator and Assistant Lecturer in Biology, University of Melbourne
- 19 February 1903
- Life event - Married Thomas Archibald à Beckett at Sandringham Presbyterian Church in Victoria
- 1908
- Career position - Foundation Vice-President of Free Kindergarten Union of Victoria
- 1912 - 1920
- Career position - Teacher, mainly at Melbourne Church of England Girls' Grammar School
- c. 1915 - c. 1919
- Career position - Biology Demonstrator, University of Melbourne
- 1916
- Career position - Helped establish the Kindergarten Training College in Kew, Victoria
- 1920 - 1923
- Career position - Joint course designer and lecturer in physiology and hygiene at the Kindergarten Training College in Kew
- 1920 - 1939
- Career position - President, Free Kindergarten Union of Victoria
- 1921 - 1937
- Career position - Head of the Biology Department at Scotch College, Victoria
- 1923 - 1926
- Career position - Chair of the Janet Clarke Hall Committee, Victoria
- 1926 - 1928
- Career position - President, Lyceum Club
- 1926 - 1939
- Career position - President, Kindergarten Training College Council in Kew
- 1935
- Award - Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)
- 1936
- Career position - Founder of the Australian Association for Pre-School Child Development
- 1937
- Life event - Retired
- 1940 -
- Career position - Life-President of the Free Kindergarten Union of Victoria
- 1942
- Life event - Naming of kindergarten at Fisherman's Bend after her
Related entries
Archival resources
The University of Melbourne Archives
- Ada Mary A'Beckett - Records, 1872 - 1948; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details
Published resources
Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Exhibitions
- McCarthy, Gavan; Morgan, Helen; Smith, Ailie; van den Bosch, Alan, Where are the Women in Australian Science?, Exhibition of the Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation, First published 2003 with lists updated regulary edn, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, Melbourne, Victoria, 2003, https://eoas.info/exhibitions/wisa/wisa.html. Details
Books
- a'Beckett, Ada, A Historical Sketch: the Growth and Development of the Free Kindergarten Movement in Victoria (Melbourne: Free Kindergarten Union, 1939), 19 pp. Details
- Carey, Jane, Taking to the field: a history of Australian women in science (Clayton, Vic.: Monash University Press, 2023), 297 pp. Details
Book Sections
- a'Beckett, Ada, 'Introduction' in Pre-School Centres in Australia: Building, Equipment and Programme, J. Cumpston and Christine Heinig, eds (Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia, Department of Health, 1945), p. 232. Details
- Marginson, Julie, 'à Beckett, Ada Mary (1872-1948)' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 7: 1891 - 1939 A-Ch, Bede Nairn and Geoffrey Serle, eds (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1979), pp. 4-5. http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/a-beckett-ada-mary-4963. Details
Journal Articles
- 'Obituary: Ada A'Beckett', Australian Journal of Science, 11 (2) (1948), 56. Details
- Lambert, Ada M., 'The structure of an Australian leech', Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria, New Series, 10 (2) (1898), 211-35. Details
Resources
- Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q20962505. Details
- 'à Beckett, Ada Mary (18720518-19480520)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-720068. Details
Resource Sections
- 'A'Beckett, Ada Mary (1872-1948), Biographical Entry', in Australian Women's Archives Project, National Foundation for Australian Women, 2002, http://www.womenaustralia.info/biogs/AWE0053b.htm. Details
McCarthy, G.J.
Created: 20 October 1993, Last modified: 29 July 2015
- Foundation Supporter - Committee to Review Australian Studies in Tertiary Education