Elsie Dohrmann

Elsie Dohrmann (25 July 1875 – 14 February 1909) was a New Zealand scholar, teacher and temperance campaigner.

Early life and education

Dohrmann was born in Horndon on the Hill, Essex, England on 25 July 1875.[1] She was the youngest of five children and her parents were Benjamin Low and Sabine Susanna née Harris. Her family owned a general store in Horndon on the Hill until they emigrated to New Zealand in 1876 where they lived in Ashburton. Both of her parents received teaching certificates in 1881.[2]

She began attending Ashburton High School (now Ashburton College) in 1888 when she won a three year scholarship. She won another three year scholarship in 1891 to attend Christchurch Girls' High School where she was encouraged by Helen Connon to compete for a scholarship to attend university in 1894. She was successful and started at Canterbury College the same year. Her studies focused on natural sciences, particularly botany. She was awarded with a B.A. in 1897. She rejected a second-class honours M.A. degree in English, French, botany and biology offered to her after her examination papers were lost. Instead, she spent a year teaching at Waimate High School before retaking her exams in 1899 where she was awarded a degree with first-class honours in English and French and second-class honours in botany.[2]

Later life and career

In 1899, she published a paper on the plant genus Haastia in the scientific journal Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand. It was also read by Arthur Dendy, the head of the biological department at Canterbury College, in front of the Canterbury Philosophical Institute.[2]

She began teaching at Napier Girls' High School in 1899 before becoming a teacher at Christchurch Girls' High School. The school unveiled a plaque bearing her name in 1913 in recognition of her work.[1]

As well as teaching, Dohrmann was a prominent figure in the temperance movement. She was president of the Waimate branch of the Women's Christian Temperance Union from 1906 until her death. She was also the national treasurer between 1906 and 1907, the national corresponding secretary between 1907 and 1908 and the superintendent of the union's Department of Non-alcoholic Medication which protested doctors prescribing alcohol for medicinal purposes. She also wrote an unsigned column on temperance in the Waimate Times and spoke at many public meetings.[1]

On 3 June 1903, she married Henry Dohrmann. They had one daughter, Adelheit Susanna, in 1905. Childbirth caused Dohrmann to suffer periodically from rheumatic fever. She died at the age of 34 on 14 February 1909 in Waimate.[2]

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References
  1. Low, Eric. "Elsie Dohrmann". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  2. Creese, Mary R. S.; Creese, Thomas M. (2010). Ladies in the Laboratory III: South African, Australian, New Zealand, and Canadian Women in Science: Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries. Scarecrow Press. p. 110. ISBN 9780810872899.
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