Australian Dictionary of Biography

  • Tip: searches only the name field
  • Tip: Use double quotes to search for a phrase

Cultural Advice

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this website contains names, images, and voices of deceased persons.

In addition, some articles contain terms or views that were acceptable within mainstream Australian culture in the period in which they were written, but may no longer be considered appropriate.

These articles do not necessarily reflect the views of The Australian National University.

Older articles are being reviewed with a view to bringing them into line with contemporary values but the original text will remain available for historical context.

Amy Rowntree (1885–1962)

by Grant Rodwell

This article was published:

Amy Rowntree (1885-1962), educationist, was born on 13 July 1885 in Hobart, fourth child of Francis Rowntree, engineer, and his wife Anne Maria, née Fearnley. Her great-grandfather Edward Casson Rowntree had been transported to Hobart from York, England, in 1830. Amy attended Battery Point Model School and in 1902 became a student-teacher there. In April 1906, after appointment to Geeveston State School, she joined the first student intake at the Philip Smith Training College, Hobart; winning a State exhibition, she was granted a further year of college and university attendance.

After teaching for four years Miss Rowntree studied kindergarten methods at Teachers' College, Sydney, under Martha Simpson in 1912-13. Returning to Hobart, she became mistress of method at the Elizabeth Street Practising School with responsibility for training infant-teachers and in 1919 was appointed to the new position of inspector of infant-schools, the first female inspector of schools in Tasmania. She also graduated from the University of Tasmania (B.A., 1919; M.A., 1921).

A slight, dark, serene figure, known to close colleagues as Miss Amy, she established a hallmark for Tasmanian career women. Although occasionally infatuated with colleague or student, she declared that 'a professional woman must necessarily be cut off from many of the joys of womanhood … must be in a position to travel and to surround her life with the means of intellectual culture and physical care'. Her own work entailed visits to Britain, Europe and North America in 1923-24 and 1938-39.

Under Miss Rowntree's control Tasmanian state school infant-classes reached a high standard, with art and music included in the curriculum. She combined the best of the traditional Froebelian with the more recent Montessorian methods to suit Tasmanian society and in the 1920s experimented with the Dalton plan, a Massachusetts curriculum method. An articulate public speaker, she promoted the ideals of early childhood education as applicable to general primary education, a concept several progressive primary schools adopted in the 1930s. She also helped to develop a curriculum for the pioneering rural area-schools.

After retiring in 1945, Amy Rowntree acted briefly as a recruiting officer for the Education Department and later as curriculum adviser. She aided the production of a documentary film on Tasmanian area-schools, 'Over the Hill', and helped to organize the 1946 New Education Fellowship Conference. Chairwoman of the Better Homes for Australia Society (Tasmanian branch), she was active in the Fellowship of Australian Writers, Royal Society of Tasmania, University Women Graduates' Association, Arts Club, Business and Professional Women's Club, the French Circle, Tasmanian Historical Research Association and the Battery Point Progress Association. She was appointed O.B.E. in 1949.

Miss Amy lived with her younger sister Miss Frances (Fearn) at their waterfront home Bramble Carr, Battery Point. Devout members of St George's Anglican Church, they welcomed student visitors and pursued their favourite recreations—historical writing for Amy and water-colour painting for Fearn. Miss Rowntree published many newspaper articles and several books on local history. She died at Battery Point on 4 March 1962 and was cremated. In 1965 a trust fund for infant-teaching scholarships was established by public donation in her memory.

Select Bibliography

  • C. Turney (ed), Pioneers of Australian Education, vol 3 (Syd, 1983)
  • D. Phillips, Making More Adequate Provision (Hob, 1985)
  • Mercury (Hobart), 5, 7 Mar 1962, 2 Aug, 13, 20 Nov 1965
  • Folio Ed 13 (Archives Office of Tasmania).

Citation details

Grant Rodwell, 'Rowntree, Amy (1885–1962)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/rowntree-amy-8289/text14527, published first in hardcopy 1988, accessed online 19 March 2024.

This article was published in hardcopy in Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 11, (Melbourne University Press), 1988

View the front pages for Volume 11

© Copyright Australian Dictionary of Biography, 2006-2024

Life Summary [details]

Birth

13 July, 1885
Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

Death

4 March, 1962 (aged 76)
Battery Point, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

Cultural Heritage

Includes subject's nationality; their parents' nationality; the countries in which they spent a significant part of their childhood, and their self-identity.

Religious Influence

Includes the religion in which subjects were raised, have chosen themselves, attendance at religious schools and/or religious funeral rites; Atheism and Agnosticism have been included.

Occupation