A Scottish Pioneer of female Education no less!

Katherine
Jun 26, 2024
2 min read

Dame Louisa Innes Lumsden DBE (31 December 1840 – 2 January 1935) by Olive Edis

bromide print, 1920s NPG x15470

If you know me, you’ll know I am passionate about creative education but recently I found out something which suggested a good reason why that might be....

It's literally in my genes......turns out I am descended from a pioneer of female education; say hi to Great Great Aunt Louisa!

She's even got her own wiki page.......https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisa_Lumsden

Louisa Lumsden was awarded an honorary doctorate of laws (LL.D) by St Andrews University at its Quincentenary celebrations in 1911.[19] Under a Girton College charter and was made a life governor in 1924.[4] Nationally, she was made a Dame in 1925.[4]

The Lumsden Club is named in her honour; its members are current female students at the University of St Andrews, its objective charitable fundraising.[25]

At The University of St Andrews a wing of University Hall is named after her.[26][3]

Did I mention she was also a suffragette....

In 1908 Louisa Lumsden accepted an invitation to become president of the Aberdeen Suffrage Association.[9][10] She was a non-militant suffragist and provided a caravan called "Curlew", used by campaigners to travel about the country.[21] In 1913 she spoke at a rally in Hyde Park, London, on behalf of the Scottish branch of the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies and later became one of the vice-presidents of the Scottish Churches' League for Woman Suffrage.[9][22] Lumsden also spoke at the Aberdeen Association for Women's Suffrage on 19 February 1913, on 'Why should not Women be Citizens?' to the Oddfellows association.[23] She was the one who planted The Suffrage Oak in Glasgow, which was chosen as tree of the year in 2015.[24]