Annie Whitelaw

Annie Watt Whitelaw (17 August 1875 – 11 August 1966) was a British headmistress and educationist. She was a headteacher in New Zealand and the first NZ woman to attend Girton College and to lead a British school. She led religious orders and was the adviser on girls education in the British colonies.

Whitelaw was born in 1875 in Edinburgh to Australian parents. In February 1879 she and her family left Scotland to join her father who was settling in New Zealand. She was educated at the High School and then at Auckland Girls' Grammar School. She left to study in Britain in 1883. She had considered being a pianist but she opted to be a mathematician after obtaining a place at Girton College in Cambridge. Women studying at a university level was new although had startled the university when she took first place in the prestigious maths competition, the Tripos. Despite her success no woman was awarded a Cambridge University degree until 1946 although an increasing number were taking the courses successfully.

Whitelaw started to teach at Wycombe Abbey girls school. She was friend's with the head who had founded the school as they had both attended Girton. Because of this they were both awarded MA degrees by Trinity College, Dublin in recognition of their success at Cambridge.

She returned in 1910 to Wycombe Abbey where she was to be the school's second headmistress. The board that appointed her noted her capabilities and her experience aboard was considered beneficial. She stayed there until 1925 having built a chapel for the school's pupils.

She led religious orders and was the adviser of girl's education in the British colonies.

Whitelaw died in Remuera in 1966. Wycombe Abbey School has a Whitelaw Memorial Library.