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.

Early life and education Whitelaw was born in 1875 in Edinburgh, one of twelve children of George Whitelaw and Grace Hutton. It is possible this change of plan came about through encouragement from William Steadman Aldis, professor of mathematics at Auckland University College, and his wife, Mary Aldis, who had lived in Cambridge and had connections with Emily Davies at Girton. She stayed there until 1925 having built a chapel for the school's pupils. Whitelaw was deeply religious and her increasing emphasis on religion and community service as part of the school curriculum led to tensions with the school council, who felt academic standards were at risk. After her resignation as headmistress, Whitelaw took up the wider cause of women's welfare. For four years she was director of women's education at the Selly Oak Missionary Colleges. After this she took up voluntary work as the warden at the Talbot Settlement, an Anglican women's mission in Camberwell.

Wycombe Abbey School has a Whitelaw Memorial Library.