Caroline Freeman

Caroline Freeman ( 1856 – 16 August 1914) was a teacher, school principal and owner, and the first female graduate of the University of Otago, New Zealand.

Early life Freeman was born near Halifax, Yorkshire, England. Different sources give different dates for her birth, 13 August 1852 or about 1855 or 1856 (exact date unknown). She came to Otago, New Zealand, with five siblings and her parents, William and Anne Freeman, on the Nourmabal in 1858, surviving measles on the journey.

The Freemans farmed at Abbotsford, Green Island, New Zealand on a farm named "Abbots Royd". She studied Classics, English and Latin, and although she failed several subjects during her studies, including history and political economy, she also won the prestigious Bowen Essay Prize, which was open to all New Zealand undergraduates. Her winning essay was on the subject "The Norman Conquest: its effect on the subsequent development of English institutions".

Freeman's studies were always part-time and never easy - she had a seven-mile walk from her home in Green Island to the university, for example, and this eventually took its toll on her health and she moved into rented rooms in town. The graduation ceremony was a great celebration of her achievement; the audience clapped, cheered, The schools were popular with parents. They gave moral guidance and were excellent finishing schools. They also prepared some of the pupils for tertiary study, after which they would go on to be secondary school teachers.

Freeman was active in the wider intellectual community of the region - in 1899, the Gore Young Men's Temperance Society organised a lecture series at which Freeman delivered a lecture on "The Cry of the Children".

At Otago Girls' High School, Freeman had taught Helene Fodor. Later, Helene's mother, Georgina, was one of those who helped finance the establishment of Girton College. At Girton, Helene taught French, drawing and painting. On Georgina's death in 1900, Helene inherited the loan. In 1906, Helene married Christchurch wine merchant Charles Cross. The marriage failed and Helene returned to Girton as a teacher and Freeman's companion.

A foundation pupil at Girton College, Frances Ross, returned as first assistant in 1891 and later bought the establishment from Freeman. In 1915, Ross merged the Dunedin Girton College with Braemar House and became the first headmistress of the modern Columba College.

In 1911, Freeman and Fodor settled at Girton College, Christchurch. In 1912, they put the school in the capable hands of Mabel Brown and left for England in the hope that Freeman might recover her health. They returned with the health issues unresolved.

Caroline Freeman sought to resume control of the Christchurch school and Mabel Brown left, taking a number of the girls with her. On 27 May 1914, Fodor obtained a divorce. Fodor confirmed that, 'from having seen her die', Freeman had succumbed to a heart attack on or about 16 August 1914.

A former student noted that Caroline Freeman had

... a straight sincere half humorous, half tender glance .... We had not intended to do anything more than ... slip through our lessons with as ... little application as could be practiced without punishment. But ... the look from the keen frank blue eyes of our new mistress ... put us on our mettle .... She made us believe that we wanted to work, that knowledge was the finest power on earth ... that to become well-behaved, cultured, kindly women was our one ambition in life ... She led us to follow her breathlessly through a world of new things .... History was an interesting story; literature ... laughter and tears combined; arithmetic had a reason for its existence; geography was a journey over the delightful parts of the world. As to English, our own language of our forefathers, she spurred our enthusiasm and our loyalty as she proudly pointed out its origin and told us its romantic story ....

On her gravestone, at Linwood Cemetery, Christchurch, Freeman is recalled as 'the beloved teacher and guide of many of New Zealand's girls'. Freeman's estate was valued at under 1700 pounds. Helene Fodor, her trustee and sole beneficiary, later, became Mrs. G. D. Greenwood.

Legacy Present-day Columba College features a theatre aptly named after Freeman, the Caroline Freeman Theatre.

In 2009, Freeman's great-great-great-niece also graduated from the University of Otago - Claire Steel.

In 2017, the University of Otago residential college City College was renamed Caroline Freeman College in her honour, and she was chosen as one of the Royal Society of New Zealand's "150 women in 150 words".