Dame Elsie Myrtle Abbot

Dame Elsie Myrtle Abbot, ( Tostevin; 3 September 1907 – 26 May 1983) was a senior British civil servant. She joined the administrative section of the Home Civil Service in 1930, and originally worked in the Post Office.

In 1947, she moved to HM Treasury where she spent the rest of her career. She rose to become Third Secretary between 1958 and 1967. She was amongst the first female civil servants who were allowed to continue in her job after marrying.

Early life and education Elsie Myrtle Tostevin was born on 3 September 1907 in Streatham, London, England. She was educated at Clapham County Secondary School, an all-girls state school in Clapham, London.

Career On 17 October 1930, following "open competition", she entered the civil service in the junior grade of the administrative class and was assigned to the General Post Office. In 1938, she married E. A. Arnott, and was one of the first women, if not the first, to be allowed to keep her civil service job after marriage. Also in 1947, she married for a second time to Derry Abbot, a fellow civil servant. In the 1966 New Year Honours, she was promoted to Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) for her work as Third Secretary of HM Treasury, and thereafter referred to as Dame Elsie Abbot.