Minnie Elizabeth Cawthorn

Minnie Elizabeth Cawthorn (23 August 1898 – 10 May 1966) was an Australian headmistress and aviator. She transformed what is now Matthew Flinders Girls Secondary College from dilapidated to pristine.

Life Cawthorn was born in Prahran in 1898. She was the third child of Fanny Adelaide, née Williams and William Cawthorn. Her English-born father was a commercial traveller who went to work in publishing. She and her elder brother, Walter Cawthorn, trained to be schoolteachers.

When she was senior mistress at Mildura High School in 1939 she found time to learn to fly and then qualified as a flying instructor. but was now said to be "dilapidated" and "a dumping ground" for girls who would work in the mills as soon as they were fourteen.

With her partner and deputy Ann Hooper, she would surf and was known to turn catherine wheels for fun, and teachers who failed to meet Cawthorn's standards did not stay long. leaving time Cawthorn to travel. She died in 1966.