Olive Purser

Olive Purser (1886–1973), was one of the first women to enter Trinity College Dublin and was the first woman to be made a scholar.

Early life and education

Olive Constance Purser was born on 15 July 1886 to Alfred and Ellen Purser. Purser was the youngest of four. She had two sisters and a brother. Her father was a Chief Inspector of National Schools. Within a few years of her birth the family had moved to Rathmines in Dublin where they remained. The family were dedicated to education. Her aunt was Sarah Purser and her uncle was Louis Claude Purser; her two older sisters, Elinor and Luisa, became teachers, and her brother John, in 1911, was a master's student and Assistant to the Professor of Engineering in Birmingham University. In 1921, the Crewe report (The position of the Classics in the Educational System of the United Kingdom) lists her as Dean of the Women Students when she reports on the education of women and girls. Purser worked with her uncle Louis Purser on the Shanganagh dig. In 1954 she was awarded an honorary LL.D. She later wrote a book on the women of Trinity.