With a mother strongly interested in education for her daughters, Mary and many of her sisters became involved in teaching and establishing schools for girls in Christchurch. One sister Helen Gibson founded Rangi Ruru Girls' School, and Alice, Ruth, Ethel and Winifred all taught there for years. Another sister Beatrice, was principal of Nelson College for Girls.
Mary’s career
Mary graduated with a Master of Arts degree in English and Latin from Canterbury College in 1888. She began her teaching career at Sydenham School while still at university.
Mary later became the headmistress of the girls’ department of Gloucester Street (now Christchurch East) School and predecessor of Miss Kate Baldwin. In 1898 she became the headmistress of Christchurch Girls’ High School, a position she held for the next 30 years. In her time as headmistress, she presided over the expansion and development of the school.
The 1906 New Zealand International Exhibition
Later years
In 1921 Mary became first president of the Canterbury Women Graduates' Association, which was part of the New Zealand Federation of University Women.
In 1928 she left Girls' High School. At Mary’s farewell Kathleen Muriel Gresson, Mary’s chief assistant for many years and headmistress of the Avonside School, said of her: "I think that Christchurch has been remarkably fortunate in having Miss Gibson. She had been entrusted with the care and education of thousands of girls and her kind and able tutorship has left Christchurch with a debt it never can repay."
The next year, Mary took up a position as relieving principal at Waitaki Girls’ High School in Oamaru. In 1929, she fell ill with pneumonia and died on 1 September. She is buried in the Waimairi Cemetery.
Memorials
In 1929 the staff and pupils of Christchurch Girls' High started a memorial fund and in 1931 a memorial tablet was unveiled in the wall near the main staircase just inside the front door. It read: ‘In memory of Mary Victoria Gibson, M. A., Lady Principal of this school 1898-1928. Erected by pupils and staff. Let her own works praise her in the Gates.' Although Mary Eleanor Sims, who had worked with Mary for 15 years said "Miss Gibson's true memorials" were the school buildings that had grown with her and in those students who carried her ideals with them into the world.
In 1934, another memorial was unveiled by Professor James Macmillan Brown in the form of an honours board at Christchurch Girls' High.
Sources
- Christchurch City Council Cemeteries Database
- The cyclopedia of New Zealand: industrial, descriptive, historical, biographical facts, figures, illustrations, Vol. 3, pt. 1. p. 169
- Holy Trinity Anglican Church, Lyttelton: transcript of baptismal registers, 1851-1879
- Women Folk, Christchurch Star Christchurch, 28 November 1921, p9
- Tribute Paid to Popular Mistress, Christchurch Star, 1 June 1928, p5
- Memorial Tablet, Christchurch Star, 2 December 1931, p7
- New Honours Board, The Press, 1 May 1934, p9
Related links
- Read the biography of Mary Victoria Gibson from the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography.