Born

28 January 1851
England

Died

20 January 1938
Meols, England

Occupation

Headmistress

Alternative Names

• Walker, Lucy Wheatley (birth name)

Summary

Lucy Garvin was the first headmistress of Sydney Girls' High School, the first public high school for girls in Sydney, New South Wales. She held the position between 1883-1918, remaining at the helm even after her marriage to William Charles Garvin in 1891. In 1919 she moved to St Chad's Church of England Girls' School, Cremorne (later known as Redlands). She remined principal there until 1922.

Born in England, she is said to have come to Australia as governess to the children of Charles Badham, professor of classics at the University of Sydney. She returned to England in 1923.

Sources used to compile this entry: Rowse, Jennifer, 'Garvin, Lucy Arabella Stocks (1851-1938)', in Australian Dictionary of Biography Online, Australian National University, 2006, http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A080643b.htm; Theobald, Marjorie R, Knowing Women: Origins of Women's Education in Nineteenth-century Australia, Cambridge and Melbourne, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge and Melbourne, 1996.