Margaret Telfer (Registrar) and H McCredie (Deputy Registrar)

This item is part of the HerStory Hike with the Archives, a history walk around the Camperdown and Darlington campuses of the University.

In Complete Equality with Men

The triangular building at the junction of Arundel and Seamer Streets in Glebe, "…unusual…made up of three buildings joined together", is named after Margaret Alison Telfer, who was University Registrar from 1955 to 1967 and was the first woman to hold such a position in the country. [Ref 1]. The significance of this achievement is perhaps wryly highlighted in a letter she received from the Secretary (who was also a woman) of the Australian Institute of Nuclear Science & Engineering, "…I am aware that on more than one occasion I have addressed you as "Dear Sir" – for which I apologise – I just wrongly assumed that all [underlined] registrars are Men!". The Secretary attempts to deflect the mistake, noting that, 'In so many positions to-day, women are far superior, and to my mind, have much more common-sense…Congratulations for the O.B.E. – I’m sure you have earned it". Telfer graciously replies that, "…there really is no need to apologise for this. It is something a lot of people do and it never worries me". [Ref 2].

Telfer's association with the University, however, began in 1922 when she commenced studies towards her first degree, attaining a Bachelor of Arts (Honours, English - Class III). [Ref 3]. This was followed by a Diploma in Education in 1926. [Ref 4]. In the same year, she was appointed Secretary of the Women’s Union, and, "…filled this position most efficiently & satisfactorily. Her relations with the women students have always been of the happiest, and by her personality & example she has exercised an undoubted influence amongst them". [Ref 5]. This glowing recommendation served its purpose, as on 12 August 1929, the Senate approved the appointment of Telfer as, "…Acting Tutor to the Women Students" for one year. [Ref 6].

While still Secretary of the Women’s Union, Telfer wrote on 31 January 1939 to the Registrar that, "I beg to apply for the position of Advisor to the Women Students". She noted that, "Before and since I graduated I have served on a number of Committees of women undergraduates and graduates, and at the present time I am a Vice-President of the University Women’s Sports Association, President of the Women’s Ski Club, a member of the Executive Committee of the University Women Graduates’ Association, and a member of the Executive Committee of the University Settlement". She began her new role on 1 April 1939, "…at a commencing salary of £400 per annum subject to superannuation deductions…Accommodation is being provided for you on the University premises to enable you to take up your position as a member of the Administrative Staff". [Ref 7].

Telfer clearly excelled in her duties, as on 6 March 1944, the Senate noted that, "In connection with the reorganisation of the Administrative Staff, the Vice-Chancellor recommended that Miss M.A. Telfer (Advisor to Women Students) be appointed to the position of Deputy Assistant Registrar", which came with a pay rise of £150, "…rising by annual increments of £40 to a maximum of £750". [Ref 8]. Her career progressed quickly, as on 14 April 1947, "The Committee to consider Administrative arrangements…unanimously decided to recommend…To promote Miss M. Telfer, Deputy Assistant Registrar, to Assistant Registrar, with an immediate increase in salary". [Ref 9].

Telfer was ambitious but also realistic as she wrote to the Registrar on 16 May 1947 that, "I am not making a formal application for the position of Deputy Registrar as I understand that the Senate Committee definitely expressed the opinion that the position should be filled by a man. I would, however, like my qualifications and experience to be kept in mind in connection with the selection of applicants for the position of Deputy Registrar in case circumstances may cause a change in the Committee’s plan for the development of the Registrar’s Department". [Ref 10]. The Acting Vice-Chancellor reported to the Senate on 2 June 1947, "…that thirty-two applications had been received for the position of Deputy Registrar", and while it is not clear if Telfer was one of the applicants, it was Wilson Harold (WH) Maze who was selected for the job. [Ref 11].

Despite this, Telfer, rather than the Deputy Registrar, was chosen to be Acting Registrar for a period in 1949, with the Professorial Board formally recognising her on 19 September 1949, "On the motion of the Chairman, the Board placed on record its appreciation of the services of Miss M.A. Telfer when she was Acting Registrar". [Ref 12].

On 6 February 1950, "The Vice-Chancellor reported to the Senate that the Registrar, Mr. G. Dale, wishes to retire as soon as possible, in view of the state of his health following his breakdown early in 1949. In the ordinary course of events, the Registrar would not have been due to retire until August, 1952…After considerable discussion, the Senate agreed to appoint Mr W.H. Maze…as Registrar, and Miss Margaret A. Telfer...as Deputy Registrar, from 1st March, 1950". [Ref 13].

The Minister for Education, on 3 November 1953, wrote to the Vice-Chancellor of the University, "…inviting her [Telfer] to become a member of the Committee which I am setting up to survey secondary education in this State…It is important, perhaps, for me to say that I have invited Miss Telfer to join the Committee, not as a member of staff of the University and even less as a representative of the University. I have invited Miss Telfer because of her first-hand experience of the after-careers and the problems of girls who have followed secondary courses of the more "academic" type and whose immediate future has been found in the professional field". [Ref 14].

Telfer was, periodically, from 1951 to 1955, appointed as Acting Registrar, until ultimately, on 8 August 1955, before the Senate, "The Vice-Chancellor moved that Miss Margaret A. Telfer be invited to accept the position of Registrar…put to the meeting and carried". [Ref 15].

Telfer had a staggering number of significant duties and responsibilities but also dealt with matters as such, "With reference to the ceremony…to mark the opening of the new Fisher Library, may I draw the attention of women visitors to the University the Senate ruling that stiletto or spike heels should not be worn in the Fisher Library and other University buildings. I know you will appreciate that this has been done in an effort to reduce wear and tear on the floors of the buildings". [Ref 16].

On 1 May 1967, "The Chancellor said that this was the last regular meeting of the Senate that the Registrar, Miss M. A. Telfer, would attend as she would retire at the end of the month. On her appointment Miss Telfer was, he believed, the only woman Registrar of a University in the English-speaking world, and during the twelve years of her office had carried out the duties of Registrar with remarkable distinction. The Senate agreed to place on record its gratitude of the services given by Miss Telfer". [Ref 17].

The Vice-Chancellor farewelled Telfer in the May 1967 edition of The Gazette, saying among many other laudatory remarks, "Australian universities have produced many able women graduates, but have given few of them senior posts whether academic or administrative…Telfer then has to be recognised not only as a person who has been a very able Registrar…but as a woman who has made her way to the top…one of a handful of women gaining senior appointment in an Australian university in the eighty years since women were admitted to undergraduate studies".

The same edition of The Gazette also included the reminiscences of Beatrice P Wines, Associate Librarian, who remembered, "…Telfer as a shy, reserved student going about her business quietly and competently, and have retained that impression throughout our long association as colleagues on the university staff. I came to appreciate her humanity, sense of humour and concern for the welfare of others. As Registrar I remember her outward serenity, her cool appraisal of a problem…It is interesting to comment that when she first joined the Registrar’s office she was encouraged to do so by the then Vice-Chancellor, a rather dour Scot…It is common knowledge that the war-time matriculants in particular remember with gratitude her interest, kindness and sympathy over their special problems as a background to fundamentally practical discussions. Sometimes a blind eye was turned to the ex-soldiers lying sprawled on the sacred green turf of the quiet quadrangle". [Ref 18].

In 1969, Telfer was conferred a Doctor of Letters (Honoris Causa), and the Vice-Chancellor reiterated this sentiment in his speech, "She…gave full meaning to the invitation which Sir William Manning, Chancellor of the University in 1881, issued to women to become full members of the University, and to "enjoy all its advantages and privileges in complete equality with men"". [Ref 19].

Ref 1: The University of Sydney News Vol 30 No 20 (10/09/1998), p. 5, [REF-00041604]. University of Sydney Archives.

Ref 2: Telfer, Margaret Alison (1929 to 1974), [REF-00047845]. University of Sydney Archives.

Ref 3: Conferring of Degrees/Graduation Ceremony 27 May 1925 (27/05/1925), p. 2, [REF-00077557]. University of Sydney Archives.

Ref 4: University of Sydney Graduates 1926 (1926), p. 14, [REF-00052696]. University of Sydney Archives.

Ref 5: see Ref 2.

Ref 6: Senate Minutes 1927 to 1931 (1927 to 1931), p. 284, [REF-00000009]. University of Sydney Archives.

Ref 7: see Ref 2.

Ref 8: Senate Minutes December 1943 to December 1945 (06/12/1943 to 07/12/1945), p. 46, [REF-00000017]. University of Sydney Archives.

Ref 9: Senate Minutes February 1946 to August 1947 (04/02/1946 to 11/08/1947), p. 377, [REF-00000015]. University of Sydney Archives.

Ref 10: see Ref 2.

Ref 11: see Ref 9, p. 451.

Ref 12: Professorial Board Minutes February 1949 to May 1951 (28/02/1949 to 14/05/1951), p. 123, [REF-00090275]. University of Sydney Archives.

Ref 13: Senate Minutes September 1949 to June 1951 (05/09/1949 to 18/06/1951), p. 87-8, [REF-00002761]. University of Sydney Archives

Ref 14: see Ref 2.

Ref 15: Senate Minutes 1954 to 1955 (05/07/1954 to 20/10/1955), p. 424, [REF-00070369]. University of Sydney Archives.

Ref 16: The Australian Aborigines (Later Than 27/08/1963), [REF-00095611]. University of Sydney Archives.

Ref 17: Senate Minutes January to June 1967 (Jan to Jun 1967), p. 193, [REF-00070383]. University of Sydney Archives.

Ref 18: The Gazette Vol 2 No 13 (May 1967), pp. 202-203, [REF-00092735]. University of Sydney Archives.

Ref 19: Speech for Conferring of Degree of Doctor of Letters Honoris Causa upon Miss Margaret A Telfer (30/04/1969), [REF-00071665]. University of Sydney Archives.