Educator’s wisdom will ripple through the generations

JOAN MONTGOMERY AM OBE, July 6, 1925-February 5, 2024

Joan Montgomery, the premier women’s educator of her generation and a name forever linked to her leadership of Presbyterian Ladies’ College Melbourne at the peak of its standing and influence (1969-985), died serenely on February 5, 2024 in her 99th year. She was born in the year before the late Queen Elizabeth II (1926-2022) and was often likened to her in diplomacy, dignity and bearing but with a mischievous wit and an approachable style all of her own.

Her calm, competence and pre-possession (not to mention her enormous popularity among staff, students and parents) made her an entirely unlikely subject of a major controversy that embroiled PLC in 1985 when the Continuing-Presbyterian-weighted school council ended her contract without exercising an optional clause to renew it. The school erupted and the media coverage was intense and long-lasting. It made no difference; Joan Montgomery was out and the school’s first male headmaster since 1938 was in. But Montgomery held her bearing and grace throughout and to the end, and she lived long enough to outlive her adversaries and reclaim her revered place in the history of the school.

By her 96th birthday her rehabilitation was more than complete. On that day, July 6, 2021, days before entering one of Melbourne’s many COVID-19 lockdowns, Joan Montgomery was surrounded by 100 people (the limit allowed in the Lyceum Club space at the time) including family, friends, former staff and alumni of Presbyterian Ladies’ College to both celebrate her birthday and the launch of her biography The Vetting of Wisdom: Joan Montgomery and the Fight for PLC (Franklin Street Press, 2021). It was a joyous and fitting celebration of her life and an opportunity to mark, in her presence, her significant influence on generations of women in Victoria, more than 35 years after the end of her term as principal.

Joan Montgomery in her days as principal of PLC Melbourne.

The biography tells of the great school battle but long before that of the life and times of the person who not so much fuelled it but saw it break out around her – not because of anything that she had done but for what she represented, a symbol of enlightened women’s education and place.

Joan Montgomery (pronounced Mont-gum-ery) was born in July 1925, the eldest of four daughters of Beryl and William Montgomery. A lifetime of leadership included her roles as headmistress of Clyde School (1960-1968), PLC Melbourne (1969-1985) and president of the Association of Heads of Independent Girls’ Schools of Australia (AHIGSA), from 1979-1981. Montgomery was responsible for the move to merge it with the Headmasters’ Conference of Independent Schools of Australia (HMCISA) to become the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia (AHISA) which finally occurred on August 26, 1985.

Taking the lead was something Montgomery took on board from her early years as a schoolgirl at Presbyterian Ladies’ College (then based in East Melbourne). In those days, it was more on the mischievous side, but an outstanding geography teacher, Miss Nora Wilkinson, became an important influence, particularly after Joan’s mother’s death in April 1942 when she was 16. Joan began to take more seriously the balancing of her studies with her tennis and baseball, both of which were a major part of her life at school. She was a house captain in her penultimate year and then a prefect in her final year in 1943 graduating with the Harris Prize for sports and studies.

Joan’s mother’s death was followed 20 months later by her father’s death in January 1944, soon after Joan finished school. This left Joan the eldest of a family of four girls (sisters Margaret, Elizabeth and Helen). Their father’s cousin, Anne Montgomery, who had moved to live with them when Beryl had died, became responsible for the girls, living with them in the family home in Hawthorn. While influenced by the loss of her parents, Joan was fortunate that it did not prevent her from continuing to university and she graduated with a BA and a Dip Ed from the University of Melbourne in 1948.

Joan’s capacity for leadership continued in her 20s as a young teacher (1949-1951) at Frensham School at Mittagong, NSW, founded by one of her early mentors, the innovative Winifred West. Joan was often asked to take the assemblies during those early teaching years and Constance Wood, another mentor of Joan’s and principal at Tintern Church of England Girls Grammar School where Joan taught from 1955-1957, predicted that she would one day return to PLC as principal.

Joan’s stint at Tintern was in between two periods of teaching in England, the first from mid1952 through to the end of 1954 and the next from 1958-1959. These were exciting and stimulating years. Highlights included the coronation ceremony in 1953 and her constant travel around Europe – a continuing interest throughout her life. She returned from her second trip to England at the age of 34 to become headmistress at Clyde School at Woodend, a position held from 1960-1968. Constance Wood’s forecast was then realised in 1969 when Joan became principal of PLC and thereafter until she turned 60.

Joan’s leadership as principal of these two girls’ schools over 25 years had a far-reaching impact with teachers and students alike regarding her as a role model. Her fellow teachers speak of her ability to attract quality staff; including teachers who had travelled and with life experiences that enriched their teaching, teachers whom she allowed the space to develop their own initiatives, confident of her support and teachers who later became principals themselves, particularly after Joan’s retirement from PLC.

A portrait of Joan Montgomery, principal of Presbyterian Ladies’ College, Melbourne.

Her students talk about her queen-like poise, style and elegance, her strong sense of judgment and most powerfully, the respect she commanded wherever she went. Her assemblies (over which she laboured most weekends during her principal years) setting out her values and positions on matters ranging from “character” to “friends” to “peace” to “priorities” to “religion” and indeed to the “Queen” left lasting impressions on her students. Her inventive ability to guide students ensured that each girl was encouraged to achieve her full potential.

In 1977, Montgomery was admitted as a fellow of the Australian College of Education. In the same year, the Uniting Church in Australia was formed, as a union of three churches: the Congregational Union of Australia, the Methodist Church of Australasia and the Presbyterian Church of Australia. However, in the lead-up to this union the Presbyterian Church split with some parishes electing to join the Uniting Church and others continuing as Presbyterian. This had a significant impact on Presbyterian Ladies’ College and its brother school Scotch College, both being “awarded” by the Property Commission of the Presbyterian Church to the continuing Presbyterians. All the other Presbyterian Church schools became associated with the Uniting Church.

A court case run by PLC and Scotch to challenge the Property Commission decision settled and new school councils were formed. In PLC’s case this ultimately led in 1984 to a majority on the council announcing it would be seeking a new principal when Joan turned 60 despite her contract enabling both parties to renew her term until the age of 65. This drew significant protest from a minority on the council (representing the school community) and from the greater school community. The matter drew significant media attention, with public meetings and community efforts seeking to persuade the council to change its decision. The protest did not move the majority of members on the council and Joan retired at the end of 1985.

Montgomery then moved to live mainly in Shoreham while retaining accommodation in Melbourne, and she later fully retired in Melbourne. She continued in her retirement to play a significant role in the community. She was on the council of the University of Melbourne and many of its committees, together with Ormond College and Medley Hall. She was a board and a committee member of The Alfred hospital, the Human Ethics Committee of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, and the Animal Ethics Committee of the Baker Institute, and a continuing member of the Lyceum Club. She was also a council member of a range of schools including the Geelong College, Melbourne Grammar School, Woodleigh School and St Margaret’s School, also acting as chair of St Margaret’s Council.

Joan Montgomery was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire on June 12, 1976, for her services to education and became a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 1986. She was also placed on the Victorian Honour Roll of Women Inductees in 2004 for her services to education. She had a lifelong involvement and influence on her nieces, nephews, great nieces, and great nephews who loved her dearly and will sorely miss her, but her influence on generations of those who benefitted from her wisdom will ripple through the generations.

Professor Kim Rubenstein was a PLC alumna 1982 and is author of the Vetting of Wisdom.