Person

Glaister, Isabella Scott Scoular |1879-1954 | Principal of the Glasgow and West of Scotland College of Domestic Science

• Glaister, Ella
• Woodruff, Isabella Scott Scoular
• Woodruff, Ella

1879-1954

Isabella Scott Glaister (known as Ella) was born in Glasgow in 1879. She was the eldest daughter of Professor John Glaister, Regius Professor of Forensic Medicine and Public Health at the University of Glasgow.
She took up the post of Superintendent and Office Secretary (later changed to Principal) of the Glasgow and West of Scotland College of Domestic Science in March 1908. The College had just been formed from the amalgamation of the Glasgow School of Cookery and West End School of Cookery. Ella Glaister had the difficult task of managing the merger at staff level and had to oversee the four College sites dispersed across Glasgow. During her time at the College she founded the “Glasgow Cookery Book”, originally a text book on cookery which was updated over the years by staff and eventually went into public circulation. The first edition was printed in 1910. She also attended meetings of the National Union for the Technical Education of Women in Domestic Subjects and of the Association of Superintendents of Recognised Training Schools in Domestic Subjects.
Ella Glaister resigned on 9 Sep 1910 to take up the post of Scotch Education Department Inspectress of Domestic Subjects. On 24 June 1919 in Melbourne, she married Professor Harold A Woodruff and her wedding cake was presented by the College. He was a professor of veterinary pathology and director of the veterinary institute at the University of Melbourne, a widower with two small sons. In Australia she continued her pioneering work in the field of domestic science education. She was a founder of the Australian Invergowrie Homecraft Hostel and was its chief examiner from 1928 to 1949. She was also a founder and councillor of the Emily McPherson College of Domestic Economy.
She died in Melbourne on 3 March 1954.

Glasgow, Scotland (1879-c 1919)
Melbourne, Australia (c 1919-1954)

Principal of the Glasgow and West of Scotland College of Domestic Science (1908-1910)
Chief examiner of the Invergowrie Homecraft Hostel, Melbourne, Australia (1928-1949)

GB 1847

ISAAR(CPF): International Standard Archival Authority Records for Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families, International Council on Archives (2nd edition, 2003); Rules for the construction of personal, place and corporate names, National Council on Archives (1997).

• English

Thompson, Willie and McCallum, Carole, ‘Glasgow Caledonian University: its origins and evolution’, (East Linton: Tuckwell Press, 1998).

Killip, Norah L, “Woodruff, harold Addison (1877-1966)”, Australian Dictionary of Biography . Online at http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/woodruff-harold-addison-9176 [Accessed on 16/3/2018]

Created by Kirsty Menzies, Project Archivist, 16 March 2018.