Helen Connon

[2] In Dunedin, Connon was taught by a newly qualified teacher, Robert Stout; he would later become Prime Minister of New Zealand.

[3] In 1874 the family moved to Christchurch and Connon's mother pleaded with the newly arrived Professor John Macmillan Brown to enrol her daughter as Canterbury College's first woman student.

[2] In 1878, while still a university student, Connon became one of the first five teachers at Christchurch Girls' High School, teaching English, Latin and mathematics.

[2] Under Connon's leadership, the school curriculum was expanded to include practical subjects such as cookery, nursing and dressmaking.

[6] Connon was closely involved in the education of the girls, visiting classrooms, reading exam papers and providing extra teaching as needed.

She also provided extra tuition, in her own time, to the brightest pupils of the school, encouraging them to apply for university scholarships.

[7] One of her star pupils was Edith Searle Grossmann, who became a writer and taught at Wellington Girls' College.

[15] There is a memorial plaque to Connon in the Great Hall of the present-day Christchurch Arts Centre; these buildings were originally Canterbury College's campus.