Lumen Winter 2015 - Flipbook - Page 20
stor y by Ren ée Cap p s
Tracing back 140 years
of history with the
University of Adelaide
Over dinner one night while chatting about
family history with her two grandmothers,
Gemma Gransbury discovered all her grandparents
had attended the University of Adelaide.
T
his sparked her curiosity and started
Gemma on a mission to trace the
family connections to the University.
“I felt a strong connection to the University,
my second home of four years, and
wanted to find out more,” said Gemma.
She was able to trace the Gransbury
connection back 140 years to William
Everard who was appointed to the first
University Council and sat alongside
the founding fathers of the University,
including the first Vice-Chancellor
Augustus Short. William established the
William Everard Prize at the University
which is still awarded to an outstanding
medical student each year.
William had no children himself so
the University legacy was carried on
by his great nephew, James Edward
Everard, who graduated in December
1910 with a Bachelor of Medicine and
Bachelor of Surgery.
The tradition of medicine and science is
strong with James’ daughter and Gemma’s
grandmother, Betty Ann Gransbury (nee
Everard), who completed her Bachelor of
Science, majoring in organic and inorganic
chemistry in 1945 and her Honours in
organic chemistry in 1948.
Gemma has followed in her grandmother’s
footsteps and in 2013 she graduated with
a degree in science with a double major
in chemistry. She completed her Honours
year in 2014 and was awarded the
Honours Alumni University Medal. Gemma
is now embarking on her PhD in inorganic
chemistry at the University of Melbourne.
Despite the similarities, Gemma says she
was not influenced by her grandmother
when deciding what to study.
“I didn’t find out that Gran had studied
chemistry until I was in year 12 and by
that stage I had already decided I wanted
to study science,” said Gemma.
“I was pretty excited when I realised we
both did double chemistry majors!”
Betty, who was awarded an OAM in
2006 for service to the community, married
Bazil William Gransbury, who completed
his Diploma in Agricultural Science at
Roseworthy Agricultural College.
Gemma’s maternal grandparents,
Mary Jean Horne (nee Hill) completed a
Diploma of Arts and Education in 1958
and Leonard William Horne completed a
Bachelor of Arts in 1968 and a Diploma
of Education in 1972. Their daughter,
Gemma’s mother, Marie-Louise Gransbury
(nee Horne) completed a Bachelor of
Science in 1982.
There is also a history of doctors in the
family that can be traced back to Dr Charles
George Everard who was the first doctor
in South Australia, arriving on the Africaine
in 1836. Gemma’s brother, Thomas William
Gransbury, is continuing the medical
connection with the University, and is
currently in his second year of a Bachelor
of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery.
Top: Front row, first left: Betty Anne Gransbury,
AUScA committee 1946
Inset: William Everard 1874
(Photo courtesy of University Archives)
Left: Gemma Gransbury and Betty Gransbury at
the Honours Alumni University Medal ceremony
where she was also the mace bearer
18 Lumen | Winter 2015
