• Entry type: Person
  • Entry ID: AWE0828

Dolling, Alison Mary

(1917 – 2006)
  • Born 29 August, 1917, St Peters South Australia Australia
  • Died 25 July, 2006, Adelaide South Australia Australia
  • Occupation Teacher, Writer

Summary

The daughter of Edward and Amy (née Thiselton) Dolling, Alison Dolling was born in St Peters and grew up in Tranmere, South Australia. She was educated at Ellerslie College, Tranmere, and Methodist Ladies College, Wayville, before studying at the universities of Adelaide, Washington, Seattle, Berkeley and King’s College, London. Returning to Australia she taught in both South Australia and New South Wales, including ex-servicemen after World War II. Dolling joined the Chronicle newspaper as the editor of the Women’s Pages and was unemployed after the Chronicle closed down. Her publications include Chronicle cameos and a district history of Marion. She completed research on John Harvey and the Spoehr family, as well as being involved with family history and German ancestry. She also worked on the book South Australian Women Artists by Shirley Cameron Wilson. Dolling’s special interests included Australian history, especially early architecture, literature and art.

Events

  • 1962 - 1971

    Editor of Opinion,the journal of the SA English Teachers Association

  • 1977 - 1979

    Editor of Bulletin, the National Council of Women of Australia quarterly

  • 1941 - 1965

    Secondary school teacher

  • 1950 - 1950

    Tutor of migrants and Asian students

  • 1958 - 1962

    Part-time lecturer in Australian literature and history of education at the Kindergarten Training College, Adelaide

  • 1977 - 1977

    Member of the Australian Society of Authors

  • 1976 - 1976

    Member of Women in Media

  • 1974 - 1974

    Member of the Historical Society of South Australia

  • 1960 - 1960

    Member of the Australian Federation of University Women

  • 1965 - 1965

    Member of the Lyceum Club (Adelaide)

  • 1976 - 1976

    Awarded an Australia Council grant from the Literature Board

Published resources

  • Edited Book
    • Who's Who of Australian Women, Lofthouse, Andrea, 1982
    • From shadow into light : South Australian women artists since colonisation / Shirley Cameron Wilson, Dolling, Alison, 1988
    • Greek women in South Australian society 1923-1993 / [compiled by] Georgia Xenophou, Dolling, Alison, 1994
  • Book
    • Chronicle cameos, Dolling, Alison, 1977
    • H.O. Hannaford looks back, Dolling, Alison, 1974
    • The hand to the plough : die Familie Dolling in Australien : a social history, Dolling, Alison, c2000
    • The history of Marion on the Sturt : the story of a changing landscape and its people, Dolling, Alison, 1981
    • Memoirs of land and sea, Orland, W. T. (William T.), [1975]
    • Recollections of Sydney Holmes Hamilton, 1898-1987, Hamilton, Sydney H. (Sydney Holmes), 1992
  • Conference Proceedings
    • Papers : 1980 Congress on Genealogy and Heraldry, April 4-7, Dolling, Alison (edited by) and Bull, Beverley (compiled by), c1980
  • Resource
  • Resource Section

Archival resources

  • State Library of South Australia
    • Interview with Alison Dolling [sound recording] Interviewer: Yvonne Abbott

Related entries


  • Membership
    • National Council of Women of Australia (1931 - )
    • National Council of Women of South Australia (1902 - )
    • Lyceum Club Adelaide Incorporated (1922 - )
  • Related Women
    • Dolling, Dorothy Eleanor Ethel Victoria Georgina Barber (1897 - 1967)
  • Related Organisations
    • Methodist Ladies' College (MLC), Adelaide (1902 - 1977)