Elsie Abbot

Elsie Myrtle Tostevin was born on 3 September 1907 in Streatham, London, England. She was educated at Clapham County Secondary School, an all-girls state school in Clapham, London. ==Career==

On 17 October 1930, following "open competition", she entered the civil service in the junior grade of the administrative class and was assigned to the General Post Office. In 1938, she married E. A. Arnott, and was one of the first women, if not the first, to be allowed to keep her civil service job after marriage. Also in 1947, she married for a second time to Derry Abbot, a fellow civil servant. She served as Third Secretary of HM Treasury, the third most senior civil servant in the department, from 1958 until her retirement in 1967. ==Honours==

In the 1957 Queen's Birthday Honours, Abbot was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for her work as an under-secretary at HM Treasury. In the 1966 New Year Honours, she was promoted to Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) for her work as Third Secretary of HM Treasury, and thereafter referred to as Dame Elsie Abbot. ==References==