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Esther Ella Lawrence (1862 – July 23, 1944) was a New York born educationist and school principal. She took over from the founder and moved what would become the Froebel College to be a residential college in Roehampton to train kindergarten teachers over three years.
Emilie Michaelis had started one of the first English kindergartens in Croydon in 1875. Lawrence was to take charge of the kindergarten which would be called the Froebel Educational Institute in the following year. The facility existed because of the fund raising efforts of Julie Schwabe.
She had a four-year break from the institute when she went to Naples to work at the Froebel kindergarten there. She returned in 1899 and she was re-employed by the Froebel Educational Institute. In 1901 Emilie Michaelis retired and Lawrence was appointed as her successor. Under her management the courses extended to be three years in length at what became a residential college at Grove House, Roehampton.
Lawrence retired in 1931, and was an enthusiastic follower of the Tasmanian educationalist F. Matthias Alexander. She died in 1944 in Aldenham. There is a painting of her by Gerald Festus Kelly at Froebel College.
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