Catherine Alexander (botanist)

Catherine Alexander (married name Rowe, 8 December 1862 – 17 March 1928) was a New Zealand botanist, and the first known woman to publish a paper in the Royal Society Te Apārangi's Transactions in 1886.

Catherine Alexander
BornKaiapoi 
Died17 March 1928 
Christchurch 
Resting placeLinwood Cemetery 
OccupationBotanist 

Early life and education

Alexander was born in Kaiapoi in December 1862,[1] to George and Mary Ann Alexander, née Hatch.[2] George Alexander was a baker. She received her education at the day school belonging to St Luke's Church in Christchurch.[3] She studied at Canterbury College from 1882, concentrating on English (taught by John MacMillan Brown) and botany (taught at that time by Frederick Wollaston Hutton).[2] She received an Exhibition Scholarship towards her botany honours degree work.[4] She graduated with a bachelor of arts with first-class honours in botany and second-class honors in English in 1885 and then worked at Christchurch Girls' High School as an assistant teacher until her marriage.[3]

Scientific work

Her paper on ngaio (a small New Zealand native tree), "Observations on the Glands in the Leaf and Stem of Myoporum lætum, Forster" appeared in the Royal Society's Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. Three more papers by women, Annette Wilson, Miss Morrison, and Katherine Browning, followed in 1892.[5] By the time her paper was read before the Wellington Philosophical Society in 1886, Alexander was teaching at high school.[4]

Later life

In August 1886, Alexander married Thomas Rowe in Addington, Christchurch, a teacher. Francis Haslam, one of Alexander's professors at Canterbury College, witnessed the ceremony.[6] They had four children and lost one son in WWI. Rowe was principal of Rangiora High School, and Alexander was assistant mistress, taking charge of the younger pupils, for a time.[2] In 1893, Rowe was appointed as the first librarian in the Wellington City Library, but by 1904 the family had returned to Christchurch.[2] Her husband died suddenly on 1 February 1928.[7] Having never recovered from the shock of her husband's death,[3] she died six weeks later on 17 March. They are both buried at Christchurch's Linwood Cemetery.[8][9]

Awards and honours

In 2017, Alexander was selected as one the Royal Society of New Zealand's "150 women in 150 words".[4]

Publication
  • Observations on the Glands in the Leaf and Stem of Myoporum lætum, Forster Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute 1886 19: 314–316[10]

References
  1. "Birth Search". Department of Internal Affairs. Retrieved 21 December 2019. Registration number 1863/31
  2. Mary Creese (2010), Ladies in the Laboratory III: South African, Australian, New Zealand, and Canadian women in science : nineteenth and early twentieth centuries ; a survey of their contributions, OCLC 699866310, Wikidata Q104657105
  3. "Obituary". The Press. LXIV (19264). 20 March 1928. p. 2. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  4. "Catherine Alexander". Royal Society Te Apārangi. Retrieved 2019-10-11.
  5. "Katherine Browning". Royal Society Te Apārangi. Retrieved 2019-10-11.
  6. "ROWE.Christchurch.City.Library.BMD". www.transcriptions.nz. Retrieved 2019-10-11.
  7. "Obituary: Mr T. W. Rowe". The Press. LXIV (19224). 2 February 1928. p. 7. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  8. "Christchurch City Council Cemeteries Database". Christchurch City Council. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  9. "Christchurch City Council Cemeteries Database". Christchurch City Council. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  10. "Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute 1886 [electronic resource]". rsnz.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 2019-10-11.
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