Bella Dytes MacIntosh MacCallum (née Cross, 1886 – 17 March 1927) was a New Zealand and British botanist and mycologist and was New Zealand's first female doctor of science.

Early life and education

MacCallum was born in

Timaru Timaru (; ) is a port city in the southern Canterbury Region of New Zealand, located southwest of Christchurch and about northeast of Dunedin on the eastern Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast of the South Island. The Timaru urban area is home to peo ...

, New Zealand, the daughter of George and Rebecca Cross. She attended

Timaru Girls' High School Timaru Girls' High School is a secondary school in Timaru, New Zealand, founded in 1880. Timaru Girls' High provides education for girls aged between 13–18 years of age (class levels – years 9 to 13). It also has a boarding facility within ...

, then Canterbury College, earning a bachelor's degree in 1908 and a master's degree in 1909 with First Class Honours in botany, focussing on halophyte plant adaptations to salty soil. Her master's degree involved field observations and anatomical studies, and compared botanical formations in Christchurch to Timaru. She was awarded a National Research Scholarship, which she used to continue research on wetland plants. She taught at high-schools before she earned her doctorate from the

University of New Zealand A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

in 1917 with a thesis on ''

Phormium ''Phormium'' is a genus of two plant species in the family Asphodelaceae. One species is endemic to New Zealand and the other is native to New Zealand and Norfolk Island. The two species are widely known in New Zealand as flax or their Māori l ...

'' (N.Z. flax), titled ''Phormium with Regard to Its Economic Importance''; a work whose origins in 1909 were inspired by the work and advice of Dr

Leonard Cockayne Leonard Cockayne (7 April 1855 – 8 July 1934) is regarded as New Zealand's greatest botanist and a founder of Western science in New Zealand. Biography He was born in Sheffield, England where he attended Wesley College. He travelled to Aus ...

. She represented her university in tennis, was a member of the hockey 1st XI, and the Executive of the Students' Association.

Family

In 1915, MacCallum married Lance (Lancelot) Shadwell Jennings, and became known as Bella Jennings. Both were tennis champions and researchers. Captain Jennings was killed on 15 September 1916 at the Western Front, aged 23. In 1919, she married

Peter MacCallum Sir Peter MacCallum (14 July 1885 – 4 March 1974) was a Scottish-born Australian oncologist and the co-founder and eponym of the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne. Background and early life Peter MacCallum was born in Glasgow, ...

St Giles' Cathedral St Giles' Cathedral (), or the High Kirk of Edinburgh, is a parish church of the Church of Scotland in the Old Town, Edinburgh, Old Town of Edinburgh. The current building was begun in the 14th century and extended until the early 16th century; ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

. She had three daughters from her second marriage.

Career and research

In 1919, MacCallum moved to England, where she studied bacteriology at Cambridge Medical School, then moved to the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

, where she researched fungi, specifically timber staining fungi, publishing ''Some Wood-Staining Fungi'' in 1920. She was elected a

Fellow of the Linnean Society The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature collec ...

in 1921. Less is known about her life after this point; she moved to Australia when husband Peter MacCallum was elected Chair of Pathology at

Melbourne University The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state of Victoria. Its ...

, and died on 17 March 1927, giving birth to their third daughter, Bella. In 2017, MacCallum featured as one of the Royal Society Te Apārangi's "

150 women in 150 words The "150 women in 150 words" project was undertaken by the Royal Society Te Apārangi and published during their 150th anniversary celebrations in 2017. The aim of the project was "celebrating women's contributions to expanding knowledge in New Z ...

" project, celebrating the contributions of women to knowledge in New Zealand.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:MacCallum, Bella 1886 births 1927 deaths 20th-century New Zealand women scientists New Zealand mycologists 20th-century New Zealand botanists Women mycologists Fellows of the Linnean Society of London University of Canterbury alumni University of New Zealand alumni People from Timaru New Zealand emigrants to Australia New Zealand women botanists