Catherine Alexander (married name Rowe; 8 December 1862 – 17 March 1928) was a New Zealand

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

, and the first known woman to publish a paper in the

Royal Society Te Apārangi The Royal Society Te Apārangi (in full, Royal Society of New Zealand) is a not-for-profit body in New Zealand providing funding and policy advice in the fields of sciences and the humanities. These fundings (i.e., Marsden grants and research fe ...

's Transactions in 1886.

Early life and education

Alexander was born in

Kaiapoi Kaiapoi is a town in the Waimakariri District of the Canterbury, New Zealand, Canterbury region, in the South Island of New Zealand. The town is located approximately 17 kilometres north of central Christchurch, close to the mouth of the Waimak ...

in December 1862, to George and Mary Ann Alexander, Hatch. George Alexander was a baker. She received her education at the day school belonging to St Luke's Church in Christchurch. She studied at Canterbury College from 1882, concentrating on English (taught by

John MacMillan Brown John Macmillan Brown (5 May 1845 – 18 January 1935) was a Scottish-New Zealand academic, administrator and promoter of education for women. Brown was born in Irvine, the sixth child of Ann Brown and her husband, James Brown, a sea captain. J ...

) and botany (taught at that time by

Frederick Wollaston Hutton Captain Frederick Wollaston Hutton (16 November 1836 – 27 October 1905) was an English-born New Zealand scientist who applied the theory of natural selection to explain the origins and nature of the natural history of New Zealand. Whils ...

). She received an Exhibition Scholarship towards her botany honours degree work. She graduated with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

with first-class honours in botany and second-class honors in English in 1885 and then worked at

Christchurch Girls' High School Christchurch Girls' High School () in Christchurch, New Zealand, was established in 1877 and is the second oldest girls-only secondary school in the country, after Otago Girls' High School. History Christchurch Girls' High School was establishe ...

as an assistant teacher until her marriage.

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, all by women -- Annette Wilson, Miss Morrison, and Katherine Browning -- followed in 1892. By the time her paper was read before the Wellington Philosophical Society in 1886, Alexander was teaching at high school.

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. They had four children and lost one son in WWI. Rowe was principal of

Rangiora High School Rangiora High School (nicknamed Goon High School) is a state co-educational secondary school located in Rangiora, New Zealand. Established in 1881 by an act of parliament and opened in 1884, the school has a roll of students from years 9 to 13 ...

, and Alexander was assistant mistress, taking charge of the younger pupils, for a time. In 1893, Rowe was appointed as the first librarian in the Wellington City Library, but by 1904 the family had returned to Christchurch. Her husband died suddenly on 1 February 1928. Having never recovered from the shock of her husband's death, she died six weeks later on 17 March. They are both buried at Christchurch's Linwood Cemetery.

Awards and honours

In 2017, Alexander was selected 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 ...

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

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

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Catherine 1862 births 1928 deaths 19th-century New Zealand botanists Scientists from Christchurch Christchurch Girls' High School faculty New Zealand women botanists 20th-century New Zealand botanists Colony of New Zealand people