Catherine Octavia Stevens (1865-1959) was an

amateur astronomer Amateur astronomy is a hobby where participants enjoy observing or imaging celestial objects in the sky using the unaided eye, binoculars, or telescopes. Even though scientific research may not be their primary goal, some amateur astronomers m ...

who was Director of the

British Astronomical Association The British Astronomical Association (BAA) was formed in 1890 as a national body to support the UK's amateur astronomers. Throughout its history, the BAA has encouraged observers to make scientifically valuable observations, often in collaborat ...

Meteor Section from 1905 to 1911. Her primary interest was the

Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as visible light a ...

and she made drawings of

sunspot Sunspots are temporary spots on the Sun's surface that are darker than the surrounding area. They are one of the most recognizable Solar phenomena and despite the fact that they are mostly visible in the solar photosphere they usually aff ...

s using a 3 inch

refractor A refracting telescope (also called a refractor) is a type of optical telescope that uses a lens as its objective to form an image (also referred to a dioptric telescope). The refracting telescope design was originally used in spyglasses and ...

. She joined the six month old British Astronomical Association on 27 May 1891.Larsen, Kristine
"Shooting Stars: The Women Directors of the Meteor Section of the British Astronomical Association"
''Antiquarian Astronomer'', 2006, Issue 3, pp 76-77 On the 1911 census she gave her occupation as Astronomer, working for the British Astronomical Association and her address was The Plain, Foxcombe Road,

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

., a house with an

observatory An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysics, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. Th ...

at the top of

Boars Hill Boars Hill is a hamlet southwest of Oxford, straddling the boundary between the civil parishes of Sunningwell and Wootton. It consists of about 360 dwellings spread over an area of nearly two square miles as shown on thimapfrom the long establ ...

, Oxford. She lived there from 1910 to 1956. In 1939 she gave her occupation as Meteorologist Astronomer.

Travels

Catherine Stevens travelled to see

total solar eclipses Total may refer to: Mathematics * Total, the summation of a set of numbers * Total order, a partial order without incomparable pairs * Total relation, which may also mean ** connected relation (a binary relation in which any two elements are comp ...

from

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

on May 28, 1900,

Majorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest of the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, seventh largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. The capital of the island, Palma, Majorca, Palma, i ...

on August 30, 1905 and

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

on August 31, 1932. She spent a year in

Shetland Shetland (until 1975 spelled Zetland), also called the Shetland Islands, is an archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands, and Norway, marking the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the ...

to study the

Aurora Borealis An aurora ( aurorae or auroras), also commonly known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis), is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly observed in high-latitude regions (around the Arc ...

. She travelled to

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

and visited the hot springs at

Rotorua Rotorua () is a city in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. It is sited on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua, from which it takes its name. It is the seat of the Rotorua Lakes District, a territorial authorities of New Zea ...

Family

She was born at the Rectory,1911 Census of England and Wales

Bradfield, Berkshire Bradfield is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England. At the 2021 census, the parish had a population of 2,208, which was slightly more than the 2,177 recorded at the 2011 census. Aside from farms and a smaller amount of woodland its ...

on 23 January 1865,1939 England and Wales Register the daughter of Thomas Stevens (1809-1888), Rector of Bradfield and founder of

Bradfield College Bradfield College is a coeducational public school (independent boarding and day school) for pupils aged 13–18, in the village of Bradfield, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It is noted for its open-air Greek theatre and its trien ...

and Susanna Stevens née Marriott (c1824-1866), daughter of Rev Robert Marriott, Rector of

Cotesbach Cotesbach ( ) is a village and civil parish in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England. The nearest town is Lutterworth, about to the north. Rugby is 6 miles south of the parish. The River Swift flows through the parish, to the nor ...

, Leicestershire. Catherine Stevens died on 16 June 1959. Her older sister, Mary Ann Stevens, married

John Oldrid Scott John Oldrid Scott (17 July 1841 – 30 May 1913) was a British architect. Biography He was the son of George Gilbert Scott and his wife Caroline (). His brother George Gilbert Scott Junior and nephew Sir Giles Gilbert Scott were also prominent ...

, son of the architect

George Gilbert Scott Sir George Gilbert Scott (13 July 1811 – 27 March 1878), largely known as Sir Gilbert Scott, was a prolific English Gothic Revival architect, chiefly associated with the design, building and renovation of churches and cathedrals, although he ...

.''Reading Mercury'', 2 May 1868

Publications

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Obituary

* Written by James Henry Drake.

References

External links

*
A drawing of the corona at the total solar eclipse of 30 August 1905
made by Catherine Stevens'' in Richard McKim
A different sort of society
''Astronomy & Geophysics'', Volume 57, Issue 4, August 2016, Pages 4.14–4.17, British women astronomers 20th-century British astronomers 1865 births People from Bradfield, Berkshire People from Vale of White Horse (district) 1959 deaths 19th-century British astronomers {{UK-astronomer-stub