Kate Edger


Kate Milligan Evans was the first woman in New Zealand to gain a university degree, and possibly the second in the British Empire to do so.

Early life

Edger was born in 1857 at Abingdon, Berkshire, England. Her family emigrated from England to New Zealand in 1862. She and her sisters received much of their early education from their father. They lived in Albertland and then in Auckland, and as there was no higher education for girls at the time, but she showed academic promise, she was placed in the top class of the Auckland College and Grammar School. On 11 July 1877 she graduated from the University of New Zealand with a BA in Mathematics and Latin. When Kate applied to the senate of the University of New Zealand for permission to sit for a university scholarship she did not state her gender and her application was successful. She was the only female in classes at Auckland College and Grammar School, which was affiliated to the University of New Zealand She graduated in 1877 with a Bachelor of Arts from the University of New Zealand. Her qualification was lauded and 1,000 people came to cheer as the Bishop awarded her with a camellia to symbolise her modesty and her achievement.
She and her sister, Lilian, both went on to obtain master's degrees.
Edger was the founding principal of Nelson College for Girls in 1883. She created drills for the girls. She married in 1890 and said that she would work on however she later resigned. This is thought to be due to her pregnancy with her first child.

Family

Kate Edger was a daughter of the Rev. Samuel Edger, a Christian minister who brought his family from England with the Albertland settlers to New Zealand in 1862. A university graduate himself, he supported Kate and her sister Lilian in their efforts to gain higher education.
Kate married in 1890 and supported her husband, William, who did charitable works by running a private school.
Edger's sister Gertrude had a daughter, Geraldine Hemus, who became the third woman in New Zealand to be admitted to practice law as a barrister and solicitor.

Legacy

The Kate Edger Educational Charitable Trust provides financial assistance for women pursuing undergraduate or postgraduate degrees. In 2004 the Kate Edger Information Commons was created at The University of Auckland.
In 2017, Kate Edger was chosen as one of the Royal Society of New Zealand's "150 Women in 150 Words" project. In September 2018, the Department of Mathematics at the University of Auckland was temporarily renamed to the "Kate Edgar Department of Mathematics" to mark the 125th anniversary of women's suffrage in New Zealand.