Alice Henrietta Gertrude Basten

Alice Henrietta Gertrude Basten (24 January 1876 – 6 March 1955) was one of the first prominent female accountants in New Zealand, businesswoman and local politician.

Early life

Basten was born in Auckland, New Zealand, on 24 January 1876. She was one of five children and her parents were Rachel Lang and George John Basten. Her mother supported the family by running a boarding house after her father died in 1893. Her mother later bought another boarding house in 1914 and ran both simultaneously.

Career

She had moved to the Coromandel Peninsula in New Zealand by 1989 to work as a secretary to a mining engineer, Francis Hodge, until he closed his office in Coromandel in 1904. She was also part of the Mutual Improvement Society while she lived in Coromandel. Basten then returned to Auckland and by 1910, she had opened an accounting business with her sister Caroline. They were the only female public auditors and accountants in New Zealand for several years. By 1911, Basten and Caroline had both qualified as Public Accountants of New Zealand. Their business was also incorporated as a college and they taught hundreds of women. The business was open until the 1940s although the college closed in 1922. She joined a community group led by Elsie Andrews in 1934 representing teachers to the third conference of the Pan-Pacific Women's Association.

She died on 6 March 1955 in Auckland.