Catherine Alexander

Catherine Alexander (married name Rowe; 8 December 1862 – 17 March 1928) was a New Zealand botanist, and the first known woman to publish a paper in the Royal Society Te Apārangi's Transactions in 1886.

Early life and education Alexander was born in Kaiapoi 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) and botany (taught at that time by Frederick Wollaston Hutton). She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts with first-class honours in botany and second-class honors in English in 1885 and then worked at Christchurch Girls' High School as an assistant teacher until her marriage. By the time her paper was read before the Wellington Philosophical Society in 1886, Alexander was teaching at high school. They had four children and lost one son in WWI. Rowe was principal of Rangiora High School, and Alexander was assistant mistress, taking charge of the younger pupils, for a time. Having never recovered from the shock of her husband's death,

Awards and honours In 2017, Alexander was selected as one of the Royal Society Te Apārangi's "150 women in 150 words", celebrating the contribution of women to knowledge in New Zealand.