Kate Edger

Kate Milligan Evans (née Edger, 6 January 1857 – 6 May 1935) was the first woman in New Zealand to gain a university degree and the first woman in the British Empire to earn a BA.

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; she was the only girl in the class. 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. ( Auckland University College was yet to be established.) She graduated in 1877 with a Bachelor of Arts (specialising in mathematics and Latin) from the University of New Zealand.

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.

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.

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