Kate Edger

Who was Kate Edger?

Kate Milligan Evans née Edger was the first woman in New Zealand to gain a university degree and the first woman in the British Empire to earn a BA.

Kate's family emigrated from England to New Zealand in 1862. 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.