NOTABLE CAREER

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23092, 18 July 1938, Page 6

NOTABLE CAREER

LATE MRS. W. A. EVANS

FIRST WOMAN GRADUATE ! . '• * FOUNDATION OF COLLEGE Through her association with a movenient which was the real forerunner of \ the Victoria University College, the f§ late Mrs. W. A. Evans who, as Miss *5 Kate Millicent Edger, was the first 1 woman in the British Empire to receive a University degree, did far more for the furtherance of education in New Zealand than is known. The memorial to her which has been placed in a jorridor at Auckland University College is of a kind which befits her own modest disposition and any elaborate memorial would have been quite con- 41 trary to her tastes. v - Mrs. Evans was a daughter of the V. Rev. Samuel Edger, an early Unitarian minister in Auckland. She received her education from her father and at Can- m terbury University College, since at * that time Auckland had no such college. Although she won her degree through the southern institution, it was at Auckland where her diploma was presented. Husband's Philanthropic Work 7

After serving as a teacher in the Christchurch Girls' High School, Miss Edgar received the appointment of head mistress of the Nelson Girls' College, and it was while there that she married the Rev. W. A. Evans, at that time Congregational minister in Nelson.

Later Mr. Evans relinquished his pulpit and settled in Wellington in order to carry on there a religious philanthropic and educational institution known as the Forward Movement. One phase of the Forward Movement consisted of week-night lectures upon many of the subjects that would be dealt with in a university. The lectures were delivered by Mr. and Mrs. Evans, and an enthusiastic band of leading citizens, including such men as Sir Robert Stout, Mr. George Hogben, then secretary of the Education Department, the Rev. Mr. Bradbury, another Congregational minister, who had surrendered a charge at Christchurch to join Mr. Evans in his undertaking, the late Mr. Arthur Atkinson, afterward a Wellington M.P., several schoolmasters, and others of equal prominence in the community. Other Phases of Activity

Mr. Evans also carried on a mission J of assistance to the people in what could be called the slums of the city, and charitable work of a kind that was ' then new to the district, work that had regard for the preservation of the re- i cipients' self-respect. At the request of , the Charitable Aid Board of the time he initiated a scheme of reform of its methods of administration that ruled in the city for many years afterward . and became the basis of the board's permanent system. He was also elected a member of the city council. * All this time Mr. Evans had been , energetically advocating the foundation of a university college. With others, he brought pressure to bear upon the Seddon Government and - eventually Mr. Seddon yielded and provided the means for the establishment of such a college. Mr. Evans became a member of its first council and was chairman for many years. Later he was appointed to a Wellington church, 1 and retained that position for the rest of his life. The Forward Movement, • having served its purpose, passed out iof existence. Wile's Great Assistance

.Mrs. Evans, for the remainder of her ' active days, conducted a small but excellent girls' school at her home. It was well-known to her immediate _ friends that she had been the chief H . monetary supporter of the Forward Movement, and gloried in working as a teacher of girls and a coach of * university students of both sexes in order to enable her husband to carry on the branches of public work that lay nearest his heart. In this way she was the chief motive power of the movement. .

Mr. and Mrs. Evans are survived by three sons. Mr. James Evans is a farmer in the Auckland district, Mr. Elwyn Evans, an engineer in the Public Works Department, and Mr. Ervryn Evans, a schoolmaster at Wellington.