Catherine WALKER [Kate, Katrine and Kitty]

1866 - 1941  (75 years)

• Name	Catherine WALKER
  Known As	Kate, Katrine and Kitty
  Birth	18 Apr 1866	Milton, Otago, New Zealand   [1, 2]
  Gender	Female
  Education	14 Dec 1881  [1]
  	Tokomairiro School, Milton, Otago, New Zealand
  Occupation	1893  [3, 4]
  	School Teacher, Christchurch
  Residence	1893	Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand   [5]
  Death	04 Jul 1941	Rangiora, Canterbury, New Zealand   [6, 7]
  Cremation	07 Jul 1941	Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand   [8]
  Probate	07 Aug 1941	Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand   [6]
  Person ID	I8705	NZ Genealogy Project | WALKER Descendant
  Last Modified	23 Mar 2023

  
  

  Father	Alexander WALKER [Alex],   b. 10 Sep 1838, Tibbermore, Perthshire, Scotland d. 07 Sep 1909, Milton, Otago, New Zealand (Age 70 years)
  Mother	Isabella BROUGH [Isabella Brown],   b. 1837, Comrie, Perthshire, Scotland d. 09 Feb 1914, Milton, Otago, New Zealand (Age 77 years)
  Marriage	29 Sep 1858	Comrie, Perthshire, Scotland   [9, 10, 11, 12, 13]
  Residence	1893	Milton, Otago, New Zealand   [14]
  Documents		1858 Marriage Register
  Family ID	F20	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	James Reeve WILKINSON,   b. 1857, Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand d. 27 Apr 1951, Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand (Age 94 years)
  Marriage	13 Jan 1894	Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand   [15, 16, 17]
  Children	+ 1. Kathleen Wave WILKINSON,   b. 14 Jun 1903, Wharenui, Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand d. 05 Apr 1987, Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand (Age 83 years)
  Family ID	F2982	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	31 Dec 2024

  
  

• Event Map		Birth - 18 Apr 1866 - Milton, Otago, New Zealand Residence - 1893 - Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand Marriage - 13 Jan 1894 - Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand Death - 04 Jul 1941 - Rangiora, Canterbury, New Zealand Cremation - 07 Jul 1941 - Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand Probate - 07 Aug 1941 - Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand  = Link to Google Earth
  Pin Legend	: Address       : Location       : City/Town       : County/Shire       : State/Province       : Country       : Not Set

  
  

• Photos

  Kitty (Katrine) Walker

  
  

  Documents

  1893 Dress Reform Pamphlet Notes on Dress Reform and what it implies. A 1893 pamphlet by the founders of the New Zealand Dress Reform Association, Kate Walker and James Wilkinson, outlining the arguments for dress reform for New Zealand women.

  
  

  Histories

  1894 Reform Dress Wedding In 1894 James Reeve Wilkinson and Kate (Katrine) Walker were married in Christchurch, New Zealand. Both were strong supporters of dress reform for women. Reports of the wedding attracted considerable attention because of the unusual dress of the wedding party.

  
  

  Album Photos » Slide Show

  
  

  Albums

  Walker, Alexander and Isabella (10) Photographs of Alexander Walker (1838-1909), his wife Isabella Brough (1837-1914) and their children.

  
  

• Notes

  BIOGRAPHY Katrine Walker, also known as Catherine, Kitty and more commonly as Kate, was born in 1866. She attended Tokomairiro School in Milton and won a secondary scholarship in 1881 so she could attend Girls' High School in Dunedin. While at secondary school she met her future husband, James Reeve Wilkinson, who had recently graduated from Canterbury University and who coached girls for University Junior Scholarship. The couple became lovers. James Wilkinson did not get his teaching certificate promotion and took on an assistantship to Professor Shand at Otago University. Two 'breakdowns' followed so he went to Higham, Canterbury, where his brother was farming. In 1889 Katrine obtained a teaching position nearby in Canterbury, so she was close enough to ride regularly by pony to see him at the weekends. James moved to live with another brother in Christchurch, and Katrine obtained a teaching position at Riccarton. Under the pseudonym "Theta", she regularly wrote the ladies page in the 'New Zealand Wheelman', and on 14 October 1893 she commented in relation to both cycling and women's franchise "...as the dainty wheel gives her a larger world to live in, so the wheel of progress has now given her a larger world to think in." The couple became involved in dress reform, and jointly wrote a pamphlet called 'Notes on Dress Reform and what it Implies'. In it they used aesthetic, moral and feminist argument to recommend change in women's undergarments and outer clothing. In 1894 Alice Burn, who was to become the President of the New Zealand Rational Dress Association, advised that James and Katrine should marry. The couple married in Christchurch and a photograph of the wedding published in the 'New Zealand Graphic' apparently shocked its readers because of the very prominent knickerbockers, a public statement by the wedding party of their strongly held principles of the necessity of rational dress for women. The wedding attracted national attention as the Dress Reform Wedding. James and Katrine had a daughter in 1903. In 1911 James was appointed Clerk to the Ashley Country Council, based at Loburn in Canterbury. There he and Katrine remained until his retirement twenty-five years later. Katrine died in 1941 and James in 1951. OBITUARY MRS CATHERINE WILKINSON Mrs Catherine Wilkinson, who died recently, was well known in Canterbury and Otago teaching circles. Born at Milton, Otago, she was a member of the large family of Mr Alex. Walker. Qualifying for scholarships, she acquired a good education at the Otago Girls' High School and Otago University. Later Miss Walker held positions in Otago and Canterbury. She married Mr J. R. Wilkinson in 1894, while she was infant mistress at Upper Riccarton, but continued teaching till she retired on superannuation from the Bushside School. She then joined her husband, who was county clerk at Loburn, and, except for a visit to England, she lived there until on Mr Wilkinson's retirement in 1936, they went to live at her home in Woodend road, Rangiora. During the last war Mrs Wilkinson was secretary of the Lady Liverpool Fund for soldiers' benefits from Ashley County. Failing health confined her to domestic duties, though she enjoyed the Meetings of the Presbyterian Women's Guild. She is survived by her husband, a daughter, Mrs D. Buckhurst, Suva, and two granddaughters. Source: The Press, 14 July 1941, Page 2.

  
  

• Sources

  [S17] David Bryant, NZSG Index, (New Zealand Society of Genealogists Inc., 2005). School Admission, Progress, Withdrawal Registers [S2] New Zealand Registrar-General's Office, NZ Register of Births - Indexes. Catherine Walker, birth registered 1866 in Tokomairiro [S17] David Bryant, NZSG Index, (New Zealand Society of Genealogists Inc., 2005). ELECTORAL ROLL 1893 - WOMEN [S30] Diane Wilson (Compiler), 1893 NZ Electoral Roll, (New Zealand Society of Genealogists Inc. 2004). [S30] Diane Wilson (Compiler), 1893 NZ Electoral Roll, (New Zealand Society of Genealogists Inc. 2004). Surname WALKER; Given Name Kathrine; Number 11490; Electorate Christchurch; Voting Qualification Residential; Residential Address Cranmer Square; Occupation Teacher [S447] NZSG Index Version 5, (New Zealand Society of Genealogists Inc., Auckland 2008). [S642] NZ BDM - Historical Records - DATES, (Department of Internal Affairs, Wellington, New Zealand). [S1831] Funeral Notice. WILKINSON - The Funeral of the late Catherine Wilkinson will leave her late residence, Woodend road, on Monday, July 7. Service at 10.30 a.m.. thence Crematorium, Bromley, arriving 12 noon. - The Press, 5 July 1941, Page 15. [S28] Registry of Birth, Deaths and Mariages, Melbourne., Birth Certificate (Victoria) (Reliability: 2). Married 1858 in Comrie, Scotland [S31] Family Search, (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), none. ISABELLA BROUGH and ALEXR. WALKER, Marriage: 29 SEP 1858 Comrie, Perth, Scotland. Source Information: Batch No.: M113411 sheet 00; Source Call No.: 6035516 REGISTER ; Type: FILM. [S216] General Register Office for Scotland, Scotts Origin - OPRI & SRI records, (http://www.scotsorigins.com). Marriage Record Alexander Walker and Isabella Brough, 1858, Comrie, Perth. Registration district code 341, Registration district entry 0010 [S41] General Register Office for Scotland, Entry of Marriage, Scotland, (www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk). 1858 Marriages in the Parish of Comrie in the County of Perth. #10. On the 29 September 1858 at Milutuim, Comrie. Marriage (After Banns) was solemized between us according to the Forms of the United Presbeterian Church of Scotland. GROOM: Alex. Walker, 20, Residence Milutuim Comrie, Miller Bachelor. Father: Alexander Walker, Labourer. Mother: Charlotte Leslie. BRIDE: Isabella Brough, 22, Residence: Milutuim Comrie, Spinster. Father: William Brough, Miller. Mother: Christine Drummond. Witness: Peter Brough, James Mitchell. [S36] Registrar of Births, Deaths & Marriages New Zealand, NZ Death Registration. [S30] Diane Wilson (Compiler), 1893 NZ Electoral Roll, (New Zealand Society of Genealogists Inc. 2004). (1) Surname WALKER; Given Name Alexander; Number 2827; Electorate Bruce; Voting Qualification Freehold; Residential Address Milton; Occupation Miller; Property Detail Sec. 83, block 7, Milton. (2) Surname WALKER; Given Name Isabella; Number 2830; Electorate Bruce; Voting Qualification Residential; Residential Address Milton; Occupation Housewife [S17] David Bryant, NZSG Index, (New Zealand Society of Genealogists Inc., 2005). NZ Brides & Grooms Index [S329] The Quadrangle, (Christ's College Old Boys' Association Inc., Christchurch). February 2005, Number 33. Page 8. "The Reform Dress Wedding, 1894" by Jane Teal, College Archivist. [S23] Papers Past - The Otago Witness, (Papers Past - National Library of New Zealand), none. Otago Witness, Issue 2084, 1 February 1894, Page 27 MARRIAGES. Wilkinson - Walker. - On the 13th January, at Aborima, 168 Montreal Street, Christchurch, by the Rev. L. M. Isitt, James Reeve, second son of T. W. Wilkinson, of Chertsey, to Kate, second daughter of Alexander Walker, of Milton, Otago.