Ralfe, Catherine Hester (c. 1831–1912)

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Ralfe, Catherine Hester (c. 1831–1912)

New Zealand dressmaker, teacher, shopkeeper, and diarist. Born c. 1831 or 1832, at Bantry Bay, Co. Cork, Ireland; died April 5, 1912, in Ashhurst, New Zealand; dau. of Pilcher (naval officer) and Ann Susannah (Lamothe) Ralfe.

Immigrated to New Zealand (1866); taught at isolated settlement (early 1870s), then at private school established by her brother (1873); briefly ran unsuccessful shop in Hokitika before serving as housekeeper and supporting herself through teaching and needlework; recorded her early experiences in diary and documented domestic life for colonial women (c. 1896).

See also Dictionary of New Zealand Biography (Vol. 2).