Ponsonby is an inner-city suburb of Auckland located 2 km west of the Auckland CBD. The suburb is oriented along a ridge running north–south, which is followed by the main street of the suburb, Ponsonby Road.
Auckland Girls' Grammar School (AGGS) is a New Zealand secondary school for girls located in Newton, in the Auckland central business district. Established in 1878 as Auckland Girls' High School, it is one of the oldest secondary institutions in the country. The school closed its site temporarily in 1888 due to financial difficulties and classes for girls were held at Auckland Grammar School until the girls' school moved to new premises in Howe Street in 1909 and the name of the school changed to Auckland Girls' Grammar School. The school received the Goodman Fielder awards for School and Secondary School of the year in 2000.
St Mary's College is a year 7 - 13 integrated Catholic girls' high school situated at 11 New Street, Ponsonby, Auckland in New Zealand. It was founded by the Sisters of Mercy in 1850 and is the oldest existing school in central Auckland, and oldest secondary girls school in New Zealand.
Helen Connon was an educational pioneer from Christchurch, New Zealand. She was the first woman in the British Empire to receive a university degree with honours.
Cybele Ethel Kirk was a New Zealand temperance and welfare worker, suffragist, and teacher. Kirk was one of the first women appointed Justice of the Peace in New Zealand. After serving for many years as president of the Wellington chapter of the Women's Christian Temperance Union of New Zealand, she was elected in 1930 as the national Union's recording secretary. She simultaneously served as president of the National Council of Women of New Zealand from 1934 to 1937. She was elected president of the WCTU NZ in 1946, serving in that role through 1949.
Edith Howitt Searle Grossmann was a New Zealand teacher, novelist, journalist and feminist.
Lily May Atkinson was a New Zealand temperance campaigner, suffragist and feminist. She served in several leadership roles at the local and national levels including Vice President of the New Zealand Alliance for Suppression and Abolition of the Liquor Traffic (1898–1921); president of Women's Christian Temperance Union New Zealand (1901–1905); and, Vice President of the National Council of Women of New Zealand (1901–1903).
Sir William Henry Cooper was a New Zealand educator who served as headmaster of Auckland Grammar School from 1954 to 1972, and later as chancellor of the University of Auckland. He was also a noted sportsman, playing representative cricket and field hockey for Auckland teams.
Geraldine Marian Hemus was a New Zealand lawyer. She was the third woman in New Zealand to be admitted to the bar to practise law as a barrister and solicitor. Hemus also held positions with the National Council of Women of New Zealand and was a prominent member of the Auckland Theosophical Society.
Elizabeth Froomes Christie was a New Zealand painter.
Molly Morell Macalister was a New Zealand artist. Known for painting, woodcarving, and sculpture, her work is held in the collection of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.
Helen Stewart was a New Zealand artist.
Dame Charmian Jocelyn O'Connor is a New Zealand physical organic chemist. She became the first female professor of chemistry at the University of Auckland in 1986, and retired in 2004.
Annie Watt Whitelaw was a British headmistress and educationist. She was a headteacher in New Zealand and the first NZ woman to attend Girton College and to lead a British school. She led religious orders and was the adviser on girls education in the British colonies.
Kate Violet Edgerley was a New Zealand botanist and teacher.
Sarah Jane Kirk was a New Zealand temperance leader, suffragist and human rights activist. She served as president of the Wellington chapter of the Women's Christian Temperance Union New Zealand for over a decade and served as one of the Union's national vice presidents.
Katherine Browning was a New Zealand teacher, who published one of the only four papers by women in the Royal Society of New Zealand's Transactions before 1900.
Aroha Gaylene Harris is a Māori academic. As of 2020, Harris is an associate professor at the University of Auckland, specialising in Māori histories of policy and community development. She is also a member of the Waitangi Tribunal.
Kate Emma McCosh Clark was a New Zealand children's writer, poet, artist and community worker. She wrote and illustrated an early New Zealand children's book, A Southern Cross Fairy Tale, which was published in London in 1891. Her other works included Persephone and other Poems (1894) and Maori Tales and Legends (1896).
