Alice Candy

Who was Alice Candy?

Alice Muriel Flora Candy was a New Zealand teacher, academic and historian. Born in West Oxford, New Zealand on 9 July 1888, Candy attended Christchurch Girls' High School and got a Junior Scholarship. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1910 and secured Senior Scholarship in economics, leading to a Master of Arts with honors in political science in 1911. After leaving Canterbury College she taught at several schools including Chilton Saint James School in Lower Hutt.

Candy was appointed to lecture history at the College in December 1920, making her the second woman academic at the institution, after biologist Elizabeth Herriott.

She worked closely with James Hight, including writing the 1927 A short history of the Canterbury College with a register of graduates and associates of the college; it was to be her only major publication; with her background in school teaching, she specialized in teaching rather than research. At the time between a quarter and a third of students were women, and Candy played an active role in caring for them, being warden of Helen Connon Hall, an all-women hall of residence. By the time of her retirement in 1948 she had risen to senior lecturer.