# Bella MacCallum

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**Bella Dytes MacIntosh MacCallum** (née **Cross**, 1886 – 17 March 1927) was a New Zealand and British botanist and mycologist and was New Zealand's first female doctor of science.[1][2]

## Early life and education

MacCallum was born in [Timaru](/source/Timaru), New Zealand, the daughter of George and Rebecca Cross.[3] She attended [Timaru Girls' High School](/source/Timaru_Girls'_High_School), then [Canterbury College](/source/University_of_Canterbury), earning a bachelor's degree in 1908 and a master's degree in 1909 with First Class Honours in botany, focussing on halophyte plant adaptations to salty soil.[4] Her master's degree involved field observations and anatomical studies, and compared botanical formations in Christchurch to Timaru.[5] She was awarded a National Research Scholarship, which she used to continue research on wetland plants.[4] She taught at high-schools before she earned her doctorate from the [University of New Zealand](/source/University_of_New_Zealand) in 1917 with a thesis on *[Phormium](/source/Phormium)* (N.Z. flax), titled *Phormium with Regard to Its Economic Importance*; a work whose origins in 1909 were inspired by the work and advice of Dr [Leonard Cockayne](/source/Leonard_Cockayne).[2][4][6] She represented her university in tennis, was a member of the hockey 1st XI, and the Executive of the Students' Association.[2]

## Family

In 1915, MacCallum married Lance (Lancelot) Shadwell Jennings, and became known as Bella Jennings.[3] Both were tennis champions and researchers.[2] Captain Jennings was killed on 15 September 1916 at the [Western Front](/source/Western_Front_(World_War_I)), aged 23.[7] In 1919, she married [Peter MacCallum](/source/Peter_MacCallum) at [St Giles' Cathedral](/source/St_Giles'_Cathedral) in [Edinburgh](/source/Edinburgh). She had three daughters from her second marriage.[3]

## Career and research

In 1919, MacCallum moved to England, where she studied bacteriology at [Cambridge Medical School](/source/School_of_Clinical_Medicine,_University_of_Cambridge), then moved to the [University of Edinburgh](/source/University_of_Edinburgh), where she researched fungi, specifically timber staining fungi,[4] publishing *Some Wood-Staining Fungi* in 1920.[6] She was elected a [Fellow of the Linnean Society](/source/Linnean_Society_of_London) in 1921. Less is known about her life after this point; she moved to Australia when husband Peter MacCallum was elected Chair of Pathology at [Melbourne University](/source/Melbourne_University),[5] and died on 17 March 1927,[6] giving birth to their third daughter, Bella.[1]

In 2017, MacCallum featured as one of the [Royal Society Te Apārangi's](/source/Royal_Society_Te_Ap%C4%81rangi) "[150 women in 150 words](/source/150_women_in_150_words)" project, celebrating the contributions of women to knowledge in New Zealand.[4]

## References

1. Riley, Robyn (April 19, 2009). ["60 years of Sir Peter MacCallum's dream"](http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/portraits-of-hope/story-e6freuy9-1225700166324). *[Sunday Herald Sun](/source/Sunday_Herald_Sun)*. Retrieved August 2, 2016.

1. Thomson, A.D. ["Some Pioneer Women Graduates in Botany from Canterbury University College"](https://web.archive.org/web/20160214093934/http://bts.nzpcn.org.nz/bts_pdf/Cant_2000_34__54-63.pdf). Centre for Studies on N.Z. Science History. Archived from [the original](http://bts.nzpcn.org.nz/bts_pdf/Cant_2000_34__54-63.pdf) on February 14, 2016. Retrieved 8 February 2016.

1. ["Social Notes"](http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/140731151). *[The Australasian](/source/The_Australasian)*. 26 March 1927. p. 54. Retrieved 31 March 2016.

1. ["Royal Society Te Apārangi - Bella MacCullum"](https://royalsociety.org.nz/150th-anniversary/150-women-in-150-words/1918-1967/bella-maccullum/). *royalsociety.org.nz*. Retrieved 2018-10-09.

1. Creese, Mary R. S. (2010). *Ladies in the laboratory III : South African, Australian, New Zealand, and Canadian women in science : nineteenth and early twentieth centuries : a survey of their contributions*. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9780810872899. [OCLC 659564120](https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/659564120)

1. Ogilvie, Marilyn Bailey & Harvey, Joy Dorothy (2000). [*The Biographical Dictionary of Women in Science: L-Z*](https://books.google.com/books?id=LTSYePZvSXYC). Taylor & Francis. p. 818. ISBN 9780415920407.

1. ["Lancelot Shadwell Jennings"](http://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/record/C7709). [Auckland War Memorial Museum](/source/Auckland_War_Memorial_Museum). Retrieved 31 March 2016.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Bella MacCallum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bella_MacCallum) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bella_MacCallum?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.