Helen Wilson (writer)
Helen Mary Wilson OBE (née Ostler; 4 May 1869 – 16 April 1957) was a New Zealand teacher, farmer, community leader and writer. She was born in Oamaru, New Zealand, in 1869.[1]
Political life[edit]
Wilson was active in the Women's Division of the Farmer's Union and one of the early Dominion presidents. She founded the Piopio branch of the organisation in 1927,[2] and in the 1937 Coronation Honours, she was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, in recognition of her service as Dominion president of the Women's Division.[3]
Interviewed for a radio program during the 1950s, Wilson recalled the process involved for women in New Zealand in obtaining the right to vote and also discussed the Married Women's Property Act.[4]
Books[edit]
Wilson was the author of several books, including the autobiography My First Eighty Years.[2] This book is regarded as a New Zealand classic.[5]
Personal life[edit]
Wilson spent several years in the North Island town of Levin with her mother, prominent businesswoman and women's suffrage campaigner Emma Ostler.[5] Helen Wilson married politician Charles Kendall Wilson on 16 May 1892.[6] She lived for most of her adult life in Piopio in the Waitomo district of the North Island. She moved to Hamilton in 1942.
References[edit]
- ^ "Helen Wilson: The status of women", in "Women, the Vote and Equality" (audio recording). Wellington, New Zealand: Radio New Zealand.
- ^ a b "My First Eighty Years by Helen Wilson - AbeBooks". www.abebooks.com. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
- ^ "Honours list". Nelson Evening Mail. 11 May 1937. p. 5. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
- ^ "Helen Wilson: The status of women", Radio New Zealand.
- ^ a b Taonga, New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu. "Wilson, Helen Mary". www.teara.govt.nz. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
- ^ Jones, Bronwyn. "Wilson, Helen Mary". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
- 1869 births
- 1957 deaths
- New Zealand autobiographers
- New Zealand schoolteachers
- Writers from Oamaru
- Women autobiographers
- 20th-century New Zealand women writers
- 19th-century New Zealand women writers
- 19th-century New Zealand writers
- 20th-century New Zealand writers
- New Zealand Officers of the Order of the British Empire
- Colony of New Zealand people