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

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

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

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
  1. "Helen Wilson: The status of women", in "Women, the Vote and Equality" (audio recording). Wellington, New Zealand: Radio New Zealand.
  2. "My First Eighty Years by Helen Wilson - AbeBooks". www.abebooks.com. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
  3. "Honours list". Nelson Evening Mail. 11 May 1937. p. 5. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  4. "Helen Wilson: The status of women", Radio New Zealand.
  5. Taonga, New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu. "Wilson, Helen Mary". www.teara.govt.nz. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
  6. Jones, Bronwyn. "Wilson, Helen Mary". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
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