The Honourable
Dame Hilda Ross
DBE CStJ
Hilda Ross, c.1951
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Hamilton
In office
1945–1959
Preceded byFrank Findlay
Succeeded byLance Adams-Schneider
Personal details
Born
Grace Hilda Cuthbertha Nixon

(1883-07-06)6 July 1883
Auckland, New Zealand
Died6 March 1959(1959-03-06) (aged 75)
Hamilton, New Zealand
Political partyNational
Spouse
Harry Campbell Manchester Ross
​
​
(m. 1904; died 1940)​

Dame Grace Hilda Cuthbertha Ross DBE CStJ (née Nixon; 6 July 1883 – 6 March 1959), known as Hilda Ross, was a New Zealand politician for the National Party and an activist.

Early years

Nixon was born at Auckland to Adam (a fireman who later became a marine engineer) and Zillah (Johnson) Nixon. Her family lived in both Sydney and Auckland, and she received her education in these cities. She trained as a music teacher and later conducted the Hamilton City Choral Operatic Society.[1]

Family

In 1904, she married Harry Campbell Manchester Ross (died 1940) in Auckland. Her husband founded a furnishing company, "Barton and Ross". They had four sons, including twins who died in infancy. The twins were born in 1907 and survived only a few days but were baptised.[2]

Political career

New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate Party
1945–1946 27th Hamilton National
1946–1949 28th Hamilton National
1949–1951 29th Hamilton National
1951–1954 30th Hamilton National
1954–1957 31st Hamilton National
1957–1959 32nd Hamilton National

Her first elected posts were the Waikato Hospital Board (1941) and the Hamilton Borough Council (1944).[3] She was Deputy Mayor of Hamilton in 1945.[1] Following the death of the incumbent MP for Hamilton, Frank Findlay,[4] she won the 1945 by-election to represent the electorate in the New Zealand Parliament, where she remained until her death 14 years later in 1959.[5][6] As MP she held various posts in the First National Government, including Member of the Executive Council (1949–1957),[7] Minister of Social Security (1957),[8] Minister of Welfare of Women and Children (1949–1957),[9] and Minister of Child Welfare (1954–1957).[10][6]

Later life

In 1952, she was appointed as a Commander of the Order of St John.[11] Ross was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1956 New Year Honours.[5][12] She died on 6 March 1959 in Hamilton.[1]

Quote

  • "The Country is today enjoying so much prosperity that married women with children should wake up to their responsibilities in the home and stay at home".[13]

Legacy

  • Dame Hilda Ross Memorial Arts Centre & Dame Hilda Ross Memorial Arts Centre Appeal
  • A statue of Ross was erected in Hamilton in 2020.[14][15]

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 Gustafson 1986, p. 340.
  2. ↑ Dalley, Bronwyn. "Ross, Grace Hilda Cuthberta". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 27 October 2013.
  3. ↑ "Dame Hilda Ross – Visit Hamilton". www.visithamilton.co.nz. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
  4. ↑ Wilson 1985, p. 196.
  5. 1 2 Wilson 1985, p. 231.
  6. 1 2 Hilda Ross bio
  7. ↑ Wilson 1985, pp. 86–88.
  8. ↑ Wilson 1985, p. 88.
  9. ↑ Wilson 1985, p. 133.
  10. ↑ Wilson 1985, p. 118.
  11. ↑ "No. 39433". The London Gazette. 4 January 1952. p. 137.
  12. ↑ "Dame Hilda Ross, 1883–1959 – Hamilton Heritage – Kete Hamilton". Ketehamilton.peoplesnetworknz.info. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  13. ↑ Carlyon, Jenny; Morrow, Diana (2013). Changing Times: New Zealand since 1945. Auckland University Press. ISBN 9781869407827.
  14. ↑ Mike Mather (13 August 2020). "Beloved political pioneer Hilda Ross pulled into Captain Hamilton debate". Waikato Times. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  15. ↑ McRae, Andrew (31 October 2020). "'Hands-on activist': Statue of Hilda Ross being unveiled in Hamilton". Radio New Zealand.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hilda Ross.
  • Gustafson, Barry (1986). The First 50 Years : A History of the New Zealand National Party. Auckland: Reed Methuen. ISBN 0-474-00177-6.
  • Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.
  • Women in Parliamentary Life 1970–1990: Hocken Lecture 1993 by Marilyn Waring, page 34–35 (Hocken Library, University of Otago, 1994) ISBN 0-902041-61-4
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