Noeline Baker

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Noeline Baker
Noeline Baker at Moturoa Moana crop.jpg
Noeline Baker in c. 1953
Born
Isabel Noeline Baker

(1878-12-25)25 December 1878
Christchurch, New Zealand
Died25 August 1958(1958-08-25) (aged 79)
Stewart Island, New Zealand
NationalityNew Zealander
Alma materFitzherbert Terrace School
OccupationSocial Activist, Suffragist, Botanist

Isabel Noeline Baker MBE (25 December 1878 – 25 August 1958), known as Noeline Baker, was a New Zealand suffragist, wartime women's labour administrator, gardener and peace educator.

Biography[]

She was born in the Christchurch suburb of Opawa, New Zealand on 25 December 1878 to Isabel Baker (née Strachey) and John Holland Baker, chief surveyor of Canterbury.[1] Isabel (1845–1920) was a daughter of Richard Strachey of Ashwick Grove, Somerset, the third son of Sir Henry Strachey, 1st Baronet. Isabel's mother, Anne Marie (or Anna Maria), was a daughter of Alexander Powell MP,[2] a Tory member of parliament for Downton, Wiltshire.[3]

She attended Samuel Marsden Collegiate School in Wellington, then known as Fitzherbert Terrace School.[4] Her parents returned to England living in Guildford, Surrey, where Baker was active in the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies and a founding member of the local branch. She was also a member of the London Society for Women's Suffrage.[1] For her organising of women's labour during World War I, she was appointed Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1920.[5]

She returned to New Zealand and built a house at Halfmoon Bay on Stewart Island called Moturau Moana, and used a checklist by botanist Leonard Cockayne to populate it with all the local indigenous plants. Today Moturau Moana is New Zealand's southernmost public garden after she donated it to the government.[1] For her botanical work at Moturau Moana, Baker was awarded the Loder Cup in 1949.[6] Other items of hers are held by Te Papa, the national museum in Wellington.[7]

She edited her father's account of his time in New Zealand[8] and performed music throughout her life.[9][10]

Baker died on 25 August 1958 on Stewart Island.[1]

For her work in England during World War I, she was posthumously inducted into the Hall of Fame of Samuel Marsden Collegiate School in 2015.[11]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Taylor, Leah. "Isabel Noeline Baker". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  2. ^ Mosley, Charles, ed. (1999). "Strachey". Burke's Peerage and Baronetage. 2. Switzerland: Burke's Peerage. pp. 2719–20. ISBN 2-940085-02-1.
  3. ^ Farrell, Steven. "Powell, Alexander (1782–1847)". The History of Parliament online. Institute of Historical Research. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
  4. ^ "Hall of Fame Marsden Karori". Samuel Marsden Collegiate School. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
  5. ^ "No. 31840". The London Gazette (Supplement). 26 March 1920. p. 3814.
  6. ^ "All Loder Cup winners from 1929". Department of Conservation. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
  7. ^ "Portrait of a young man – Collections Online – Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa". collections.tepapa.govt.nz. 2012. Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  8. ^ Baker, Noeline, ed. (1932). A surveyor in New Zealand, 1857–1896 : the recollections of John Baker. Auckland: Whitcombe & Tombs.
  9. ^ "Trinity College Instrumental and Vocal Examinations". The Evening Post. LI (31). 6 February 1896. p. 2. Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  10. ^ "W.D.F.U. Social and Dance". Ellesmere Guardian. LIX (36). 6 May 1938. p. 5. Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  11. ^ "(Isabel) Noeline Baker". Samuel Marsden Collegiate School. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
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