Sheilah Winn

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Sheilah Winn

CBE
Born
Sheilah Maureen Hannah

(1917-06-10)10 June 1917
Wellington, New Zealand
Died27 June 2001(2001-06-27) (aged 84)
Christchurch, New Zealand
Occupation
  • Arts patron
  • philanthropist
Spouse(s)
Percy Brian Winn
​
(m. 1936)​
Children1

Sheilah Maureen Winn CBE (née Hannah; 10 June 1917 – 27 June 2001) was a New Zealand arts patron and philanthropist. She was the founder and principal sponsor of the Sheilah Winn Festival of Shakespeare in Schools.

Early life and family[]

Winn was born in Wellington on 10 June 1917.[1][2][3] She was the daughter of James Alexander Hannah and Sybil Maud (née Johnson).[2] She described herself as a mediocre school student, but said one of her successes was playing the character of Bottom in a school performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream, "ass's head and all".[1] She attended Samuel Marsden Collegiate School from 1928 to 1933, and in 2016 the school inducted her into its old girls Hall of Fame.[4]

Her grandfather Robert Hannah was the founder of the Hannah's footwear chain, and she used her large inheritance to support her love of the arts and travel.[1] When asked why she contributed so generously to the arts, she said: "Because I derive so much pleasure from seeing artists displaying their talents and wares and anyway, what else could I do with my money?"[1] She said she would have liked to have been a performer herself but that supporting the arts was a rewarding alternative.[4] She was a first cousin of actress Edith Campion.[5]

She lived partly in Wellington and partly in Christchurch.[6] On 1 December 1936 she married Percy Brian Winn,[7] and they had one son.[2][1]

Philanthropy[]

Hannah Playhouse

In 1966 she founded the Sheilah Maureen Winn Charitable Trust, and in 1968 she donated NZ$300,000 to found the Hannah Playhouse in Wellington, named for her father's family.[1][2][8] On its opening in 1973 she said: "The theatre measures up to all my expectations. It is intimate in its atmosphere and it is cosy. I feel I have something to live for."[9] The delays and stress of building, however, led her to decide that she would in future donate to artists and art organisations directly.[10][11] She was also the patron of the Downstage Theatre, the professional theatre company that occupied the playhouse until 2013,[9] and donated in support of several other New Zealand theatres including the Isaac Theatre Royal and the Court Theatre.[2][6] In Christchurch she funded the Christian Unity Chapel in the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, which was blessed and opened by Pope John Paul II,[6][3] and the stained glass windows at St Mary's Church.[3] She also made many unpublicised and anonymous donations to other causes throughout her life.[10][11]

She was the co-founder of the Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellowship in 1970,[2] together with New Zealand writer . They conceived the fellowship together in the 1960s, after Manson and her husband discovered that a room was available for rent at the Villa Isola Bella in Menton where Mansfield did some of her most significant writing. They formed a committee in Wellington to raise funds. Their vision was "to give a selected New Zealand writer a period of leisure to write or study [in] a different and more ancient culture, and thereby to see [their] own remote country in a better perspective".[12][13] She also supported the New Zealand Women's Writers Association and the Katherine Mansfield Birthplace Society.[10]

She was the founder and principal sponsor of the Sheilah Winn Festival of Shakespeare in Schools, which began in 1989.[1][14][6] As of 2021 the festival is still running and is managed by the Shakespeare Globe Centre NZ.[15] Until her death she attended the Canterbury regional competitions for the festival on an annual basis.[6] In 1990 she founded the Sheilah Winn Trust for the Promotion of the Arts.[1] In 1993 she supported the Women's Suffrage Centennial Year commemorations in New Zealand, marking 100 years of women's suffrage,[6] and helped fund New Zealand's artistic contribution of embroidered stage hangings for Shakespeare's Globe in London, which opened in 1997.[10][6][11]

Winn died on 27 June 2001 at Christchurch Hospital, aged 84.[1] New Zealand's prime minister Helen Clark said on her death: "Through her unstinting financial generosity and encouragement, Sheilah Winn has supported a wide range of artistic endeavour in New Zealand, from theatre, to weaving, to literature."[11]

Honours and awards[]

Winn was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1980 Birthday Honours for her services to the arts.[16][17] In 1988 she was made an Officer of the Order of St Lazarus of Jerusalem, and in 1992 she was made a Commander.[2][3]

In 1999 she was presented with an award by the mayor of Wellington, Mark Blumsky, for her significant contribution to theatre at the Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards.[18] In the same year she was presented with a Civic Award by the Christchurch City Council for her work promoting Shakespeare in schools.[19]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i "PM pays tribute to woman who funded Downstage". Dominion. 30 June 2001. p. 16.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "Winn, Sheilah Maureen, 1917-2001". National Library of New Zealand. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d New Zealand Who's Who Aotearoa. Auckland: New Zealand Who's Who Aotearoa Ltd. 1994. ISBN 0-908578-24-5.
  4. ^ a b "Sheilah Winn (nee Hannah) CBE". Samuel Marsden Collegiate School. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  5. ^ O'Neil, Andrea (5 September 2015). "Robert Hannah's shoe empire marches into Wellington - 150 years of news". Dominion Post. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Crean, Mike (29 June 2001). "Final curtain for Bard's best friend". The Press. p. 3.
  7. ^ "Marriage: Winn-Hannah". The Evening Post. 3 December 1936. p. 1. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  8. ^ "The Hannah's History". Hannah Playhouse. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  9. ^ a b O'Neil, Andrea (1 September 2015). "Wellington's Hannah Playhouse opens to rave reviews - 150 years of news". Dominion Post. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  10. ^ a b c d Friis, Denis (5 July 2001). "Arts benefactor". The Press. p. 5.
  11. ^ a b c d "On the death of Sheilah Winn OBE, patron of the NZ arts". New Zealand Government. 30 June 2001. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  12. ^ Mortelier, Christine; Robinson, Roger (2006). "Mansfield Fellowship, The". In Robinson, Roger; Wattie, Nelson (eds.). The Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acref/9780195583489.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-1917-3519-6. OCLC 865265749. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  13. ^ Catherall, Sarah (5 November 2015). "Katherine Mansfield Fellowship saved by a literary whip-round". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  14. ^ Iosefa, Sarona (24 March 1999). "On a roll with the Bard". The Press. p. 3.
  15. ^ "SGCNZ's University of Otago Sheilah Winn Shakespeare Festival". Shakespeare Globe Centre NZ. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  16. ^ "No. 48214". The London Gazette (3rd supplement). 14 June 1980. pp. 39–44.
  17. ^ "Queen's Birthday honours 1980" (PDF). Supplement to the New Zealand Gazette. No. 70. 27 June 1980. pp. 1909–1911.
  18. ^ Barnao, Pete (13 December 1999). "Sheilah Winn honoured for support of theatre". Dominion. p. 23.
  19. ^ "Civic awards for service to others". The Press. 24 March 1999. p. 5.
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