304:, she argued that women should pay the same unemployment levy as men in order to qualify for relief work. She also spoke out against an NCW resolution that domestic workers should not pay tax, saying that those who had proposed the resolution had "allowed a lot of sloppy sentiment to influence them ... The women who follow this employment are honoured and valued citizens who should be prepared to bear the burden of tax. If the National Council stands for the equality of women, it cannot endorse this pernicious exception." She also held office in the Auckland Unemployed Women's Emergency Committee during this time, and travelled around the country urging people to buy New Zealand-made goods and support local businesses.
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political office. She felt it was important, however, that women in politics not confine themselves to women's concerns: speaking in 1921 she said "women must act as
Citizens rather than members of one sex and work not as women against men, but as men and women together". She also believed that there should be no favours for women because of their sex, and argued that women had to compete equally with men to earn their place in the world.
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165:. She believed in the importance of women participating fully and equally in public life, and was a key figure in the revival of the feminist movement in New Zealand after women's suffrage. She was one of the first women to stand for Parliament in New Zealand and ultimately stood (unsuccessfully) seven times.
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Melville was a driver of the revival of the
National Council of Women of New Zealand (NCW) in 1918, having called the first meeting of the Auckland NCW branch in 1917, and the following year attending the preliminary conference in Wellington where the NCW was formally reinstated. She became the first
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she became the first woman to be elected to a city council in New
Zealand, gaining a seat on the Auckland City Council which she held for 33 consecutive years to 1946. In this role she introduced women's groups to the council and fought discrimination on such issues as the employment of women as tram
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She was taught at home by her mother until she was seven, and her mother's influence contributed to her lifelong belief in the importance of education and knowledge. Later in life she was to speak of the "armour of education". From age seven she attended
Tokatoka School. In 1895 she was second in New
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Club for businesswomen, of which she was secretary and later vice-president, the
Auckland Lyceum Club and the New Zealand Society for the Protection of Women and Children. In 1914 she founded a woman's society called the Auckland Civic League, with the goal of working with the city to improve social
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observed that although initially
Melville was viewed by her male colleagues as "rather an improper joke", she came to be respected for her "logical mind and abundant common sense ... The contributions she made to debates were always models of their kind, brief, completely thought-out and containing
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In 1898, Melville finished secondary school and passed the
Solicitors' General Knowledge Examination. She was too young to study law at university at this time, so joined the Auckland firm of Devore and Cooper (later Devore and Martin) as a clerk and received her early training there. One of the
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seat, she won 30.9% of the vote to Labour's 36.5%. Baume and Cooke also failed to be elected, and a political cartoon at the time showed two women standing outside a house labelled "Woman's
Kingdom", with Baume saying to Melville: "After all, dear, there's no place like home for a woman. We can
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Melville was highly active in promoting women's causes, and in encouraging full participation by women in public life. Much of her activity centred on women's associations and committees, and she held a number of senior positions in such organisations. She was a strong advocate of women seeking
458:, said at this meeting that "her service will remain forever an example to all citizens and in particular to the younger women of our city and indeed of our dominion". It was at this meeting that the NCW decided to commemorate her by building a hall for women, which led to the opening of the
325:... women would get nothing done for them in the legislation unless they had women in parliament. They knew what became of their conference resolutions which were forwarded to the government, and went into the waste-paper basket. They would make no progress until they got women in the House.
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conductors and the granting of taxi licences to women. She tended to be conservative in issues not relating to women's rights, and took part in all aspects of civic work, including sitting on the key finance committee, chairing the library committee and working on parks issues. Journalist
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in 1906, she was only the second woman in New
Zealand to reach this stage after Ethel Benjamin. Melville established her own legal practice, being the first woman in New Zealand to do so, and practised on her own account for 37 years. Her legal practice consisted mainly of
436:. In 1944, she founded the Women for Wellington movement, which encouraged women to stand for Parliament and other political offices, and provided training on public speaking and committee work. It was however a small group and did not survive her death.
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original ideas of real value." She was, however, passed over in 1938 and 1941 for the role of deputy mayor, despite being the most qualified candidate by virtue of seniority and ability, which resulted in objections from women's groups.
409:, generally performing well but never winning. Although unsuccessful, her campaigns gave her an opportunity to publicise and advance the interests of the NCW, including raising the age of consent and appointing women police.
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Melville was active in the campaign that led to the Women's
Parliamentary Rights Act 1919, allowing women to stand for Parliament for the first time (despite women having been given the vote in 1893). Melville believed
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157:(13 May 1882 – 27 July 1946) was a New Zealand lawyer and politician. She was New Zealand's second female lawyer, and the first woman elected to a city council in New Zealand. She sat on the
389:, after being dissatisfied with the Reform Party's process of candidate selection, she stood as an independent candidate. Having two candidates split the Reform Party's vote and assisted
447:, spoke at her funeral, which was attended by hundreds of representatives of women's groups and local authorities. Three trucks were needed to take flowers to the graveside at
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362:. Melville believed that she had been blocked due to the Reform Party not wanting a woman as a candidate (in part because the selected candidate was a former member of the
204:). She boarded with relatives in Auckland during this period. Although it is not known why Martin decided to become a lawyer, it was while she was at secondary school that
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229:. Her family was unable to provide her with financial support so she attended night classes and continued working at the firm. While studying she met and befriended
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She believed strongly that women must work together to advance their cause, and established a number of other women's groups, including the Auckland
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president of the Auckland branch and from 1919 to 1922 was national president. In her work for the NCW she travelled to Europe in 1924 with
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is also named after her, having been acquired by the city in 1917, and for many years has had a reputation as a women's sportsground.
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443:. Her coffin was laid in state in the Auckland City Council chamber, and the city flags were flown at half-mast. The prime minister,
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462:(now the Ellen Melville Centre) in central Auckland in 1962. When the centre was refurbished in 2017, a new bronze sculpture by
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conditions. She urged women to take a broad view and "get in personal touch with the women's movement throughout the world".
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and encouraged her to enter local politics, and the law firm was supportive of her studies. In 1904 she enrolled at
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After her death, the NCW called a meeting in Auckland to discuss an appropriate memorial for her. The city mayor,
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candidate, to win the seat; an event which damaged her reputation within the party. She subsequently stood in the
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293:. In 1934 she was a delegate to the conference of the Pan-Pacific and South East Asian Women's Association in
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for 33 years and was tireless in her work for women's organisations and causes, including in particular the
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Zealand in the Junior District Scholarship, which entitled her to study for three years at what is now
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Coney, Sandra (1995). Macdonald, Charlotte; Penfold, Merimeri; Williams, Bridget (eds.).
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and was a means of financial support, which enabled her to establish a political career.
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181:. Her father Alexander Melville was a farmer and boatbuilder, while her mother Eliza (
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470:, was added to the outside of the building to celebrate Melville's life and work.
1041:"Members for Everywoman? The Campaign Promises of Women Parliamentary Candidates"
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370:. She was however selected as the Reform Party's candidate for Grey Lynn in the
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in order to meet other prominent feminists. In the United Kingdom she assisted
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598:(4th ed.). Wellington, NZ: Bridget Williams Books Ltd. pp. 435–442.
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noted that she had secured more votes "than any other woman has ever polled".
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with her sister in the 1870s. Melville was the third of their seven children.
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699:"Tales from the Crypt: Pioneer feminist's three decade council career"
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The First 50 Years : A History of the New Zealand National Party
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1097:"Internationally acclaimed artist brings Justice to Freyberg Place"
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Melville was born in Tokatoka, a neighbourhood in Arapohue, on the
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1072:"Ellen Melville Centre: Creating community in inner-city Auckland"
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became the first woman to be admitted as a lawyer in New Zealand.
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Unsuccessful candidates in the 1943 New Zealand general election
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Unsuccessful candidates in the 1931 New Zealand general election
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Unsuccessful candidates in the 1928 New Zealand general election
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Unsuccessful candidates in the 1925 New Zealand general election
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Unsuccessful candidates in the 1922 New Zealand general election
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Unsuccessful candidates in the 1919 New Zealand general election
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She was one of six candidates who stood for selection for the
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Appendices to the Journals of House of Representatives Online
374:, and secured 5,296 votes against the incumbent's 6,061. The
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always get elected to this house without opposition." In the
349:. Despite the fact that this electorate was traditionally a
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801:"On Suffrage Day, the long road from a house to the House"
992:. Vol. LXIX, no. 233. 3 October 1938. p. 4
188:) was a former teacher, who had run a private school in
1020:. Vol. CXIX, no. 105. 6 May 1935. p. 4
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The Book of New Zealand Women: Ko Kui Ma Te Kaupapa
1192:People educated at Auckland Girls' Grammar School
826:"The General Election, 1925 (Return Relative To)"
289:with her electioneering campaign and stayed with
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620:"Resentment Expressed: Choice of Deputy-Mayor"
672:"Dominion Products: Miss Melville's Lectures"
962:. Auckland: Reed Methuen. pp. 26, 378.
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799:Brookes, Barbara (19 September 2017).
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1153:, featuring Melville and Baume, 1919
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1103:. Auckland Council. 26 October 2017
530:Dictionary of New Zealand Biography
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434:King George V Silver Jubilee Medal
432:In 1935, Melville was awarded the
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832:. National Library of New Zealand
535:Ministry for Culture and Heritage
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439:Melville died on 27 July 1946 in
1252:20th-century New Zealand lawyers
1237:Local politicians in New Zealand
1187:People from the Northland Region
750:"Women can stand for Parliament"
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936:. 16 April 1926. p. 4
910:. 15 March 1926. p. 2
730:. 25 March 2014. p. 7
1177:Auckland City Councillors
1012:"Official jubilee medals"
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852:"Women in the Limelight"
778:. Penguin. p. 266.
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724:"Auckland Civic League"
525:"Melville, Eliza Ellen"
347:electorate of Grey Lynn
316:Parliamentary campaigns
202:Auckland Grammar School
774:King, Michael (2003).
676:The New Zealand Herald
650:The New Zealand Herald
624:The New Zealand Herald
428:Later years and legacy
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403:1931 general election
399:1928 general election
372:1925 general election
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339:1919 general election
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276:Women's organisations
258:Auckland City Council
159:Auckland City Council
155:Eliza Ellen Melville
75:Eliza Ellen Melville
754:New Zealand History
460:Ellen Melville Hall
238:admitted to the bar
930:"Eden By-Election"
904:"Still Determined"
449:Waikumete Cemetery
416:electorate by the
283:Elsie Mary Griffin
236:When Melville was
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102:27 July 1946
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1172:1946 deaths
1167:1882 births
805:Stuff.co.nz
360:Albert Davy
300:During the
85:13 May 1882
1161:Categories
908:Patea Mail
785:0143018671
481:References
456:John Allum
405:, and the
302:Depression
287:Lady Astor
269:Robin Hyde
217:partners,
179:Dargaville
169:Early life
141:Profession
81:1882-05-13
466:, titled
391:Rex Mason
177:south of
92:Northland
57:1913–1946
53:In office
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1051:(2): 191
958:(1986).
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810:14 March
759:14 March
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