Stella Casey

Dame Stella Katherine Casey DBE (née Wright; 22 May 1924 – 7 July 2000) was a New Zealand campaigner for social issues as well as a prominent member of various national organisations.

Early life and family

Stella Katherine Wright was born in New Plymouth on 22 May 1924, the daughter of Stella Regina Wright (née Hickey, 1887–1973), a schoolteacher prior to her wedding, and William James Wright (1883–1959).[1][2][3] She was a Roman Catholic.

She was raised at her family dairy farm in Taranaki[4] and was educated at Opunake District High School, and Sacred Heart College, Christchurch.[3] She went on to study at Victoria University College from 1947, graduating Bachelor of Arts in 1948.[3]

In 1948, she married Maurice Eugene Casey, a lawyer and later Judge in the Court of Appeal,[4] who was born in 1923.[5] The couple had either nine[5] or ten[6] children (sources vary).

Community activities

Casey was a member of the Catholic Women's League,[7] the National Council of Women,[8] the Christchurch Polytechnic Council and the New Zealand branch of the Federation of University Women. She compiled a history of the Catholic Women's League of New Zealand which was published just after her death in 2000.[9][10]

She started her first campaign in 1969 in Browns Bay on Auckland's East Coast Bays when she objected to pornography being on display in shops; this resulted in a nationwide debate.[1] She also lobbied against the use of drugs, raising the issue with local politicians[11] and writing an article titled "Drugs and the Young New Zealander"[12] for the Catholic Women's League in the Diocese of Auckland Publications.[13]

Honours and awards

In the 1991 New Year Honours, Casey was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire, for services to the community.[14] Later that year, in the Queen's Birthday Honours, her husband, by then a Court of Appeal judge, was appointed a Knight Bachelor.[15] In 1993, Stella Casey was awarded the New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal.[16]

Death

Casey died in Wellington on 7 July 2000, aged 76.[1] Her husband died in 2012.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c Clarke, Josie (22 July 2000). "Obituary: Stella Casey". The New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on 31 December 2014. Retrieved 31 December 2014.
  2. ^ "Opunake". Hawera & Normanby Star. Vol. XLI. 2 July 1921. p. 4. Archived from the original on 31 December 2014. Retrieved 31 December 2014.
  3. ^ a b c Taylor, Alister; Coddington, Deborah (1994). Honoured by the Queen – New Zealand. Auckland: New Zealand Who's Who Aotearoa. p. 93. ISBN 0-908578-34-2.
  4. ^ a b "Casey, Stella Katherine (Dame), 1924-2000". natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 6 October 2024.
  5. ^ a b Adlam, Geoff. "Rt Hon Sir Maurice Eugene Casey, 1923–2012". New Zealand Law Society. Archived from the original on 31 December 2014. Retrieved 31 December 2014.
  6. ^ a b Tahana, Yvonne (21 January 2012). "Judge's ruling halted divisive All Black tour". The New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on 31 December 2014. Retrieved 31 December 2014.
  7. ^ Hercock, Fay (1999). Alice: The Making of a Woman Doctor, 1914–1974. Auckland University Press. p. 164. ISBN 978-1-86940-206-8.
  8. ^ McIntyre, Roberta (1996). The Women's Parliament: The National Council of the Women of New Zealand, 1896–1920. Victoria University Press. ISBN 978-0-86473-299-6.
  9. ^ "50 years of resolution / Stella Casey". natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 6 October 2024.
  10. ^ Page, Dorothy (1996). The National Council of Women: A Centennial History. Auckland University Press. p. 220. ISBN 978-1-86940-154-2.
  11. ^ New Zealand Parliament (1971). Parliamentary Debates: House of Representatives.
  12. ^ Casey, Stella Katherine (1968). Drugs and the Young New Zealander. C.S.L. Publications.
  13. ^ Review: Drugs and the Young New Zealander. New Zealand Quarterly Review. 1968.
  14. ^ "No. 52383". The London Gazette (2nd supplement). 31 December 1990. p. 29.
  15. ^ "No. 52564". The London Gazette (Supplement). 14 June 1991. p. 29.
  16. ^ "The New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal 1993 – register of recipients". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 26 July 2018. Archived from the original on 18 September 2018. Retrieved 18 September 2018.