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Stella Casey

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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

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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

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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

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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

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

References

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  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.
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