Elsie Locke
| Elsie Locke | |
|---|---|
Bronze bust of Elsie Locke as part of the Twelve Local Heroes sculpture
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| Born |
Elsie Violet Farrelly 17 August 1912 Hamilton, New Zealand |
| Died | 8 April 2001 (aged 88) Christchurch, New Zealand |
| Other names | Elsie Freeman |
| Education |
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| Occupation | Writer, historian |
| Known for | Children's literature, activism |
| Relatives |
Maire Leadbeater (daughter) Keith Locke (son) |
Elsie Violet Locke (née Farrelly; 17 August 1912 – 8 April 2001) was a New Zealand writer, historian, and leading activist in the feminism and peace movements. Probably best known for her children's literature, The Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature said that she "made a remarkable contribution to New Zealand society", for which the University of Canterbury awarded her an honorary D.Litt. in 1987.
Locke was the youngest of six children, born Elsie Violet Farrelly in Hamilton, New Zealand on 17 August 1912. She was the daughter of William John Allerton Farrelly (1878–1945) and Ellen Electa Farrelly (née Bryan; 1874–1936). Both of Locke's parents were born in New Zealand, and while only educated to primary level (see Education in New Zealand § Years of schooling), they were both progressive thinkers. William's intelligence was recognised early at school, and he strongly encouraged education for his children, himself being unable to continue his education past Standard Six. Meanwhile, Ellen had been a teenager during the New Zealand women's suffrage movement, and passed on the idea of gender equality to her daughters, as well as teaching them the value of being independent.
Elsie grew up in Waiuku, a small town south of Auckland, where she developed a repugnance towards war at an early age. As a young girl, she witnessed the injuries of World War I veterans first hand — "...when visiting Warkworth I was taken to see a man whose face had been half shot away and who never went off his farm". Though she left Waiuku at a young age, she retained strong ties to the town into her old age, and often returned. Unusually for a Pākehā of her generation, she developed a close relationship with the local iwi in Waiuku, Ngāti Te Ata, and her later research proved vital to their Treaty of Waitangi claim.
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