Mabel Howard
|
The Honourable Mabel Howard |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Christchurch East |
|
|
In office 1943 – 1946 |
|
| Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Sydenham |
|
|
In office 1946 – 1969 |
|
| Personal details | |
| Born |
18 April 1894 Bowden, Adelaide  Australia
|
| Died | 23 June 1972 (aged 78) Sunnyside Hospital, Christchurch  New Zealand
|
| Political party | Labour |
| Spouse(s) | never married |
| Relations | Ted Howard (father) |
| Children | none |
| Profession | Politician, trade unionist, and community worker |
Mabel Bowden Howard (18 April 1894 – 23 June 1972) was a well-known New Zealand trade unionist and politician. She was the first woman secretary of a predominantly male union (the Canterbury General Labourers’ Union).
She was a Member of Parliament for the Labour Party from 1943 until 1969. In 1947 she became New Zealand's first woman cabinet minister when she was made Minister of Health and Minister in charge of Child Welfare. She is remembered for waving two large pairs of bloomers in parliament in support of her successful campaign to have clothing sizes standardised.
Mabel Howard was born in Bowden, near Adelaide, Australia on 18 April 1894. She moved to New Zealand with her father (Ted Howard) and sisters after her mother, Harriett Garard Goring, died in 1903.
Howard joined the Christchurch Socialist Party when still at the Christchurch Technical Institute. She entered the Trades Hall in 1911 as an office assistant for the Canterbury General Labourers’ Union. In 1933, at the age of 39, she became the first woman to become secretary of a predominantly male union in New Zealand.
Between 1933 and 1968, Howard was a councillor for Christchurch City Council for a total of 19 years: 1933–1935, 1938–1941, 1950–1959 and 1963–1968. Howard also served on the Christchurch Drainage Board and North Canterbury Hospital Board.
Her father, Ted Howard, was Member of Parliament for Christchurch South from 1919 until his death in 1939. Mabel Howard hoped to be chosen to stand for the 1939 by-election after her father's death, and although she had local support, the Labour Party chose Christchurch mayor Robert Macfarlane.
...
Wikipedia