Agnes Louisa Weston (née Steuart, 18 January 1879 – 8 August 1972) from Wellington was appointed a member of the New Zealand Legislative Council on 22 June 1950. Steuart was born on 18 January 1879 at

Manutahi Manutahi is a small community in south Taranaki, New Zealand, situated on SH3 about halfway between the towns of Hāwera and Patea. The area was a significant site in the New Zealand Wars of the 1860s. The major industries in Manutahi today ar ...

, the daughter of Frederick Jeffray Steuart and Alice Mary (). Her father was mayor of Stratford in 1900 and 1901. On 17 Jun 1905, Steuart married Claude Weston at St James' Church, Sydney. Her husband would later effectively be the first president of the National Party (1936–1940). Claude Weston participated in World War I and was wounded in 1916 when he had risen to the rank of

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

. In World War II, Agnes Louisa Weston was a member of the women's section of the Returned Servicemen's Association (RSA) and was elected chairperson of the committee that encouraged social contact between women related to men in active service. They initially lived in

New Plymouth New Plymouth ( mi, Ngāmotu) is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Plymouth, Devon from where the first English settlers to New Plymouth migrated. ...

, where her husband had his law practice, but moved to Auckland in 1931. This was followed by a move to Wellington in 1933. The Westons had one daughter and one son. Their daughter, a medical doctor, would marry Tom Shand who later was a member of parliament. In the , Claude Weston was a candidate for the National Party in the electorate. He died suddenly on 10 November 1946 in Wellington, and she replaced him as a candidate. The election was won by Charles Chapman of the Labour Party. She was one of three female members of the suicide squad, which was appointed by the First National Government in 1950 to vote for its abolition. The other women appointed in 1950 were

Cora Louisa Burrell Cora Louisa Burrell (née Keetley, 19 June 1889 – 20 October 1962) from Christchurch was a National Party activist, on the Canterbury Division executive and a Dominion councillor. National Party historian Barry Gustafson said that she was "one ...

and

Ethel Gould Ethel Marion Gould (née Hirst; 2 February 1895 – 9 March 1992) from Auckland was appointed a member of the New Zealand Legislative Council on 22 June 1950. Early life Ethel Marion Hirst was born in Auckland on 2 February 1895. Her father was ...

. Only two other women, Mary Anderson and

Mary Dreaver Mary Manson Dreaver (née Bain, 31 March 1887 – 19 July 1961) was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party. Biography Early life She was born in Dunedin, the oldest of 13 children of Alexander Manson Bain and Hanna Kiely. She married A ...

, had ever been appointed to the Council (in 1946). Weston was the president of the Women's Auxiliary RSA in 1946. Weston died in Wellington on 8 August 1972, aged 93.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weston, Agnes 1879 births 1972 deaths Unsuccessful candidates in the 1946 New Zealand general election Members of the New Zealand Legislative Council New Zealand National Party MLCs Women members of the New Zealand Legislative Council People from Wellington City People from New Plymouth Agnes

See also

References