Christine Clare McElwee (formerly La Varis, ; 22 July 1946 – 25 June 2022) was a New Zealand local politician, historian, author and teacher. She served as a member of the

Taupō District Council Taupō District Council is a territorial authority that administers the Taupō District in the Central North Island of New Zealand. The district stretches from the small town of Mangakino in the northwest to the Tongariro National Park in the s ...

from 1995 to 2010, including six years as deputy mayor.

Early life and family

McElwee was born on 22 July 1946 in

Whanganui Whanganui (; ), also spelled Wanganui, is a city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest navigable waterway. Whangan ...

. She attended

Whanganui Girls' College Whanganui Girls' College is located in Jones Street Whanganui near the Dublin Street Bridge. The school is one of the oldest single sex educational facilities in New Zealand, founded in 1891. Principals * Mary Isabel Fraser Notable alumnae * ...

, where she was head girl. She studied geography at

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington ( mi, Te Herenga Waka) is a university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. The university is well know ...

, where she completed a teaching diploma, and subsequently worked as a high school teacher in Wellington and London. In the 1980s and 1990s, she worked as a tourism marketing consultant. In 1975, she married

Ray La Varis Ramon John (Ray) La Varis (also known as Del La Varis; 19 February 1932 – 14 December 1986) was an importer in Auckland, New Zealand, and a politician of the National Party. Early years La Varis was born in Auckland in 1932. He received his ed ...

, a politician, who died in 1986. In 1991, she married Clayton McElwee, who predeceased her by two months. She had one daughter.

Later life

McElwee served as a councillor on the

from 1995 to 2010, including six years as deputy mayor. As a councillor she advocated for the environment, the arts, rural communities, and greater accountability and transparency. Her nephew,

Cameron Brewer Cameron Eric Brewer (born 8 March 1973) is a New Zealand former politician who was an elected representative on Auckland Council for nine years – a two-term Auckland Councillor for Ōrākei Ward, and one term as an elected member of the Rodney ...

, said that she was a mentor to him in his role as an Auckland city councillor. McElwee made contributions to

Taupō Taupō (), sometimes written Taupo, is a town on the north-eastern shore of Lake Taupō, New Zealand's largest lake, in the central North Island. It is the largest urban area of the Taupō District, and the second-largest urban area in the Wai ...

local history. She lived in

Acacia Bay Acacia Bay is a community on a small inlet on the western shores of Tapuaeharuru Bay, Lake Taupō in New Zealand. There are four main beach areas. It is located approximately 2 miles west of Taupō. Demographics Acacia Bay covers and had an ...

for nearly 50 years and was a member of the Acacia Bay Residents Association. She coordinated the Acacia Bay History Project, initiated in 2011. In 2013, she wrote ''Tribute to Western Bay, Lake Taupō'' (illustrated by John Parsons). The book described the Western Bay of

Lake Taupō Lake Taupō (also spelled Taupo; mi, Taupō-nui-a-Tia or ) is a large crater lake in New Zealand's North Island, located in the caldera of the Taupō Volcano. The lake is the namesake of the town of Taupō, which sits on a bay in the lake's nor ...

, including the development of the Kinloch settlement by former prime minister

Keith Holyoake Sir Keith Jacka Holyoake, (; 11 February 1904 – 8 December 1983) was the 26th prime minister of New Zealand, serving for a brief period in 1957 and then from 1960 to 1972, and also the 13th governor-general of New Zealand, serving from 1977 ...

. McElwee had a lifelong interest in horse racing, and in 2015 she was commissioned by the Taupō Racing Club to write ''Winning Against the Odds'', a history of the club from its foundation in 1965 to 2015. McElwee also had an interest in art; in 1992 she co-authored ''Ngā Marae o Ngāti Tūwharetoa'' with local artist Val Raymond, featuring Raymond's drawings of

marae A ' (in New Zealand Māori, Cook Islands Māori, Tahitian), ' (in Tongan), ' (in Marquesan) or ' (in Samoan) is a communal or sacred place that serves religious and social purposes in Polynesian societies. In all these languages, the term a ...

around Taupō. After Raymond's death in 2021, in early 2022 McElwee curated ''Transformation'', an exhibition of Raymond's work, at the Taupō Museum. She also helped finish Raymond's book ''Heritage Painting: Taupō-nui-a-Tia New Zealand'', which was published in the same year. In 2018, she helped ensure that an 1889 painting of Lake Taupō by

Charles Decimus Barraud Charles Decimus Barraud (9 May 1822 – 26 December 1897) was a New Zealand pharmacist and artist. The tenth recorded child of William Francis Barraud and his wife, Sophia Hull, Charles was born in Camberwell, Surrey, England on 9 May 1822 ...

, up for auction in Auckland, was purchased by the Taupō Museum. McElwee died at her home in Taupō on 25 June 2022.

Selected works

*''Ngā Marae o Ngāti Tūwharetoa'' (1992, with Val Raymond) *''Tribute to Western Bay, Lake Taupō'' (2013, with John Parsons) * ''Winning Against the Odds: the Taupō Racing Club's first fifty years, 1965-2015'' (2015)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McElwee, Christine 1946 births 2022 deaths 20th-century New Zealand women writers 20th-century New Zealand historians 21st-century New Zealand women writers 21st-century New Zealand historians New Zealand women historians People from Whanganui Victoria University of Wellington alumni Deputy mayors of places in New Zealand Local politicians in New Zealand Women local politicians People educated at Whanganui Girls' College