Mary Elizabeth Ogg ( McKinlay; – 6 October 2022) was a New Zealand local politician. She served as the

mayor of Gore The mayor of Gore officiates over the Gore District in New Zealand's South Island. Prior to local government reorganisation in 1989, the mayor of Gore officiated over the Gore Borough. The current mayor is Ben Bell. List of office holders G ...

from 1995 until 2001, and was the first woman to hold that position.

Biography

Ogg was born Mary Elizabeth McKinlay, the daughter of Bessy and Parker McKinlay, and grew up in

Invercargill Invercargill ( , mi, Waihōpai is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region. The city lies in the heart of the wide expanse of t ...

. In August 1968, she married David John Ogg at the Church of St Theresa of Lisieux in Invercargill. Her wedding dress is now held in the collection of the Gore Historical Museum. A

district nurse District Nurses work manage care within the community and lead teams of community nurses and support workers. The role requires registered nurses to take a NMC approved specialist practitioner course. Duties generally include visiting house-bound ...

, Ogg advocated for comprehensive health services in

Gore Gore may refer to: Places Australia * Gore, Queensland * Gore Creek (New South Wales) * Gore Island (Queensland) Canada * Gore, Nova Scotia, a rural community * Gore, Quebec, a township municipality * Gore Bay, Ontario, a township on Manitouli ...

and eastern Southland, and served as a member of the

Southland District Health Board The Southland District Health Board (Southland DHB) was a district health board with the focus on providing healthcare to an area covering most of Southland and parts of Otago in New Zealand. History The Southland District Health Board, like mo ...

. Ogg was elected mayor of Gore in 1995, and served in that role for two terms, before being defeated by Owen O'Connor at the 2001 local elections. She was the first woman to be elected mayor of Gore, and the third woman to serve as a mayor in the Southland Region, after

Eve Poole Eve Poole (born Eva Auerbach; 29 December 1924 – 26 December 1992) was a New Zealand politician who served as Mayor of Invercargill from 1983 until her death in 1992. She was the first woman and Jew to hold this position. Early life Poole w ...

and

Frana Cardno Frana Grace Cardno (née Srhoy, 29 January 1941 – 23 April 2015) was a New Zealand local-body politician. She served as Mayor of Southland, Mayor of Southland District from 1992 until 2013, becoming the longest-serving female mayor in New Zeal ...

in Southland District. Following the announcement that Seddon Memorial Hospital in Gore would close in 1999, Ogg actively and successfully campaigned for a new hospital to be built in Gore. In the

2002 New Year Honours New Years' Honours are announced on or around the date of the New Year in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The dates vary, both from year to year and from country to country. All are published in supplements to the London Ga ...

, Ogg was appointed a

Companion of the Queen's Service Order The Queen's Service Order, established by royal warrant of Queen Elizabeth II on 13 March 1975, is used to recognise "valuable voluntary service to the community or meritorious and faithful services to the Crown or similar services within the pu ...

, for public services. The next year, her husband, David, was made a

Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ren ...

, for services to the community, in the

2003 New Year Honours The 2003 New Year's Honours List is one of the annual New Year Honours, a part of the British monarch's honours system, where 1 January is marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of ot ...

. Mary Ogg died in Gore on 6 October 2022, at the age of 77.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ogg, Mary Year of birth missing 1940s births 2022 deaths People from Invercargill New Zealand nurses Mayors of Gore Women mayors of places in New Zealand Southland District Health Board members Companions of the Queen's Service Order