Dame Dorothea Jean Horsman (née Morrell; 17 April 1918 – 7 January 1994) was a New Zealand women's rights advocate.

Biography

Horsman was born Dorothea Jean Morrell in Wellington on 17 April 1918, the daughter of Jean Morrell (née Morris) and Samuel Tankard Morrell. She was educated at Auckland Girls' Grammar School, and went on to study at Auckland Teachers' College and Auckland University College, graduating Master of Arts with second-class honours in 1941. She married Ernest Alan Horsman on 16 December 1943. Horsman worked as a schoolteacher from 1941 until 1945. After World War II, she travelled to the United Kingdom with her husband, where he first undertook postgraduate studies at St Catherine's College, Oxford, and then lectured at

Durham University , mottoeng = Her foundations are upon the holy hills (Psalm 87:1) , established = (university status) , type = Public , academic_staff = 1,830 (2020) , administrative_staff = 2,640 (2018/19) , chancellor = Sir Thomas Allen , vice_chan ...

between 1947 and 1956. When Alan Horsman was appointed professor of English at the University of Otago in Dunedin in 1957, Dorothea and Alan Horsman and their three children returned to New Zealand. Dorothea Horsman became active in various university and community groups in Dunedin, including the Fortune Theatre, the YWCA and Marriage Guidance. She joined the

Federation of University Women Graduate Women International (GWI), originally named the International Federation of University Women (IFUW), is an international organisation for women university graduates. IFUW was founded in 1919 following the First World War by both British and ...

(FUW), and became the FUW's representative on the National Council of Women. She also undertook postgraduate study, completing a second Master of Arts degree, on Russian literature, in 1969. The title of her thesis was ''Some secondary characters in Dostoevsky: studied in relation to the main characters''. Horsman served as president of the Federation of University Women from 1973 to 1976, and president of the National Council of Women from 1982 to 1986. She led the New Zealand delegation at the International Council of Women conferences in 1979 and 1986, and council in 1983. She also was leader of the New Zealand delegation to the International FUW conference in 1974. In 1979, she was appointed a

justice of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

. From 1980 to 1983, Horsman was president of the Arthritis Foundation of New Zealand. She was a member of the Churchill Memorial Trust Board from 1983 to 1989, and served on the Working Party on Liquor, established by the government, from 1985 to 1986. Horsman wrote two reports that focused on the role of women in contemporary society in the 1970s: ''What Price Equality?'' in 1974, which was commissioned by the National Council of Women, and investigated equal pay for women; and ''Women at Home'', in 1976 for the Federation of University Women. Horsman died in Dunedin on 7 January 1994, and her ashes were buried in

Andersons Bay Cemetery Andersons Bay Cemetery is a major cemetery in the New Zealand city of Dunedin. It is located to the southeast of the city centre, on a rocky outcrop which forms the inland part of Lawyers Head, a promontory which juts into the Pacific Ocean. The ...

. Her husband, Alan Horsman, died in 2019.

Honours and awards

In 1977, Horsman was awarded the

Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal (french: link=no, Médaille du jubilé d'argent de la reine Elizabeth II) is a commemorative medal created in 1977 to mark the 25th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's accession in 1952. The medal is p ...

. In the

1986 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1986 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countrie ...

, she was appointed a

Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

, for services to the community.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Horsman, Dorothea 1918 births 1994 deaths People from Wellington City People educated at Auckland Girls' Grammar School University of Auckland alumni University of Otago alumni New Zealand feminists New Zealand women's rights activists New Zealand community activists New Zealand justices of the peace New Zealand Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire Burials at Andersons Bay Cemetery People from Dunedin