Dorothy Woodham Fletcher (formerly King, née Graham; 25 July 1927 – 10 August 2017) was a New Zealand historian.

Biography

Fletcher was born in 1927 to

Alec Alec or Aleck is a Scottish form of the given name Alex. It may be a diminutive of the name Alexander or a given name in its own right. Notable people with the name include: People *Alec Aalto (1942–2018), Finnish diplomat * Alec Acton (1938– ...

and Isabella Graham, part-owners of Franz Josef Glacier Hotel at

Franz Josef Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I (german: Franz Joseph Karl, hu, Ferenc József Károly, 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 2 December 1848 until his ...

. Her parents had met in England during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

; her mother was English and her father from South Westland. Fletcher grew up in Franz Josef, and went to boarding school in Christchurch at

Rangi Ruru Girls' School Rangi Ruru Girls' School is a New Zealand private girls' day and boarding secondary school located in Merivale, an inner suburb of Christchurch. The school is affiliated to the Presbyterian Church, and serves approximately girls from Years ...

. When

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

broke out, she returned to Franz Josef and helped her family run the hotel until they decided to sell the business in 1947. From 1947 to 1949, Fletcher studied horticulture at Massey Agricultural College, then returned to Franz Josef and worked at the post office, Department of Conservation office and the hotel. In the late 1970s she was appointed Westland National Park historian and developed a collection of historical items and records covering the development of the area and its people. The collection was later donated to the Hokitika Museum. Fletcher also compiled her father's mountaineering photographs into the Alec Graham Photographic Collection and donated this to the Macmillan Brown Library at the University of Canterbury.

Recognition

In 2017, a

tuatara Tuatara (''Sphenodon punctatus'') are reptiles endemic to New Zealand. Despite their close resemblance to lizards, they are part of a distinct lineage, the order Rhynchocephalia. The name ''tuatara'' is derived from the Māori language and m ...

on public display at Franz Josef was named Dorothy in honour of Fletcher.

Personal life

Fletcher was married twice. In 1959 she married Peter King, an Englishman who emigrated to New Zealand and became a park ranger at Westland National Park. The couple had two children together, however King was killed in a car accident in 1962, days after the birth of their second child. In 1973, Fletcher married Peter Fletcher, chief ranger at Westland National Park. He died in 1977 on the

Copland Pass The Copland Pass (el. ) is an alpine pass in the Southern Alps of New Zealand. Known as Noti Hinetamatea by the indigenous Ngāi Tahu, the pass follows the route of the Makaawhio ancestor Hinetamatea and her sons Tātāwhākā and Marupeka. ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fletcher, Dorothy New Zealand women historians 1927 births 2017 deaths People educated at Rangi Ruru Girls' School Massey University alumni People from the West Coast, New Zealand 20th-century New Zealand historians