Geraldine Marian Hemus (11 November 1876 – 11 January 1969) was a New Zealand lawyer. She was the third woman in New Zealand to be admitted to the bar to practise law as a barrister and solicitor. Hemus also held positions with the

National Council of Women of New Zealand , logo = National Council of Women of New Zealand logo.png , logo_size = 100px , logo_alt = , logo_caption = , image = , image_size = , alt = , capt ...

and was a prominent member of the Auckland

Theosophical Theosophy is a religion established in the United States during the late 19th century. It was founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and draws its teachings predominantly from Blavatsky's writings. Categorized by scholars of religion a ...

Society.

Early life

Hemus was born in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

on 11 November 1876, to Charles Hemus (a photographer) and Gertrude Evangeline Edger (a sister of

Kate Edger Kate Milligan Evans (née Edger, 6 January 1857 – 6 May 1935) was the first woman in New Zealand to gain a university degree, and possibly the second in the British Empire to do so. Early life Edger was born in 1857 at Abingdon, Berkshire, En ...

, the first woman New Zealand to earn a university degree in New Zealand). Both her parents were immigrants from England and highly involved in theosophy. Their family home in Ponsonby was a centre for discussion and educational groups. Hemus was educated at Ponsonby College, passing the matriculation examination in 1893 and the Senior Civil Servants Examination in 1895. She also studied shorthand with the Auckland Shorthand Writers' Association. Hemus went on to study law at

Auckland University College , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

Career

In 1898 she became an articled clerk with Christopher James Parr, a sole practitioner. She was the first woman in Auckland to hold such a position. She later moved to work with the firm Neumegen and Elliott. Hemus was admitted as a barrister and solicitor on 15 February 1907. At some point she left Neumegen's firm and opened a sole practitioner's office. Hemus was treasurer of the Auckland branch of the National Council of Women for most of the 1930s, and held the position of branch President from 1938 to 1941. In 1940, in her role as president, she sent a letter to Justice Minister HGR Mason, recommending the appointment of women associates in Magistrates' Courts for domestic proceedings. Hemus also served as treasurer for the New Zealand executive of the Theosophical Society. She often spoke at the Theosophical Society public lectures, on topics such as "The Power of Thought", "Justice or Mercy, Which?", "The change that we call death", and "Prohibition: Some points of view". She was instrumental in the establishment of the Vasanta Garden School, which opened in Epsom in 1919, and was based on theosophical ideas of education. She continued as President of the Vasanta Garden School Trust Board during the 1930s.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hemus, Geraldine 1876 births 1969 deaths 20th-century New Zealand lawyers New Zealand women lawyers Lawyers from Auckland New Zealand Theosophists University of Auckland alumni 20th-century New Zealand women lawyers