Margaret Semple (née McNair, 1876–3 September 1967) was a New Zealand socialist and local politician. She was married to

Bob Semple Robert Semple (21 October 1873 – 31 January 1955) was a union leader and later Minister of Public Works for the first Labour Government of New Zealand. He is also known for creating the Bob Semple tank. Early life He was born in Sofala, New ...

, a Labour Party Cabinet Minister.

Biography

Early life

Margaret was born in 1876 to Thomas and Agnes McNair who both emigrated from

Lanarkshire Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark ( gd, Siorrachd Lannraig; sco, Lanrikshire), is a historic county, lieutenancy area and registration county in the central Lowlands of Scotland. Lanarkshire is the most populous county in Scotlan ...

, Scotland to

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

, New Zealand. Her mother died in 1887 after which her father took the family to

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. Margaret married Bob Semple, a coal miner and unionist, at Outtrim, Victoria, on 27 June 1898. She gave birth to their first child a year later. The Semples initially lived in

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

, but when Margaret fell sick, they had to return to Victoria. She was friends with

Margaret Thorn Margaret Thorn (née Anderson, 11 February 1897 – 10 February 1969) was a notable New Zealand bookkeeper, political activist and welfare worker. She was born in Manchester, Lancashire, England in 1897. She married the political activist and late ...

who labelled her a "capable woman" referring to how she almost solely raised her children whilst her husband was away on union or political matters. Thorn recalled a story where a girl accidentally cut off two of her fingers only for Semple to sew them back on with thread for a full recovery.

Political career

Semple served as president of the Wellington women's branch of the Labour Party, and was a member of the party national executive from 1930 to 1943. Semple was elected as a Wellington City Councillor in 1938. She lost her seat in

1941 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January–August – 10,072 men, women and children with mental and physical disabilities are asphyxiated with carbon monoxide in a gas chamber, at Hadamar Eu ...

, an election which saw all Labour councillors unseated. She was also a long serving member of the Hospital Board, sitting on it from 1933 until 1941. Historians have argued that her own political contributions between the 1910s and 1940s were considerable, though heavily overshadowed by her husband's, who himself seldom acknowledged her efforts in any depth. Semple died in 1967 aged 91, Bob had died in 1955. She was survived by her four children, 8 grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren and 1 great-great-grandchild.

Notes

External links

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Semple, Margaret 1876 births 1967 deaths New Zealand trade unionists 20th-century New Zealand women politicians 20th-century New Zealand politicians New Zealand Labour Party politicians Wellington City Councillors Wellington Hospital Board members New Zealand justices of the peace